Windshield Wipers

[vivian maxine]

Someone with a nice, logical brain is going to explain the logic of this, I hope. Yesterday, as freezing rain coated the cars, I was seeing one car after another with the windshield wipers pulled all the way up, higher than the windshield in some cases. Today I got a chance to ask a neighbor whose car was among those. She says this is the newest thing to do. According to her, when you thaw the ice off your windshield, that will not thaw the wipers loose. No warm air gets to them. So, you would have to pry them loose, maybe breaking them.

What puzzles me is that neighbor thinks this is a great idea. My poor brain says "huh?" Used to be, when we thawed the windshield, the wipers also thawed loose, ready to go.

So, why is this "new thing" a great idea? Hmmmm?????? I await words of wisdom.

[ronjanec]

Someone with a nice, logical brain is going to explain the logic of this, I hope. Yesterday, as freezing rain coated the cars, I was seeing one car after another with the windshield wipers pulled all the way up, higher than the windshield in some cases. Today I got a chance to ask a neighbor whose car was among those. She says this is the newest thing to do. According to her, when you thaw the ice off your windshield, that will not thaw the wipers loose. No warm air gets to them. So, you would have to pry them loose, maybe breaking them.

What puzzles me is that neighbor thinks this is a great idea. My poor brain says "huh?" Used to be, when we thawed the windshield, the wipers also thawed loose, ready to go.

So, why is this "new thing" a great idea? Hmmmm?????? I await words of wisdom.

Vivian,

If you leave the wipers in their usual position when it is forecast for snow or freezing rain, you will usually get some kind of ice build up that the rubber or neoprene of the blades may stick to;

If you then use your wipers to clean the windshield, even after thawing off the ice on the windshield, they will still probably remain frozen to the ice that you were not able to reach/defrost, and you then risk damaging them permanently by forcing them to seperate from the ice.

So, it is a very good idea to do this when the forecast calls for snow or ice(if you can do this with your particular car), to again avoid the risk in possibly damaging them permanently.

[vivian maxine]

Thank you, ronjanec. Logical but I'm wondering why this didn't happen in the old days. And is it audacious of me to ask why automobile manufacturers, with all their skills, cannot solve this little problem? Also, aren't you creating another problem by chancing a big blast of wind tearing those wipers off?

OK. I at least know the answer as to why they do it. Thank you.

[ronjanec]

Thank you, ronjanec. Logical but I'm wondering why this didn't happen in the old days. And is it audacious of me to ask why automobile manufacturers, with all their skills, cannot solve this little problem? Also, aren't you creating another problem by chancing a big blast of wind tearing those wipers off?

OK. I at least know the answer as to why they do it. Thank you.

Vivian,

It would probably take (at least) a hundred and fifty mile per hour wind to cause the kind of problem you are talking about here. I live in the Chicago area Vivian, and we have already been doing this for many years with no problems when snow or ice is forecast.

[vivian maxine]

Thank you, ronjanec. Logical but I'm wondering why this didn't happen in the old days. And is it audacious of me to ask why automobile manufacturers, with all their skills, cannot solve this little problem? Also, aren't you creating another problem by chancing a big blast of wind tearing those wipers off?

OK. I at least know the answer as to why they do it. Thank you.

Vivian,

It would probably take (at least) a hundred and fifty mile per hour wind to cause the kind of problem you are talking about here. I live in the Chicago area Vivian, and we have already been doing this for many years with no problems when snow or ice is forecast.

As long as it needs doing and works, guess that's what matters. I remember once driving through a heavy snow storm. Had to stop every few miles to clean off the wipers so they could keep working. They never damaged the windshield.

Thanks again. Just wanted to know the whys of it. I was battered by that Chicago wind once. That was enough. Cold coming off the lake.