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jim mcglinchey
3rd December 2008, 10:46
...broken a car windscreen by clearing the ice from it with warm water? Or is this a myth. I've been doing it for years without any accidents, but Im still nervous evry time I do it.

Daniel
3rd December 2008, 11:36
i think warm water is OK but hot definitely not

Mark
3rd December 2008, 12:26
There are lots of stories about people shattering their windscreen when using boiling water, but nobody who has actually claimed it has happened to them.

I think the point here is a very cold windscreen and boiling water. Warm water out of the tap will be fine.

Me; I push a button :p

Tazio
3rd December 2008, 13:02
...broken a car windscreen by clearing the ice from it with warm water? Or is this a myth. I've been doing it for years without any accidents, but Im still nervous evry time I do it.It happens all the time here in San Diego! :)

DonJippo
3rd December 2008, 14:50
Why don't use one of these and stop playing with water...

http://www.villiaromi.fi/images/8761_08-ice-scraper-r-im04a1.jpg

Daniel
3rd December 2008, 14:58
I have one of these does the same job and keeps your hand warm :hot:

http://direct.asda.com/Simpsons-Ice-Scraper/001828470,default,pd.html

Tomi
3rd December 2008, 15:57
Why don't use one of these and stop playing with water...

http://www.villiaromi.fi/images/8761_08-ice-scraper-r-im04a1.jpg

And if you can find 1 made of plexi its far better, first time i have ever heard somene use warm water, wonder if they use a cat to wipe the table also :)

Daniel
3rd December 2008, 16:01
And if you can find 1 made of plexi its far better, first time i have ever heard somene use warm water, wonder if they use a cat to wipe the table also :)
My ice scraper is made of nice thick plexiglass. Much better than the normal scrapers.

Tomi
3rd December 2008, 16:38
My ice scraper is made of nice thick plexiglass. Much better than the normal scrapers.

True, and its easy to sharpen, after that its like new again.

GridGirl
3rd December 2008, 18:09
Nope although I have smashed glasses by pooring hot water into them before. :)

Heated front screen's...they're the future. :p Atleast it seems like people on this forum clear their windscreens. Last month when it snowed here some woman who lives on the same same street as my brother girlfriend didn't bother and reversed about 100 yards down the street. It was at this point she hit my brother's car. A nice £1200 repair bill for a new door and wing on my brother Type R all because of laziness. :rolleyes:

Drew
3rd December 2008, 19:40
Nope although I have smashed glasses by pooring hot water into them before. :)

Heated front screen's...they're the future. :p Atleast it seems like people on this forum clear their windscreens. Last month when it snowed here some woman who lives on the same same street as my brother girlfriend didn't bother and reversed about 100 yards down the street. It was at this point she hit my brother's car. A nice £1200 repair bill for a new door and wing on my brother Type R all because of laziness. :rolleyes:

/ Stupidity?

I have never done it and never will, the idea scares me!

schmenke
3rd December 2008, 21:09
Why don't use one of these and stop playing with water...

http://www.villiaromi.fi/images/8761_08-ice-scraper-r-im04a1.jpg

Mine is attached to a stick, with a brush on the other end :p :

Robbied
3rd December 2008, 21:14
Happens all the time over in the USA. So many cars in cold parts of the country have cracked screens. New England, Colorado and the North seems bad in my experience.

But yeh, prob not a good idea to use boiling water.....

walrus81
4th December 2008, 10:47
I only really get ice on my windscreen a couple of times a year. and it's so thin that you don't even have to use warm water.

schmenke
4th December 2008, 14:30
-17 deg. C here this morning.

Scrape, scrape, scrape... :mark:

veeten
4th December 2008, 15:52
I don't have to... I take the bus. :p :

Hazell B
4th December 2008, 18:52
I've cracked a very large fish tank by adding a small amount of warm (not very hot even!) water to the cold that was straight from the tap. I know aquarium glass is strong, especially as it was a six foot tank, but windscreen should be stronger by miles making it far less liable to break.

Having said that, the man who fixed my windscreen after a stone hit it, says he does two a week that have cracked from warm water in icy conditions. To be fair he fixes dozens each week, so it's not that much of a percentage at just two.

I use my cigarette tin to scrape the window. It's easy to hold, soft metal and always in my pocket anyway. Not that I'm tall enough to reach most of it :p :

leopard
5th December 2008, 07:49
I can't still imagine how to use the triangle, the rest of place AC can't cover I only use the finest chamois leather.

AJP
5th December 2008, 23:54
Call Mythbusters !

RWD
7th December 2008, 13:02
I use my credit card to scrape the windows, works just as well as the scrappers you can buy.

Rover V8
7th December 2008, 14:04
I've cracked a very large fish tank by adding a small amount of warm (not very hot even!) water to the cold that was straight from the tap. I know aquarium glass is strong, especially as it was a six foot tank, but windscreen should be stronger by miles making it far less liable to break.

Having said that, the man who fixed my windscreen after a stone hit it, says he does two a week that have cracked from warm water in icy conditions. To be fair he fixes dozens each week, so it's not that much of a percentage at just two.



Yes, I've seen it done- guy pours hot water onto a screen to clear the ice, and an existing stonechip spreads into a full-scale crack across about a quarter of the screen....

markabilly
7th December 2008, 16:19
I poured warm water and as the ice melted and ran off, the windshield suddenly cracked.

The water was not hot and over the years, I had done it many times, as I have found that sometimes you can scrape the glass using a scraper.

Another time, I scraped the glass very quickly and took off, and suddenly the glass cracked with a horizontal crack from side to side down low. Total time elapsed was maybe two to three minutes from the first scrape to the cracking

Now I simply turn on the car and let the heat remove the ice gradually before going anywhere.

janneppi
8th December 2008, 07:34
I'm getting an indoor heater for christmas this year. I don't drive that often in winter so the ice get's to be quite thick, and on both sides of the glasses sometimes. I'd rather destroy the environment using electricity for an hour to heat the car than using the car engine for ten minutes it takes to drill though the ice sheet in the windows :)

Last year I bought a trendy blue scraper with a brush at the other end, unfortunately, it's pretty bad, especially considering the price.