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Failing to Maintain Wind. Wipers. Con and Use Regs.
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How does your friend see where he/she is going when it rains?
If they use a product like Rain-X, doesn't it eliminate the need for using wipers?
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DD,
Don't encourage them !
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Rain X
Better quoted as xxxx RainX!
Magic if it rains hard, but terrible stuff in light drizzle. You cannot see where you are going if you use your wipers!
I took care in applying carefully to a perfectly clean (new) screen, and then hours to get if off! Worth it on side windows and non swept area of windscreen though.
pmh (was peter)
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I have to disagree about RainX. I've been using it and similar products for years. I found it was especially useful when living in England. As for drizzle, you can still see better, because all the rain sits in tiny droplets, and you can see between them. The intermittent position for the wipers moves the drops when they get too big. On motorways in wet weather, you really can use the wipers much less, as the water just zooms up the screen in a rather fascinating manner. Even following HGVs, the screen stays much clearer. It does need recoating every couple of months if you use the wipers a lot, but certainly improves visibility.
I think the product was originally developed for aircraft use. It was certainly used on the Lockheed P-3K Orions I worked on for several years. They had wipers that were very strong but abrasive, and the rain repellent meant that the wipers only needed to be used in the worst weather.
It's just coming into the season for rain repellent, so give it a try!
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Sorry, disagree Pete M.
I tried RainX once, and never again.
Yes, it does cause water to bead well at speed (as would typically apply in an aircraft, one would hope!), but the horrendous foggy smearing in light rain, as previous posted, more than negates this benefit. So, on side windows? Fine. On my kart racing visor when I used to race? Fine. On car windscreens? Never, ever. Ever. Sorry, was I clear? Ever! ;-)
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Be a good chap then, and pass on the rest of the bottle to someone else to try. I guess some cars just don't suit it. Used it myself in UK for 5 years, on four different cars, loved it. Not sure about 'foggy smearing'. In fine mist, a wipe of the wipers sometimes produces a momentary fine cloud of droplets, but a touch of demist to warm the windscreen usually stops it. One of those things, like some people swear by automatic gearboxes, others swear at them.
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I applied a rain repellent purchased from a Daily Telegraph offer about 18 months ago. It may have been "Rainex". I followed all of the instructions and made sure the screens of a Discovery and BMW were very clean( good brand of cleaner followed by a final wipe with paper towel and meths and then dried with a clean soft cotton cloth ). It worked for about 6 months then I noted that in light rain the Discovery screen remained smeared. I bought new wipers but this did not make it any better the problem proceeded to get worse. Since then I have used just about every windscreen cleaner on the market to remove the film, incuding Rainex cleaner. Nothing seems to work! The problem is now becoming very bad especially at night. I have also noted that the BMW screen is going the same way. Could there be some form of reaction with the windscreen washing additives and does anyone know how to remouve the film?
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Forgive me for asking, but you did re-apply the rain repellent once its efficiency dropped, didn't you? It will be worn off by the wiper blades, but cleaning and re-application restore the performance. Over the years, I've taken to applying the stuff with my hand. It is a little messy, but you don't lose what is absorbed in the cloth, and you can feel with your fingers whether the glass is 'original' or 'slippery'.
I think that a mildly abrasive household cleanser such as "Cif" would remove the smearing effect. This is a problem I've never had, including five years driving in the UK. One brand I used, "Rain Racer" inluded a mild abrasive paste to thoroughly clean the windscreen before application. I didn't feel that the extra cost over the RainX product gave any difference in performance though. In an emergency, toothpaste is a very mild abrasive that will not scratch glass. I found that the amount of diesel sludge on UK roads that is thrown up in wet weather tests the performance of any windscreen cleaning system. In New Zealand I often wondered what the point of headlamp wash-wipe systems was as our roads are largely free of this stuff. Once in the UK, I was glad that my Volvos had headlamp wash wipe fitted. There is also a pink RainX liquid that can be added to washer bottles. I found this worked well to prolong the time that the repellent was effective.
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I have to admit that, quite a few years ago, before AA recovery and all that, I finished a trip home, about 15 miles on well used a roads A roads, at night in the rain, without any wipers. Not something to reccommend!
It was a slow trip even on the parts that were lit.
