What can be cooked from squid: quick and tasty

With the arrival of cold weather, many motorists are faced with such a problem as glass icing. Of course, when the interior of the car is already warm enough, the ice on the windows begins to gradually melt, however, when driving in severe frost, an ice crust may appear on the glass even with a warm interior. It can be difficult to remove it with the help of wipers, and the wipers sometimes freeze to the glass. What to do in this case? The way out of the situation will be the revision of the wipers, namely, equipping them with a heating system. Now the windshield wipers will always be warm enough to stay warm in cold weather and effectively deal with snow and ice on the windshield.

The revision is quite simple and cheap, but very effective. Everything works on the basis of a nichrome wire.

Step one. We prepare nichrome
First of all, it is important to properly prepare the heating element, in our case it is a nichrome wire. Such wire is often used in the manufacture of various spirals and other things; it can be bought without any problems in the market or in a specialized store. For homemade products, the author chose a nichrome wire Ф 0.3 mm, in length it should be twice the length of the wipers, you also need to add 200 mm here.

At the other end, you will need to make a loop, then a cambric is put on here. This loop is needed in order to compensate for the different degrees of expansion when heating nichrome and rubber.

With the arrival of the first frosts and the first snow, the drivers begin to have seasonal problems that concern not only, high degree the likelihood of an accident, but also persistent problems with visibility, in particular with the windshield.

Persistent problems with snow and icy glass are integral companions of winter operation. The world is constantly coming up with new ways to deal with low temperatures, including all kinds of ones that are resistant to extremely low temperatures and much more. As for the ice on the glass, there are also a number of solutions that make life easier for "our brother". Among these solutions: an almost invisible mesh built into the glass, which heats up and defrosts the windshield or rear window using the onboard power supply. There are also various scrapers and gels that can be used to easily remove the crust on the windshield. More recently, manufacturers of wiper blades have come up with another option for dealing with limited visibility - the so-called heated brushes, which, when heated, warm the glass dozens of times faster than conventional wipers. Buy such wipers is not difficult, but it does not suit everyone, someone cannot afford it, but someone like me just wants to do useful thing do it yourself. As you already understand, today I will tell you how to do heated wipers do it yourself, using scrap materials and home tools.

Attention! The purpose of the article is not to force or convince someone to use factory heated brushes, the article is just an alternative (budget) option and a demonstration of the capabilities (or abilities) of a person in the field of car tuning. The test subject was the Passat B3.

Now let's talk about everything in order ... Do-it-yourself heating of the wipers

In my experiments, I used a HORS wiper tape, by the way, it allows you to achieve a really good result. Main feature of this brush is its hollow structure, as well as plastic profile in which it is fixed.

1. In order to make the heating element, I needed a nichrome wire Ф0.3 mm, its length should be twice the length of the wiper +200 mm. This wire is usually used for the manufacture of heating coils. Since the heating element runs along the entire length of the brush, it must follow its contour, otherwise, you may experience unpleasant moments in the form of a loose wiper to the glass surface.

2. In order to align the spiral, do the following: put the spiral on the awl and hold it with one hand, pull out a piece of the required length with pliers, about 0.5 m. Stretch the wire and set the gas burner flame so that the wire heats up red hot. Thus, you will get a workpiece of the required length.

3. After that, you need to measure a piece of wire equal in length to half of the wiper +100 mm.

4. Bend the wire as shown in the picture.

5. Install the long part of the end of the wire inside the hollow space of the elastic, with the short end diagonally pierce the elastic so that the wire does not short-circuit to the adapter installed on the profile. How to pierce is shown in the photo with a pin.

6. Gradually pull on both ends of the wire one by one until it is completely hidden in the rubber. Pay maximum attention to the last millimeters of the wire, make sure that it does not twist. This is critical because most often the wire burns out in places where it is twisted.

7. At the other end, make a loop, on which you need to put on insulation in the form of a cambric of the required diameter. Thanks to this loop, the temperature deformation of rubber and nichrome wire will be compensated.

8. Inside the plastic profile, make two holes through which the heater wires will be led out later.

9. Install the ends of the heater into the profile, then thread the rubber band.

10. Bend the ends and tin with the ends of the heater and soldering acid.

11. Solder a wire with a cross section of 2x0.2 (I used a ShVP2x0.2 wire) 2 m long.

12. In the place where the wires exit, it is necessary to glue a piece of the profile using dichloroethane, with its help you will protect the place of soldering from various kinds of damage.

