Frosty screens........... how do you clear yours?

[Iain&Shani]

Now that winter has arrived and the windscreens need some attention I was wondering what folks do to clear them.
1. Start up and get the blowers going till it clears.
2. 1 plus....Scrape as much as you can reach.
3. Spray de icer
4. Cover screen night before
5. Use luke warm water and a long watering can
etc etc

Any thoughts, remembering that it is usually a reactive task and you are late for work!!

 

[inthemidnighthour]

cali stays in the garage
work car stays outside and gets started 5 mins before I leave

tank commanders make me mad ( people who defrost a couple of square inches and peep through the hole to drive)

dave and lisa

 

[calikev]

I got the better half to make me this viewtopic.php?f=83&t=2807&p=24831&hilit=Windscreen+cover#p24831

 

[Andresz]

For the frost cleaning I use the Webasto remote control, 20 minutes before departure.

 

[Martin]

For the frost cleaning I use the Webasto remote control, 20 minutes before departure.

same here, -5 this morning and windows were all clear within 15 mins and nice and warm inside ready for the school run.

 

[Andy]

+ 1 for the diesil heater, switch it on when I get up & screen is clear when I get in half hour later.

 

[Tayls]

Just use cold water, no need for luke-warm, you can still run the risk of cracking the screen with any heat.

Hot water freezes more quickly than cold, so cold should stay clear longer

Ian

 

[Andy]

Hot water freezes more quickly than cold, so cold should stay clear longer

That does not stack up scientifically !! The lower temp will freeze first & the higher will take longer to reach freezing temp.

 

[muttley]

Hot water freezes more quickly than cold, so cold should stay clear longer

That does not stack up scientifically !! The lower temp will freeze first & the higher will take longer to reach freezing temp.

Actually warm water can freeze faster than cold, even though this is counter-intuitive.
Google the Mpemba Effect.

My experience is that cold water freezes instantly on a cold screen though.

+1 for the parking heater. It seems a shame not to use it.

 

[Tayls]

Hot water freezes more quickly than cold, so cold should stay clear longer

That does not stack up scientifically !! The lower temp will freeze first & the higher will take longer to reach freezing temp.

Ahh, it's a shame that science itself disagrees with you Andy

In my experience, cold water is much warmer than freezing, so will clear the screen effectively, if not, another lot will - depends on the actual ambient temp at the time of course...

Ian

 

[Andy]

Hot water freezes more quickly than cold, so cold should stay clear longer

That does not stack up scientifically !! The lower temp will freeze first & the higher will take longer to reach freezing temp.

Ahh, it's a shame that science itself disagrees with you Andy

In my experience, cold water is much warmer than freezing, so will clear the screen effectively, if not, another lot will - depends on the actual ambient temp at the time of course...

Ian

Im not saying cold water will not clear a frozen screen just that I believe that cold water will freeze quicker than warm water.

 

[Tayls]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... water.html



Ian

 

[Anonymous]

Science also tells us that diesel fumes are not good for us or the planet: scrape!

 

[Andy]

Science also tells us that diesel fumes are not good for us or the planet: scrape!

My body tells me the cold is not good for me , so use diesel heater !!

 

[beardie]

If diesel fumes are not good for the planet ....... Then walk!

 

[Andy]

If diesel fumes are not good for the planet ....... Then walk!

Well said beardie. lol

 

[nickstjt]

I'll take 2 mins of scraping over 20 mins of diesel use any day.
- Nick

 

[beardie]

Trouble with scraping is that even though I am almost 6ft I can't reach the top centre of the windscreen and need to climb on top of the wheel which is fun on an icy day!

 

[smudger]

for the sake of a few millimetres of diesel we always put the heater on before we get in as it kills two birds with one stone, clears not only the screen but all the windows and also nice and toastie when we get in the van. We pay all this money for these vans so we should use the little luxuries available to us.

 

[c6corvette]

for the sake of a few millimetres of diesel we always put the heater on before we get in as it kills two birds with one stone, clears not only the screen but all the windows and also nice and toastie when we get in the van. We pay all this money for these vans so we should use the little luxuries available to us.

Here Here . . . . :clap

 

[KernowLad]

Not sure how good de-icer is for paint so I tend to pre-warm it up too. Only use de-icer if I really need to dash.

 

[John]

Science also tells us that diesel fumes are not good for us or the planet: scrape!

Everyone to their own.

I respect you for standing up for your beliefs.

My wife had the same attitude when she was working with street children. People would say that her work was just a drop in the ocean.

Her response was that at least it was one drop.

John

 

[muttley]

Re: Frosty screens...........and being green

At the risk of being provocative (and I really don't mean to be) - it is my opinion that a campervan is the least 'green' vehicle you can buy by a mile. If you buy a 6 litre V8 sports car, then you are likely to do a handful of miles in it, so the total fuel used is minimal despite the shocking mpg. However, if you buy a campervan then it encourages you to drive all over the country (if not Europe) at every opportunity.

We have owned ours for 3 months, and have already racked up 3500 miles in it. I would guess that at least 2000 of those were for non-essential weekends away. Before we had the van we certainly wouldn't have dreamed of going away nearly every weekend in the car. So, my point is that you use far more resources by having the van, and the mpg is largely irrelevant. Either we can accept that, and just get on with having fun, or we'll all have to sell up and buy a Prius!!

Not running the diesel heater to clear the windscreen really isn't going to make up for all those extra miles, so no point worrying too much about it.

Just my opinion, don't bite my head off

 

[John]

Re: Frosty screens...........and being green

At the risk of being provocative (and I really don't mean to be) - it is my opinion that a campervan is the least 'green' vehicle you can buy by a mile. If you buy a 6 litre V8 sports car, then you are likely to do a handful of miles in it, so the total fuel used is minimal despite the shocking mpg. However, if you buy a campervan then it encourages you to drive all over the country (if not Europe) at every opportunity.

We have owned ours for 3 months, and have already racked up 3500 miles in it. I would guess that at least 2000 of those were for non-essential weekends away. Before we had the van we certainly wouldn't have dreamed of going away nearly every weekend in the car. So, my point is that you use far more resources by having the van, and the mpg is largely irrelevant. Either we can accept that, and just get on with having fun, or we'll all have to sell up and buy a Prius!!

Not running the diesel heater to clear the windscreen really isn't going to make up for all those extra miles, so no point worrying too much about it.

Just my opinion, don't bite my head off

Simon I totally agree with you in that our Campervans are not the most green vehicle that you can buy.

I can also see the attraction of standing in your warm home and being able to switch your Cali heater on without going outside. How many vehicles can you do that with.

Equally I respect dbuchanan for sticking with the courage of his convictions by standing outside in the cold and scraping the ice of his Cali.

My own general view, which I think is the point (which is not directed at you Simon) is this:

I guess it is important to remember that we are lucky to live in a democratic society. As such we are free to be able to express our opinions.

It is my hope that on this forum we also allow others to also express their opinions freely, even if we don't agree. Free expression of different ideas and opinions makes for a interesting discussion and stops a thread getting boring.

Finally glad you are really getting to use and enjoy your Cali so much.

John

 

[muttley]

Well said John, I certainly wouldn't mean to push my opinions on others. I just thought it was an interesting aside as campers are so well loved, and large gas guzzlers seem to be vilified - seemingly rather unjustly. I'm not giving the camper up though!
Simon