Frozen windscreen washer jets - thawing

Some cars have heated pipes ....

Probably not quite your case, but sometimes the washer jets seem to get a thin cap of ice after first use, I suspect that the isopropanol or whatever it is that stops it freezing in the reservoir evaporates and cools the now almost pure water at the nozzle. When that happens, they can often be cleared by putting your finger on them for a while to heat just the very tip.

nib

If you can work-up enough pressure you could pee on them (hint: DIY). I was known to do that with frozen car door locks in my impecunious student days.

Did you get the owner's permission before 'helping out' in this way? Did the Magistrate accept your defence?

Years ago, I saw someone heat a key with a lighter and press it against the jet. It worked, after a couple of tries.

I assume it would only work if only the tip / jet was ice, it seems unlikely the heat would be enough to warm the nozzle and the pipe etc.

I remember ‘tips’ in car magazines recommending wrapping a length of thin copper pipe around the exhaust manifold and routing the washer pipe through it.

you're taking the pee!

Nothing wrong with tepid or warmish water, been using it for decades. (Never tried boiling water on account of not being an imbecile.)

I did something similar - I wrapped copper pipe, around one of the heater hoses. It worked quite well, once the engine was warm, and warm water squirted on the screen on the journey, was better than cold.

"Cold" water from the tap is warm enough to clear the ice (possibly with several applications is it's thick).

I expect some people see kettles being used to "water the windscreen" and assume kettle = boiling water, where in fact the kettle is probably the only large jug to hand...

:-) These were only my own locks - but perhaps I missed an opportunity for a start-up service industry

I use ziplock plastic bags of hot water for the screen, it would probably work for the jets.

not seen any mention in here of any brand or recipe for any sort of anti freeze screen wash ?

The problem with anti-freeze screen wash is that it is alcohol based and once it gets to the nozzle it evaporates and lowers the temperature by

I've used the same VW screenwash for about 15 years, it's about 80% alcohol, recommended mixture is 1:1 which is overkill for this country down to -40°C, this time of year I generally use it 2:1, it's never frozen after leaving the jets ...

No. It's the jets that freeze...

My car lets the screen-wash drain back into its container between uses. This does result in a delay of about 1 second between activating it and anything coming out, but it overcomes the freezing problem (so far). John

I suppose the advantage or your method would be not having to take the kettle back to the kitchen afterwards. (Failure to do this might lead to domestic disputes).

Some cars have heated jets. Mine does and they're a godsend in this weather.

And blows off some of the pipework lower down. Last year my ex-MOT-tester neighbour had to fix up a couple of cars where this had happened. One needed a new pump unit which was hidden under the front wheelarch and a sod to get at.