Heated Windscreen

B00st

wannabehermit wrote: »

I've been driving Fords pretty much since I passed my test, had a few other things cos that's what my ex wanted, but split up with him and straight back to Ford. All of mine have a button like the rear heated windscreen, and none have ever failed. Also if you need a new screen, you just pay your windscreen excess, no £600 bill needed.

Love it this time of year when I get in the car and 30 seconds later am driving away while all the neighbours with their shiny new cars are out there scraping away and getting cold hands.

The old style heated screens were just a single wire (similar to the ones across the back screen) around the edge of the screen. My dad had a Vauxhall Senator with it on, was crap.

What about your side windows, or do you just use the Force when exiting junctions?

Contessa

I've read that heated front windscreens may interfere with GPS so that a separate aerial is required.
Does anyone have any experience of this?

plutoniumpilot

I love my heated front windscreen on cold mornings, just switch on and leave for a couple of minutes and the screen is clear. I don't know if i'd go back to a normal screen - I hope other manufacturers are going to copy this feature now the patent is expired else I can only buy a Ford or an Aston Martin:rotfl:.

@Contessa - I don't have any issues with my smartphone using satnav GPS when driving.

evilgoose

I've got a Quickclear screen in my Fiesta (+the heated mirrors)

I've not experienced any problems with sat nav reception with it on both a GPS phone or a dedicated satnav (garmin).

Switch on the heated screens, (and depending if I'm running late for work or not) I either put the heater on and direct them at the side windows or if I'm in a rush I pop out and scrap them off, by then the ice will have melted off the screen.

They're a great feature.

forgotmyname

Notmyrealname wrote: »

It doesn't draw 60A, the cable would melt long before that. I have one on my Mondeo and I have also run 60A cable to the boot for powering electrical gear. The 60A rated cable I used is a lot thicker than that which powers the screen elements.

30 Amps per side.

My meter only goes upto 20A and its more than that.

Mark_Hewitt

Contessa wrote: »

I've read that heated front windscreens may interfere with GPS so that a separate aerial is required.
Does anyone have any experience of this?

No, not significantly anyway, all my GPS equipment works fine. I think the confusion is with athermic windscreens (heat reflective I think) which do significantly affect GPS signals

Mark_Hewitt

evilgoose wrote: »

I've got a Quickclear screen in my Fiesta (+the heated mirrors)

I've not experienced any problems with sat nav reception with it on both a GPS phone or a dedicated satnav (garmin).

Switch on the heated screens, (and depending if I'm running late for work or not) I either put the heater on and direct them at the side windows or if I'm in a rush I pop out and scrap them off, by then the ice will have melted off the screen.

They're a great feature.

Cold morning start procedure (and we haven't had any of this this winter yet)

Get in car, start engine put on front and rear screen. But the blowers on full blast (with A/C on) Put the wipers on standard speed and push the screen wash button every 20 seconds or so. After 2-3 minutes the front screen will be clear. Then open side windows and depart.

TrickyWicky

My cars have the front demister too, first one worked within seconds when we first got it. You could press the button and within 30 seconds the screen was clear - you could literally see the ice melting off it right in front of you and watch it spread across the screen.

No idea what happened to it or if they die naturally but it got slower and slower to the point of uselessness. The heated mirrors however have never let me down once.

Premier_2

Notmyrealname wrote: »

On my Mondeo they come on automatically if the outside temperature is below a certain level but only when you've started the car.

Oh yes, the Diesel version? I forgot that one

A bit of an odd ball really.

The diesel has a hefty alternator fitted, and as you say the heated screen only comes on when the engine is running anyway, so the battery never suffers. And to safeguard this, if the battery voltage ever does drop below a pre-determined voltage, then the heated screen turns off automatically too, just incase the alternator is duff or otherwise not charging sufficiently.

Why did Ford opt to do this? Well the diesels don't heat up much naturally anyway and in the cold fail to achieve warm up rates for the vehicle interior, so to increase warm up rates Ford load the engine (by turning on the screenheater), so making the engine work harder, (due to the alternator loading) produce more heat and, bingo, it meets the cabin warm up time requirement. Cheaper than supplying a fuel fired auxilliary heater. :cool:

Petrol engines warm up ok so don't need the loading.

jase1

There is a bit of a problem with these heated windscreens -- and that is what happens to the base models that lack the feature.

My Focus LX lacks the heated screen, and the demister is the most useless, underperforming travesty of any car I've owned in the last 20 years. Presumably underengineered as a result of the optional heater element.

The works pool Focus, also a base model is just as bad, so it's not just my car.