Windshield washer fluid additive to depress freezing point?
- Thread starter 92saturnsl2
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-60C??? You live in Antarctica?
No, but it's more efficient to buy a gallon of that and add a gallon of water if needed.
You're saying that when mixed with water in the reservoir the one with slightly more alcohol selectively distilled out the alcohol?
No. Even if the vapor pressure was somewhat higher it will only fall to the level of the weaker mixture, not any worse.
Owen Lucas
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Yeah I agree, even though Karcher seems like a legitimate company, this product might only be useful for someone who experiences frequent thick frost, or doesn't have time to warm up their vehicle. Pretty interesting none the less. Paid promotions are very suspect, I've seen them on Lowes as well.
For those adding isopropyl alcohol to their washer reservoir, isn't it supposed to be bad for clear coats? Not sure if methanol is bad either but have been using it for years with no issues, just a faded plastic cowl after 16 years.
I'm not sure any alcohol is the best thing for a paint finish, especially the higher concentrations. It's a solvent, and solvents are generally hard on paint-- some more aggressive ones are used to actually strip paint, so there's that.
I find myself not using the washers very often-- in summer, it just smears bug guts around so I'll clean windshields at the gas station using the squeegee thing-- no overspray onto the paint that way either. Sometimes I'll get pollen or random crap on the windshield that I have to wash off, but doesn't happen often.
In winter after snowstorms (few and far between here), it's a must have as I discovered driving home the other day. So I really have no use for the summer stuff (even the bug-wash summer blend doesn't work all that well on bugs IMO); I'm sticking to the -20F or below.
Anti Frost Windshield Washer Fluid Concentrate 33.8 oz (1 liter)
Anti Frost Concentrated Winter Washer Fluid with ethanol melts frost and loosens ice. Prevents rapid re-icing. Glare-free, smear-free. No ammonia or methanol. 33.8 fl oz
www.nextzettusa.com
Doesn't contain ammonia or methanol so better for the paint maybe?
Edit: looks like its not for sale this season and has ethanol as it's main ingredient.
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NEWS: Due To The Continued High Demand For Ethanol As A Disinfectant In Consumer Products As A Result Of The COVID Pandemic, Ethanol Prices Remains At An All Time High. Ethanol Is The Main Ingredient In Our Winter Line Of Products And For This Reason, We Are Sad To Say That For The First Time In Decades We Are Unable To Produce Our Winter Products For The 2021-2022 Winter Season. Unfortunately, The Cost Of The Product Would Be Way Too High. Please Visit Our Kristall Klar Product Page To Learn How To Make A Winter Version Of Kristall Klar. We Look Forward To Producing Anti Frost And Eistau For The 2022-2023 Winter Season.
You're lucky to have that available, the lowest around here is -20F. You must be in a cold area if that's available.
At $12 a liter, regular windshield washer fluid is much cheaper. Plus it doesn't fix his problem, if the nozzles are frozen, they would have to unfreeze first and once they're unfrozen, you can just squirt out the old water and put in a regular windshield washer fluid.
This thread is like a solution looking for a problem.
At my work I see all the morons that just dump straight water in the washer fluid reservoir. Then I get to replace washer pump and reservoir. Done thousands of them too
Um, ok. Say whatever you want as usual.
I can only report what I observed, which was:
90% mix refroze after a few days.
70% mix, same proportions, did not refreeze.
Same average temps, upper teens to mid 20s F.
Sorry you don't like it.
Liking it doesn’t have anything to do with it.
He's not lying. If the 90% mix froze whereas the 70% didn't, something else is at play here, not the alcohol concentration. Basic science.
Yup. As I may have mentioned, it seems the 90% either did not mix or separated, and evaporated. This allowed the freeze point to climb enough for it to freeze.
Didn't want to clutter the thread, but I experimented with the 90% and 70% side by side and the 90% was gone in a day or so. So either it evaporated or my alcoholic brother drank it.
But don't take my word for it; get some 90 and 70% rubbing alcohol and try it yourself.
But we're getting away from the theme of the thread. Most products suggested contain methanol, just in pretty colors at a higher price point than rubbing alcohol. So adding that to lower the freezing point will work, no matter what the product is named. I'm out.
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But we can agree that it's not the 90% product that's at fault here, right? It's a proven fact (again, science), that 90% alcohol would be LESS likely to freeze than 70%, assuming the other constituent is water, all other variables being equal.
You're effectively stating that 90% alcohol mixture freezes more quickly than a 70% mixture. That's not true, and if that's what you experienced, it's not the alcohol percentage that was the cause-- something else is at play there. Maybe you had nozzles/lines that were already frozen, tank was half full of water (when you added the 90%), who knows.
Actually, the gallons I bought are not a gel at all. Most hand sanitizers are sold as a gel, but a small amount (maybe 5%???) is sold as a spray. The sprays have the same consistency as drug store alcohol.
At the peak of early-mid 2020 COVID, we were getting all sorts of hand sanitizers available around here. Most were actually liquid (all stores were out of the usual gel stuff) because many came from local distilleries that didn't have the means/time/whatever to blend it into a gel. At work we even got some from our uniform company that came in a clear Lucas oil bottle, it was liquid also. Strange times, but I'd be willing to bet there's a lot of liquid sanitizer product out there.
The Canadian solution would be to just run the winter -35C formulation year round, but that would be a little excessive in Kentucky. Like others have said just mix in some if the winter washer fluid or add some rubbing alcohol, methanol, etc can even use Vodka in a pinch. The washer reservoir is located in the engine bay in most cars so the heat from the engine will thaw it out as you drive.
I mix propylene glycol with water. It's effective, non-toxic, and inexpensive. Same stuff I use to de-ice my airplane. And used in potable water systems in RVs.
However, the windshield sprayers can freeze up even if the fluid hasn't frozen. Exterior ice and snow can plug the squirt port and even after you scrape that away, it might still be jammed if some is stuck down in the hose.
However, the windshield sprayers can freeze up even if the fluid hasn't frozen. Exterior ice and snow can plug the squirt port and even after you scrape that away, it might still be jammed if some is stuck down in the hose.
All mine are tucked far down inside the front clip (with a long spout/funnel up into the engine bay where you can fill it), where engine heat just might get to it if the car sat idle long enough with a hot engine.
I don't use washers in the summer often enough to justify keeping a summer blend in there, and TBH, the summer bug-wash stuff isn't all that great at cleaning bugs. Good at smearing bugs guts, sure.
I'll stick with the regular blue -20F stuff that happens to be least expensive. I feel like keeping -35C/F formula in there is overkill, and the extra alcohol probably isn't the best for the paint.
$0.50 Gallons of alcohol back in stock at my local Home Depot. Picked up another two gallons.
I buy enough winter stuff to last all year (actually many years as I buy a few of the large 10L jugs at a time.)
