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[hoofing it]

Hi all having put concentrated screen wash in the washers it froze (-13 last week) but I found a great solution.
I cut up a electric blanket to extract the heating element and wraped it round to washer bottle and pluged it into a 100watt (240v) invertor which sits next to the battery and re-routed the washer pipework via the rad instead of going up the wing.
The only snag is it takes about 30mins to defrost the bottle and I have to remember to switch it off and on.
As far as I can see in my meega is the washer jets only have a heated nozzle.
I drive trucks for a living and the fuel tanks have heater elements in it to warm up the fuel so it won't freeze

[TheBoy]

I reckon its only the nozzles that need heating (with correct screen wash concnetration) - as they are the only bit exposed to windchill, and also the smaller channels.

Heating the bottle wont really stop the nozzles 8ft away from freezing?

[hoofing it]

Hi the boy I took out the washer pump and it was solid in the bottle plus the bottle is tucked behind the bumper I poured boiling water over it got washers working drove 26 miles to edinburgh and it froze solid again i'm running it undiluted that was last week the average daytime temp has been -4 plus wind chill and it dropped to -15 on hogmanay.
sorry about the spelling one of my week points

[TheBoy]

Hi the boy I took out the washer pump and it was solid in the bottle plus the bottle is tucked behind the bumper I poured boiling water over it got washers working drove 26 miles to edinburgh and it froze solid again i'm running it undiluted that was last week the average daytime temp has been -4 plus wind chill and it dropped to -15 on hogmanay.
sorry about the spelling one of my week points

Hmmm, what make screenwash?

Mine isn't freezing (not tried today mind), on a 4:1 mix...

[waspy]

As per my thread the other week. Mine also froze up. I tried it a while later & still no joy until i poured hot water into the bottle, it then worked until it froze again.
That is why i thought of a way of warming the washer bottle

[cruisetopoland]

After using cack Morrsions winter screenwash which froze solid, I cleared the tank with hot water, drained it and flushed through with neat screenwash bought in Germany (20EUR for 5 litres) then filled it up 60% screenwash and 40% water.

In -17 degrees with up to 100mph wind chill, it did not freeze at all......

A better design would have been to put all the screen water bits BEHIND the engine in the warm air space, with pipes running around warm parts of the engine and the sound insulation removed around the jet areas so the hot air rose from the engine to defrost them.  Simple....

[Andy H]

I think the jets are heated because, as well as having smaller channels, they are open to the atmosphere & so the anti-freeze (alcohol?) might evapporate & leave them more prone to freezing.

Strikes me that the screen wash we are sold in this country isn't really suited to -12 degC. Drivers in Canada/Finland/Russia probably use something far more agressive but have to accept that it will take the paint off.......

[MickAP]

I put a high concentrate of Asda cheapo stuff in my washer bottle, it never froze but the wiper blades did. Hence still a bl@@dy mess on the screen which I couldn't see through properly.

Mick

[Marks DTM Calib]

Never had a problen with freezing using quality screen wash.....and the washer bottle is located where it is becasue beleave it or not, it provides crash protection...

[cruisetopoland]

Never had a problen with freezing using quality screen wash.....and the washer bottle is located where it is becasue beleave it or not, it provides crash protection...

[/color]

So I understand-but as it is so exposed, you would think it should have better protection against icing....??

As you say Mark-the screenwash is important-I found out the hard way:

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1261476991/0

I have been adding water to this German stuff since and it still hasn't frozen!!

[mantahatch]

Your idea has given me an idea, rather than having effective mains in the car from the inverter, how about buying cheap car seat heater like this  http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/12-Volt-Heated-Seat-Cushion-Cover-For-Cars-Vans-etc_W0QQitemZ370087153441QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item562ae9cf21

Then wrap it round the washer bottle. Could be wired through a switch or relay for automatic on/off.

Just a thought.

[tunnie]

as already mentioned, use decent screenwash and you don't need to bother with any of this faffing around

[cruisetopoland]

as already mentioned, use decent screenwash and you don't need to bother with any of this faffing around

As mine worked 100% after using decent stuff when driving across icebound Germany and Poland at down to -17 degrees on the autobahns, then I would be inclined to agree.

Use decent screenwash-anything other solution is more expensive and could be an insurance/fire risk.  Besides, what is the point of a warm bottle and frozen jets??!!

[tmx]

i use the BMW stuff from work and its doesnt the omega have heated jets?  my old one certainly never froze up in the winter!

[Lazydocker]

I'm using Carplan stuff at the moment at a high concentration, was neat but have watered it down a bit now, and I've got no issues