[How to] Defrost your windows in record time

[Munro]

Originally Posted by Sandozer

That is one thing I miss from my old Focus TDCI, a !!!HEATED WINDSCREEN!!!.

Has Ford got the patent on this?? only seen it on Fordies so far....

The ford heated screen is brilliant for this time of year - demist or defrost the windscreen in seconds at the push of a button.

[matg]

Originally Posted by Sandozer

That is one thing I miss from my old Focus TDCI, a !!!HEATED WINDSCREEN!!!.

Has Ford got the patent on this?? only seen it on Fordies so far....

Yes I believe they do.

[Unknownsoldier]

Range Rover Vogues (don't know about other models, never had any different) has it too [a very fine nonnofilament wire through the windscreen].

Tom

[Dimplyred]

My wife's mini has one, as she keeps reminding me, I knew this would happen.

[N2H]

I'm sure it's nice to have a heated windscreen but as it's a legal requirement to have all windows blockage free, some de-icing will still have to be done surely...

[sambuca2907]

I don't think the heated front is just a Ford thing - I have driven another make of car that actually had a heated front screen, but for the life of me I cannot remember what it was!

[FWH]

Originally Posted by sambuca2907

I don't think the heated front is just a Ford thing - I have driven another make of car that actually had a heated front screen, but for the life of me I cannot remember what it was!

I´ve only seen it on Fords.
I thought they had a patent.

May well be available on other Ford-group cars or some-one else may be paying for the technology or worked around the patent.

[sambuca2907]

Originally Posted by FWH

I´ve only seen it on Fords.
I thought they had a patent.

May well be available on other Ford-group cars or some-one else may be paying for the technology or worked around the patent.

Yes someone above said they had seen this in a Range Rover but RR are part of the Ford group... well for the moment they are anyway!

[Koen]

I noticed when I do my windows with Rain-X, the ice comes off very easy with the rubber scraper blade. Without using water or an alcohol spray.
Cold tap water is indeed a good idea...when it's available. As someone suggested, my Civic resides in a nice garage at night , but at many occasions, you're parked somewhere at night, and then there isn't always tap water available. (Or a garage.) For these occasions I always have a bottle of water with diethylene glycol in the boot. But if the Rain-X coat is still ok, I hardly need it.

K.

[cjthompson321]

I've been using a 4 pint milk bottle filled with not hot-not cold water. Just enough so that it doesn't feel cold when poured over fingers.
Then I add a teaspoon of salt and shake vigourously.

It works wonders and doesn't re-freeze.

[FWH]

Seriously guys...

...it is not that much work to scrape the windows.
A bad day is when you have to dig the car out from 2 feet of snow.

And I don´t know about pouring salt water on my car.
The salt on roads is bad enough.

[cjthompson321]

Exactly. There's plenty of salt on the road which is heading straight for the paintwork. I'm not going to worry about a tiny bit on the glass that runs straight off.

[robbo51]

Ive been using warm water for many years. It works a treat.
Tried cold water...waste of time and freezes straight away again.

[Munro]

Originally Posted by FWH

Seriously guys...

...it is not that much work to scrape the windows.
A bad day is when you have to dig the car out from 2 feet of snow.

And I don´t know about pouring salt water on my car.
The salt on roads is bad enough.

Scraping does me as well - only takes a couple of minutes and its good exercise to warm you up before getting into a freezing car.

The snow Could be even more than 2 feet

[czechplastik]

I always used warm water or de-icer stuff. I'll give the cold water a go sometime, hasn't been cold enough recently to need to do anything

[P@tje]

well Ford is not the only one. Renault has it too !

But there are 12V systems on the market that can be used for quick heatering from inside. (Conrad)

I use the built-in windows spray ( of course is the tank filled up with winter ready stuff ) and push two buttons: one for rear/mirror heating, and the other one, the windshield defrost button ( it has an orange led also). Of course airco on!
Together with spraying, the windows is clean in short time. But of course this depends on how much it has frosen! One night with -10 Celcius is too much to use the spraying/wipering method. You will have to let the engine run for a while then.

[P@tje]

Originally Posted by czechplastik

I always used warm water or de-icer stuff. I'll give the cold water a go sometime, hasn't been cold enough recently to need to do anything

well warm water is not a very smart choise to use for this job ! to dangerous and tricky.

[Korkut Varol]

Originally Posted by Dimplyred

My wife's mini has one, as she keeps reminding me, I knew this would happen.

I suppose the Mini had it back in the 60's.. (at least for rallying purposes). See the horizontal strips inside the windshield.

[JohnH]

I really miss the heated screen from my Ford(s) - along with the decent rear suspension on the Focus (another thread)...

However, I've a feeling that Ford's patent has lapsed (might be mistaken) as they're only granted for a certain amount of time (15 years maybe)? You can definitely order a heated windscreen on a VW Passat these days.

The 2.2 (brilliant though it is and I know it's testament to its efficiency) does take an age to deliver warm air.

[GHGH]

Originally Posted by civicfan

You can use cold water it's no problem since it is still warm enough to melt the ice in light frost. If it is really cold (-15-20 °C) I would rather not pour water over the windows, since cold water will freeze too quickly and warm water might cause the glass to crack

In periods with -15-20°C the air contains less humidity, so I find the ice less problematic. Much worse last week with thawing days and freezing nights.