It's that screenwash thread again

Hintza

force_ten wrote: »

I have not had an issue with the Lidl screenwash marking my paint

I use it neat in winter and will I ever get to test it down to minus 60 ?

I work in the principle that the dilution effect is linear and always have it at least 50:50; surely to goodness -30 is enough in this country


Still got a bit from last year.

neilmcl

I've need had the need to use the lidl stuff neat. The most I ever use is a 2:1 ratio in the winter and that's always been good enough, even the winter before last when temps dropped below 12C a couple of times.

reeac

I'm not convinced that windchill is relevant. I think that it's a physiological effect - increases the rate of heat loss from the body which is felt as increased chilling but doesn't actually lower the temperature to below the ambient value. That being the case it's just the" weather forecast temperature " that counts when it comes to freezing of pipes and jets.

redux

reeac wrote: »

I'm not convinced that windchill is relevant. I think that it's a physiological effect - increases the rate of heat loss from the body which is felt as increased chilling but doesn't actually lower the temperature to below the ambient value. That being the case it's just the" weather forecast temperature " that counts when it comes to freezing of pipes and jets.

I would almost agree, especially about wind chill being subjective to humans, but on the other hand I have a suspicion that some of the cheap screenwashes have solvents that evaporate too quickly.

They will be fine in the bottle and up the pipes, but once on the screen the water can be turning slushy and icy within seconds, before the wipers can clear it. I took some back to Halfords a few years ago because it was freezing on the screen at only about minus one or two air temperature. I don't know if it's evaporation or something else, but it couldn't be that the glass was still much colder as it had already had hot air blowing up the inside for half an hour.

reeac

redux wrote: »

I would almost agree, especially about wind chill being subjective to humans, but on the other hand I have a suspicion that some of the cheap screenwashes have solvents that evaporate too quickly.

They will be fine in the bottle and up the pipes, but once on the screen the water can be turning slushy and icy within seconds, before the wipers can clear it. I took some back to Halfords a few years ago because it was freezing on the screen at only about minus one or two air temperature. I don't know if it's evaporation or something else, but it couldn't be that the glass was still much colder as it had already had hot air blowing up the inside for half an hour.

Sounds more like dilution due to mixing with water/slush etc on the windscreen rather than loss of active ingredient by evaporation.

rdr

barmonkey wrote: »

I use fairy liquid and never had the bottle freeze.

fairy liquid contains salt, so causes corrosion. The salt is an effective, non-volatile anti-freeze.

rdr

reeac wrote: »

Sounds more like dilution due to mixing with water/slush etc on the windscreen rather than loss of active ingredient by evaporation.

melting the ice cools the water and so will produce slush. I also think volatile solvents evaporating can cause the liquid to cool while also losing the anti-freeze effect. Wind speed and car speed enhance this effect. I suspect this effect also contributes to frozen nozzles.

Iceweasel

In the days before Lidl & Aldi I used to use Shell winter screen-wash which was good for -20°C and I naievely thought that'll be fine as even in North of scotland we rarely get temperatures that low.

Sure enough it never froze in the jets or the bottle when around town - but on a motorway trip in -10°C it froze on the screen after the first wipe spread it thinly.

As Lidl's super low temperature screenwash is the same price as other brands less capable stuff I don't see any point in using a screenwash that might freeze at motorway speeds.

For anyone contemplating a skiing trip to the Alps its a no-brainer of course.