Defrosting Car Window

galwaydude18

Can you guys clear a debate I'm having with my partener about defrosting the car windows when they are frozen.

I reckon to use luke warm water rather than boiling hot water from the kettle as boiling hot water could crack the cold window from the frost.

She reckons use boiling hot water on the windows and doors as luke warm water isn't good enough

fergalmejergal

I lol'd , how silly could she be ?

Bog

Use an ice-scraper. I don't like having any form of hot water near my cold windows/windscreen.

galwaydude18

Well thats my point. She reckons it wont crack the windows no matter how much I tell her it could or may eventually will crack them!

hugoline

Having lived in countries that get quite a bit colder than and quite a bit more snow than here I have NEVER seen anybody using water (luke warm or boiling) to de-ice windows before coming to Ireland.
Ice-scraper (plastic thingy) and the heating of the car was always used in that case (and yes, that means working/waiting 5 minutes until all windows are cleared).

Boiling water would definitely put some stress on the windows, saying that I have never seen or heard of one shatter that way...

pajero12

Boiling water will crack the screen...thermal shock.Use only luke warm water

galwaydude18

Has anyone here ever seen a window crack from pouring boilding hot water on a frozen window?

newbie2

galwaydude18 wrote: »

Has anyone here ever seen a window crack from pouring boilding hot water on a frozen window?

Urban myth - similar to the Yeti I think

galwaydude18

I dont know she regurally puts boiling hot water on the windows when I'm not here and they havn't cracked (YET).. Anyone shed any futher light on the issue? Is it just a myth?

Hal1

Thermal shock win. Thermal shock is the name given to cracking as a result of rapid temperature change.

Lynfo

galwaydude18 wrote: »

Has anyone here ever seen a window crack from pouring boilding hot water on a frozen window?

I didn't see it first hand, but it happened to my friend.

galwaydude18

Well thats what I reckon myself that the dramatic change from cold to putting the boiling hot water on the windows will crack them.. I remain to be proven wrong but rather to use luke warm water than hot boiling water on them

unkel

Putting cold, lukewarm, hot or boiling water on frozen car windows. Only in Ireland

(And I do it myself (lukewarm to hot variety) realising it is probably the only country in the world you can get away with it)

galwaydude18

Well I would say that almost 100% of people I know who use water to defrost their windows use luke warm water. Cold water wouldn't work it would probably just freeze anyhow..

Lynfo thats what I thought. That it actually can happen

bryaner

Lmao never even show the car water just let it run for 15 mins before

you have to leave far safer in relation to all frozen car situations

ronaneire

Newspaper seems to work too

jm99

Hal1 wrote: »

Thermal shock win. Thermal shock is the name given to cracking as a result of rapid temperature change.

Feck! lucky me, use it all the time

galwaydude18

Ya newspaper works a treat all right. Shame we dont buy any newspapers though!

slimjimmc

hugoline wrote: »

Having lived in countries that get quite a bit colder than and quite a bit more snow than here I have NEVER seen anybody using water (luke warm or boiling) to de-ice windows before coming to Ireland.
Ice-scraper (plastic thingy) and the heating of the car was always used in that case (and yes, that means working/waiting 5 minutes until all windows are cleared).

Probably because the colder temperature causes the water to refreeze quickly. We rarely get a frost that severe, maybe 3-4 times a year.

hugoline wrote: »

Boiling water would definitely put some stress on the windows, saying that I have never seen or heard of one shatter that way...

I never chanced really hot water, never mind boiling; it's not worth the risk imo. Lukewarm or warm is enough for me.

ronaneire wrote: »

Newspaper seems to work too

Surely only if the windscreen stays dry. With our climate what if the glass was damp when you put the paper on or if it rained during the night then froze afterwards? Won't you end up with a stubborn layer of paper stuck to your windscreen?

Seth Brundle

http://save-fuel-using-water.info/Car-on-Water/water-car-myth/

Raiser

galwaydude18 wrote: »

I dont know she regurally puts boiling hot water on the windows when I'm not here and they havn't cracked (YET).. Anyone shed any futher light on the issue? Is it just a myth?

A relative of mine took a kettle to a frozen windscreen years ago on an Opel Astra and left it with a diagonal crack from corner to corner.......

GTE

newbie2 wrote: »

Urban myth - similar to the Yeti I think

Well look how that turned myth out





On the point of using boiling water. I wouldnt want to try that on a windscreen that has a small chip or crack in the first place, and I wouldnt want to put any stress on the window even if it didnt.

Using boiling water on icy windows is pretty crazy, but I do understand the thermal shock thing. Many people wouldnt have or they would never have seen an example of it. Its like indicators. They are there, there is no dispute that they exist, just some people have no idea. . .

corktina

(not a good policy to leave a car idle...)

.. i use hot water from the tap plus any bit left in kettle....i dont think boiling water would do any harm though as the iced window will cool the water much quicker than the water could possibly heat the glass...


Irish Pride bread tray on the night before is the best preventative (might work for Brennans ones too, not tested....)

Hal1

corktina wrote: »

(not a good policy to leave a car idle...)

.. i use hot water from the tap plus any bit left in kettle....i dont think boiling water would do any harm though as the iced window will cool the water much quicker than the water could possibly heat the glass...


