slime in wash bottle

The water bottle for the windscreen wash on my car continually fills up with slime, algy and other residues - does anyone know what's causing this? - I have tried various additives that claim to be antifreeze, non smear etc, but all seem to turn into solvite within a week or two....my reason for adding them was not for their claims, but to try and kill off the organisms which obvioulsy love the conditions in there. The water bottle holds 5 litres of water, I've tried just putting in one litre and refilling when nessecary, in case it was the length of time in the bottle that was the culprit, all to no avail. It might sound like a trivial problem, but when this crap works loose and comes down the tubes, it blocks all the jets. Today I took the bottle off and it is now in a bucket containing bleach, caustic soda and hot water, I've had to do this every year since I've had the car, what's causing it and how can it be stopped?

TIA

X-posted to uk.d-i-y and uk.rec.cars.maintenance

Reply to
Phil L
Loading thread data ...

Algae, fungi, and yeasts can be very difficult to eradicate. I'd remove all the antifreeze, wash out the bottle as well as possible, and try running with a dilute bleach solution for maybe a month or so. Something like a couple of tablespoons per litre. Use the screenwasher frequently to keep fresh solution in the pipes. This may shorten the life of the wiper blades slightly and perhaps the rubber impeller in the pump. I don't believe the windscreen rubber seal or paint should suffer unduly because they expect to see ten years plus of sunlight. Ultra-violet plus air does the same to rubber as the increased oxidation rate from the bleach. (Wiper blades are made to be replaceable, and the impeller doesn't see sunlight).

Reply to
Newshound

|!The water bottle for the windscreen wash on my car continually fills up with |!slime, algy and other residues - does anyone know what's causing this? - I |!have tried various additives that claim to be antifreeze, non smear etc, but |!all seem to turn into solvite within a week or two....my reason for adding |!them was not for their claims, but to try and kill off the organisms which |!obvioulsy love the conditions in there. |!The water bottle holds 5 litres of water, I've tried just putting in one |!litre and refilling when nessecary, in case it was the length of time in the |!bottle that was the culprit, all to no avail. |!It might sound like a trivial problem, but when this crap works loose and |!comes down the tubes, it blocks all the jets. |!Today I took the bottle off and it is now in a bucket containing bleach, |!caustic soda and hot water, I've had to do this every year since I've had |!the car, what's causing it and how can it be stopped?

Clean the whole thing out, pipes and all with Puriclean from caravanning shops. We do our caravan water system yearly. Milton is reputed to be OK bleach attacks the seals.

Reply to
Dave Fawthrop

when youre done, put a pinch of copper sulphate in the bottle in the water/detergent

NT

Reply to
meow2222

Hypochlorite will kill off slime & algae and does so in very low concentrations. Try a teaspoon full of bleach - not enough to damage anythiong, but enough in 5 litres to kill off algae.

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

In message , Phil L writes

I've *heard* but have no first hand knowledge of this, that mixing different formulations of washer fluid can do this. Something similar to the problems of mixing mineral and synthetic oil - you end up with a sludge.

It's not about using brand 'A' then brand 'B', but more about the basis of the various formulations.

Wasn't there something similar about mixing different types of antifreeze?

Anyway - this is just what I've heard, no specific experience :-)

Hth Someone

Reply to
somebody

In message , somebody writes

Sorry to reply to my own post but, no, it was to do with washing up liquid being mixed with washer fluid, rather than different washer fluids.

That'll learn me to post after the pub :-)

Hth

Reply to
somebody

I had this problem some while ago. Found that using different screenwash liquids sometimes causes a gel to form in the base of the bottle and pump. Always use the same make now.

Reply to
Merryterry2000

Wash it out with soap and hot water and add some disinfectant to the refill solution

Reply to
PSOE

Bleach is good.

That should keep it alakaline enough to avoid re-infestation.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

somebody proclaimed to uk.rec.cars.maintenance ...

There is no problem mixing mineral and synthetic oil - it does not cause sludge.

Reply to
Coyoteboy

Or potassium permanganate (available from fish places or the chemist i think) - its an anti-fungal used to treat things like (fish!) athletes foot etc. If you dilute it enough to only be light pink it wont harm anything and will work wonders. If you have porous white paintwork I might be a little concerned but then bleach might work better then :)

Reply to
Coyoteboy

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.