Heated Windscreen

s_b

reading an advert for a 1969 mini cooper and it said it had a factory fitted front heated windscreen and was one of only 30 made,the screen looked like a rear one though with wide heating bars
then i found this link
http://www.heatedwindscreen.com/acatalog/heated-windscreens.html

forgotmyname

Will you think its a good idea when it fails and they want £600+ for a new one?

Or find the fact it switches on when its below 4 degrees a great idea when the screens already clear and your battery
is struggling.

One thing though. Because it pulls approx 60 AMPS... If the heated front screen doesnt come on as soon as you start the
car you know your battery is starting to fail.

It will only come on if the voltage is high enough.


Ford have the patent? 60's and 70's rally cars had heated windscreens. I remember the old mini cooper rally cars with them.

Mark_Hewitt

Well on my car you have to push a button to activate the heated screen.

Premier_2

forgotmyname wrote: »

Will you think its a good idea when it fails and they want £600+ for a new one?

Or find the fact it switches on when its below 4 degrees a great idea when the screens already clear and your battery
is struggling.

One thing though. Because it pulls approx 60 AMPS... If the heated front screen doesnt come on as soon as you start the
car you know your battery is starting to fail.

It will only come on if the voltage is high enough.


Ford have the patent? 60's and 70's rally cars had heated windscreens. I remember the old mini cooper rally cars with them.

You clearly haven't had a Ford QuickClear screen then :cool:

Obviously it varies by vehicle but for Focus it's only about £300 supplied & fitted ... and thats the full price they charge the insurers. If you mention its a private job, you may well get a cheaper deal.

As Mark Hewitt says, you need to press a button to turn them on ... and they are on a timer so turn off after a few minutes automatically. This is all part of the charge balancing that goes into the design of the vehicles, so you've no need to worry over a struggling battery.

As for old mini coopers from last century having them? Well as I say you obviosuly haven't seen the Ford Quickclear screens.
(Ford actually [STRIKE]stole[/STRIKE] obtained the technology from the aircraft industry - the Ford patent referred to its use in road going vehicles only)

Premier_2

s_b wrote: »

reading an advert for a 1969 mini cooper and it said it had a factory fitted front heated windscreen and was one of only 30 made,the screen looked like a rear one though with wide heating bars
then i found this link
http://www.heatedwindscreen.com/acatalog/heated-windscreens.html

Some cars were/are marketed with heated front screens but are in fact just localised heating around the wiper park positions.
This is not the same as dual element fully heated screens such as the Ford Quickclear, as no where near as impressive ... infact much more like a small version of the heated rear screens used.

The link you provide dies appear to have some aftermarket replacements (presumably due to the exiry of the Foprd patent) that are now available but it's difficult to tell from the website how good it really is.

Gloomendoom

Yawn! Ford do not, and never did have, a patent on heated windscreens.

They have been available on other makes for at least forty years. Land Rovers, for example. My 1972 Range Rover has one and it has been an option on other Land Rovers since 1958 IIRC.

Ford only have (or had) a patent on the wiggly elements that are supposed to be less distracting.

GlynD

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Yawn! Ford do not, and never did have, a patent on heated windscreens.

They have been available on other makes for at least forty years. Land Rovers, for example. My 1972 Range Rover has one and it has been an option on other Land Rovers since 1958 IIRC.

Ford only have (or had) a patent on the wiggly elements that are supposed to be less distracting.

So Ford have a patent on wiggly elements which heat a windscreen. To me that sounds as if Ford have a patent on a heated windscreen which means that your (bored) statement that they don't is untrue.

*engage gear before committing thoughts to type*

Premier_2

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Yawn! Ford do not, and never did have, a patent on heated windscreens.

They have been available on other makes for at least forty years. Land Rovers, for example. My 1972 Range Rover has one and it has been an option on other Land Rovers since 1958 IIRC.

Ford only have (or had) a patent on the wiggly elements that are supposed to be less distracting.

Please try to keep awake. Yes, those 'wiggly elements' i.e the unique way Ford have heated front screens is what they had a patent on. That's why no other car company has had them for the past 20 odd years.

You saw one of those in 1958? I think your mind is playing tricks on you. Back in that age, you were lucky to get a plastic stick on heater on the rear screen, the ones that usually went yellow/cloudy after a bit of sunlight.

There may well have been a heated front screen of some type way back then, but not of the design, or performance, Ford have used for the past 20 years.

Gloomendoom

GlynD wrote: »

So Ford have a patent on wiggly elements which heat a windscreen. To me that sounds as if Ford have a patent on a heated windscreen which means that your (bored) statement that they don't is untrue.

To you, maybe.

No, they just have a patent on the shape of an heating element. That isn't the same thing at all.

GlynD

Gloomendoom wrote: »

To you, maybe.

No, they just have a patent on the shape of an heating element. That isn't the same thing at all.

So this heating element doesn't heat a windscreen then?