Irish Pride bread tray on the night before is the best preventative (might work for Brennans ones too, not tested....)

The last bit of advice is probably the soundest.

biko

The problem with using water at all is that it gets everywhere and once you turn car off again it will freeze it into ice. This is if it's still subzero.
Better to get up a bit earlier and leave the car idling with heaters going full blast while you scrape the windows.

Top tip, use a cut up cardboard box to cover the windscreen (held down by wipers halfway up). This way moisture won't get on the window much and you won't have to scrape it much.

GTE

Magnus wrote: »

Better to get up a bit earlier and leave the car idling with heaters going full blast while you scrape the windows.

Though VAG TDI's (at least pre common rail and maybe other diesels as I dont have experience) really dont heat up substantially when left to idle for a while. Its why some people in very cold places hook up a coolant heater to the engine that they plug into household mains an hour before they leave to heat the block up for easy start and instant heat.

If you do or have leave/left a VAG diesel idle (again I dont have experience with other diesels) once the engine warms up to over half normal temp leave the gear change from 4th to 5th a fair bit longer then usual so the turbo can burn off any soot build up left by the EGR after long idling, although it shuts after a while just tapping the throttle can open it and let exhaust recirculate and build up gunk. But this is really more of a top tip to do once and a while if you dont push the engine rev wise generally. And another one for the cold weather is short shift untill the engine reaches a similar temp, about half of normal operating temp. Saves on engine wear and will give some longer life:)

jimmyw

Throw off/scrape most of the snow off and then use di-icer and have the engine running and the fan on full to the screen and on the recycle mode for a few minutes, no need for water. I once put tepid water on the side windows of a car I used to have and when I came back out the window switches were on fire:eek:

Donnelly117

jimmyw wrote: »

Throw off/scrape most of the snow off and then use di-icer and have the engine running and the fan on full to the screen and on the recycle mode for a few minutes, no need for water. I once put tepid water on the side windows of a car I used to have and when I came back out the window switches were on fire:eek:

is that even possible, in my car the "recycle" air switches off when set to blow on the windscreen.

W.Shakes-Beer

galwaydude18 wrote: »

Ya newspaper works a treat all right. Shame we dont buy any newspapers though!

ah sure you could always nick a sh!te load of Northside People :pac:



Slán.

jimmyw

Donnelly117 wrote: »

is that even possible, in my car the "recycle" air switches off when set to blow on the windscreen.

Of course it is. Does it work on the fresh air mode? If it does then there is no reason why it shouldn't work on recycle. The only difference between the two modes is one is fresh air and the other is recycled interior air. If yours is tripping out there might be some fault with yours. It will still work on the fresh air mode, but better if its on the recycle. Try this on the fresh air setting and see if it trips.

GTE

jimmyw wrote: »

Of course it is. Does it work on the fresh air mode? If it does then there is no reason why it shouldn't work on recycle. The only difference between the two modes is one is fresh air and the other is recycled interior air. If yours is tripping out there might be some fault with yours. It will still work on the fresh air mode, but better if its on the recycle. Try this on the fresh air setting and see if it trips.

Nah, the guy you are quoting has a point. My golf switches off recycled air when you set it to the windscreen and before I even noticed that my driving instructor said it most cars do it so defogging is more effective. The system isnt designed to get rid of ice so it makes sense if its optimised to get rid of foggy windows like that.

Toots

Would she not just get a can of de-icer and a scraper? My parking space is a bit away from my apartment, so I had to start using de-icer and I wouldn't go back to water now. My future MIL cracked her windscreen with boiling water, there was a tiny tiny tiny tiny (so small she didn't even notice) chip in the windscreen, and when she put the water on, it split from just in front of the steering wheel, right across to the tax disc holder on the passenger side.

Edit: forgot to add another note on the water thing, this stupid old bag who parks a few spaces down from me deices her car with water every morning, and then the water freezes. The amount of times I've nearly killed myself slipping on that ice so far this winter!! Even if it wasn't for the danger of cracking the windscreen, it'd be a bad idea.

Carawaystick

diesel engines don't heat up under low loads, they use shag all diesel idling, whereas petrol engines need a stochiometric mix of 14parts air to 1 part Fuel, so they always will heat up somewhat.

I scrape off any white ice or snow, and then use a kettlefull of hot tap water. wipe the water off with the wipers to stop re-freeze.

GTE

Carawaystick wrote: »

diesel engines don't heat up under low loads, they use shag all diesel idling, whereas petrol engines need a stochiometric mix of 14parts air to 1 part Fuel, so they always will heat up somewhat.

Even though you pretty much answered it for me; VAG TDI's arent especially bad at heating up (or especially efficient depending how you look at it)? My knowledge of other diesels is pretty much non existent.

fjon

Carawaystick wrote: »

diesel engines don't heat up under low loads, they use shag all diesel idling, whereas petrol engines need a stochiometric mix of 14parts air to 1 part Fuel, so they always will heat up somewhat.

That explains why I have to wait much longer for my diesel car to de-ice than previous petrol ones.
I think de-icer really does the trick - much easier than boiling a kettle.