14. Install a female connector on the other side of the wire so that you can connect power to it later.

15. The resistance of the heaters of a 45 cm wiper is about 8.8 ohms. A 60 cm long wiper has a resistance of 11 ohms.

Car enthusiasts who operate their cars all year round are well aware of the problem of freezing and icing of wipers. To restore elasticity and performance to rubber elements, they have to be constantly cleared of ice along with the frozen glass zone. If you often find yourself in a similar situation, the issue needs to be resolved radically - to organize electric heating of the wiper blades. Additional equipment is inexpensive and is installed on the car yourself.

Wipers defrosting methods

Traditionally, the lower part of the glass is heated by blowing hot air supplied by the interior heater fan. The problem is that thawing takes too long: first you need to warm up the engine and the coolant to get warm air, then it will take another 15–20 minutes to melt the ice.

There are several alternative solutions to the issue:

• organize heating of the rest zone of the brush using an overhead heating element;
• purchase ready-made windshield wipers with a built-in heating system and connect them to the car's on-board network;
• independently make a heating element and install it on standard "wipers" with connection to the mains through a cigarette lighter or a separate button.

The first method will give excellent results when installing a heater on the rear window of a car.... The fact is that at the plant it undergoes heat treatment and is not afraid of temperature differences in different zones. What can not be said about the windshield, whose heating in a frost of minus 15 ° C and below will provoke the appearance of cracks. This is a consequence of a sharp increase in temperature in one area, for which the three-layer structure of the "triplex" is not designed.

Heating the lower glass zone is quite simple: buy a film thermoelement and glue it to the surface (the product provides sticky layer On the one side). Then connect the wires connected to the cigarette lighter or a separate button to the contacts.

Note! When using a heater on the front glass, do not turn it on in a frost of -15 ° C and below. Warm up the car in the traditional way first.

Installation of heated wipers

Frameless brushes, equipped with factory thermoelements, are equipped with adapter modules for attaching to windshield wipers of cars of different brands (quantity - from 5 to 9 pcs.). There are several brands on sale whose products have been tested by drivers in practice: BREMAX, Burner and CHAMPION.

To heat the windshield using ready-made "wipers", read the instructions for use of the product and install them in this order:

1. Dismantle the standard brushes from the brackets, and remove from new parts plastic lids adaptive modules.
2. Choose a suitable mount from the kit and fix it on the adapter, carefully routing the wiring through the special hole.
3. Install the brushes on the wipers, passing the wires inside the brackets. To prevent them from dangling, secure the current-carrying conductors with thin plastic clamps.
4. Using any technological hole in the partition, lay the wiring up to the button or cigarette lighter socket.

Attention! In the places where the wipers are attached to the drive shafts, the wires must not be pulled, otherwise the wires will quickly break.

To protect the car's electrical network, connect an additional 5 A fuse to the heaters power circuit. If you need to activate the switch from a button, it is recommended to assemble a circuit with a relay that allows you to protect the button from high currents.

The practice of motorists using factory brushes shows that heating and thawing of glass under the rubber bands takes just 2–4 minutes. The unheated area remains covered with ice, which has to be melted with hot air from the stove.

Assembling homemade heating

To make heated wipers, you need to understand how factory-made products work. The construction is as follows: to metal strip, which serves as the base of the brush, a film heating element is glued, whose contacts are brought out approximately in the middle (where there is a fastener with a latch). The top of the heater is covered with a rubber wiper. Hence the conclusion: it is necessary to make the same flat elements and build them into standard brushes.

To work you will need the following materials:

• wire of the MGTF brand - 0.03 mm 2 in an amount of about 10 m for the heater;
• the same, brand MGShV or PV-3 (0.12 mm 2) for connection;
• heat shrink tube for sealing soldering;
• aluminum foil.

Note. The resistance of the heating wire for one wiper must be at least 5 ohms. This will give a thermal power of about 35 W at a circuit current of 2.5 A.

To make a heating element with your own hands, the first step is to remove and disassemble the "wipers". The goal is to accurately measure the length and width of the future film heater, guided by the dimensions of the metal base. Then proceed like this:

1. Drive 2 nails into the board at a distance equal to the length of the brush base.
2. Cut a piece of wire according to the resistance (indicated above) and wind it between the nails so that the ends are centered.
3. Fasten the resulting train with tape, remove from the nails and wrap with foil.
4. Solder the ends of the MGTF heating wire with the PV-3 connecting cable. Put an insulating heat-shrink tube on the joint and heat it with a lighter.