I was driving in a thunder storm when one of the wiper arms fell onto the bonnet and acrid smoke filled the cabin.
Even from a reasonable speed, with no vision, just stopping was a challenge.
The pivot that passes throught the bodywork had come apart. This allowed the rest of the internal arms to drop back inside the dash and then jam up, thus burning the motor out.
I certainly would not do it again in todays environment.
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Back in the 70s we used to rub half a potato across the screen if the wipers failed, same effect as Rain-x, not as long lasting, but a lot cheaper.
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In emergency, many moons ago, I remembered the old motorists trick of wiping the screen with a sliced potato. Worked quite well
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I've got PIAA Silicone wipers on my car and they work quite well. In the heavy rain today I only needed the intermittent wiper, and on the motorway I dont need them at all. And it doesn?t smear when you use them at all.
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On my Capri I used to find that in a certain speed range the slipstream from the long bonnet would whisk rain and snow over the car, clear of the windscreen and you could turn the wipers off.
On the other hand, picked my brother up from Warwick Uni in a 105E Anglia when the wipers went and had in "interesting" drive back to Essex.
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So its been made clear that having faulty/ non functioning wipers is an offence and MOT failure, but how about not using them by choice?, any particular rules against that?. Or would the police just reach for a "driving without due care", covers-it-all type charge?.
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Forget all this Rain-X and potato nonsense, ALL cars have two inbuilt safety features as standard. The wipers and the windsreen washers are there for one reason only, so the driver can see where he is going, keeping windscreen clear in wet weather. (that's two if your pedantic, but the same meaning)
Why anybody who would not want to use them by choice is beyond me. No they should not have the charge 'driving without due care' They should have their licences taken away permanently.
'nuff said.
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What I want to know is why no one has invented a wiper blade for motorbike visors.
When I used to be an all weather biker, I was forever using the palm of my gloves to wipe the visor with.
::Excuse me while I pop to the Patents office to register my idea::
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When I used to be an all weather biker, I was forever using the palm of my gloves to wipe the visor with.
Oh! I thought they were friendly waves to me.
Now I shall stop waving back.
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>>What I want to know is why no one has invented a wiper blade for motorbike visors.
I wonder if the spam merchants offer an eyelash grower/curler. You can't beat the old natural methods.
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::Excuse me while I pop to the Patents office to register my idea::
Damn!! Beaten to it.
swpat.ffii.org/pikta/txt/ep/1236/409/abstract.txt
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>>What I want to know is why no one has invented a wiper blade >>for motorbike visors.
>>When I used to be an all weather biker, I was forever using >>the palm of my gloves to wipe the visor with.
Turn head to the side momentarily.
This clears the rain, assuming that you havn't already ruined the surface of the visor by wiping it with your glove.
El Dingo.
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Turn head to the side momentarily. This clears the rain,
No need anymore. Fair weather biker now ;o)
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Used the half a potato cure on two or three occasions over the years; on one occasion we were deep in the Trough of Bowland when the wipers packed up on our then Ford Anglia 105E.
After struggling for a couple of miles we came across a lone cottage, knocked on the door and asked the surprised occupier if we could beg or borrow a potato.
After explaining why, he gave us three and sliced them in half as well.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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This has given me the hoodoo. A wiper blade felll off the Landie in the middle of a dismal task in the dark and sleet last night. It would be the driver's side of course. I didn;t have a spud with me either !
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I seem to remeber that you could buy a wiper for helmet visors.
It was called the V wiper and fitted over the index finger of your glove. I beleive it was made by the company that made visors. Never tried one but they do (did) exist.
The problem I always have is with my glasses misting up under my visor. Anti-mist spray helps but doesn't last long. It's not a problem on the open road but when I stop at traffic lights I have to hold my breath. Hopefully the light goes green before I go blue!
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>>It was called the V wiper and fitted over the index finger of your glove.
I got one from the Bike Show in about 1978. It was rubbish.
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>>It was called the V wiper and fitted over the index finger of your glove. I got one from the Bike Show in about 1978. It was rubbish.
And it fell off after about two miles!
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It was called the V wiper I beleive it was made by the company that made visors. Never tried one but they do (did) exist.
Whilst I was googling to see if someone had already invented a wiperblade for visors (yes, sad I know), I came across a few of said mentioned devices. Comical springs to mind.
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