When finished, insert the homemade heater inside the brush, pressing it down with an elastic band and a plastic retainer. Further assembly and connection to the vehicle's on-board network is performed according to the algorithm described in the previous section.

Advice. During operation, use a homemade heating device for a short time so as not to drain the battery. Turn it on for 3-5 minutes, long enough to thaw the glass.

Refinement of silicone brushes

Many car owners install silicone wipers from the Khors brand instead of the usual "windshield wipers" with rubber pads. The products have 3 features:

1. Increased elasticity that does not fade over time.
2. A longitudinal hole is made inside the cover.
3. Silicone is able to withstand heating up to 250 ° C.

In this case, the heating of the brushes is done using a nichrome thread with a resistance of at least 8 ohms. If it is coiled, flatten the wire by heating with a small gas torch. Then pass the thread through the hole and pull the ends out in the middle, making an oblique channel with an awl. To solder to nichrome copper wire, treat it with a brush dipped in hydrochloric acid. Then work according to the previous scheme - collect the wipers and connect them to the mains.

If, for various reasons, you cannot make the heating element yourself, then use the advice of experienced drivers: before leaving the car in the parking lot, raise the "wipers" so that they do not freeze up and do not freeze to the glass.

The problem of wipers freezing to the windshield in winter is familiar to many motorists. Even the presence of the function of fixing the wipers in the service position often does not help. Moreover, the freezing of the adhering snow prevents a good cleaning of the windshield. For people who are not going to put up with this kind of inconvenience, consider how to make do-it-yourself heated wipers.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS

If you are only remotely familiar with the concepts of current strength, resistance, short circuit, the principle of operation of the relay, the basic rules for installing and connecting additional electrical equipment, then it is better to leave the idea of ​​making heating wipers with your own hands until better times. Alternatively, you can suggest:

• buy ready-made heated wipers. Some models are equipped with a control module that is able to automatically turn on / off heating, depending on temperature changes. The heater is powered by the cigarette lighter socket, so there is no need to interfere with the car's wiring. In addition, if you want to bring the inclusion to a separate button, this will require less effort than a full-fledged heating;
• install a heated area for the wipers, which will save the brushes from freezing to the glass. The only thing - remember that when used in severe frost, the risk of getting a crack in the windshield increases due to the large temperature difference.

DIY OPTIONS

After examining the materials that pop up on the network on the request "do-it-yourself heated wipers", we can conclude that there are 3 popular ways to implement heating:

OPTION WITH NICHROME THREAD

For the manufacture of heating, it is recommended to use nichrome wire with a diameter of 0.32 mm². Be sure to calculate the current consumption in order to install the correct fuse and select the wire size. For example, 1 m of thread of the Х20Н80 series and with a diameter of 0.32 mm² has a resistance of 13.7 ohms. With a known voltage and resistance, the power can be found by the formula W = U 2 / Rwhere W- power, U 2– voltage squared, R - resistance . You can calculate that the power will be equal to 14.3 W (14 * 14 / 13.7). Having power, we can calculate the amperage by the formula I = W / Uwhere I– current strength, W– power, U– voltage. The current strength will be equal to 1 A. Having calculated how much wire you took to heat the brushes, you can, according to the indicated principle, calculate the current strength for choosing the wire cross-section (it is most convenient to use ready-made tables for selecting the cross-section for the current strength). We strongly recommend that you read the article about the right choice fuses, it is also important to choose the cross-section of the wires with a small margin.

Thread installation features:

• the wire must be securely fixed;
• nichrome thread does not have insulation, therefore, it is unacceptable for two or more points of the wire to touch metal elements - this will lead to a short circuit;
• in places where the thread looks out of the brush, to compensate for thermal deformation, it is necessary to put on insulation;
• since the joints of the thread and wires become extremely rigid, they must be stationary. This will allow the soldering points not to break off when the wipers are working.

On the net you can find photo reports of the manufacture of heating for Khors brushes. We did not describe the exact sequence of actions, since the design of the wipers different types will be different.

MGTF WIRE

To make a heating element, hammer in two small studs at a distance equal to the place where the heater is installed in the wiper. Wrap the nails as shown in the photo, after which the element can be installed under the frameless brush cover. Note that the ends of the MGTF wire should be in the middle of the wipers. For better temperature distribution, the resulting plume can be wrapped in foil. To output the wires, most likely, you will have to make holes in the case or fasteners.

POWER CIRCUIT

Heated brushes are connected via a 4-pin relay. The greatest heating will be with parallel connection. It is better to take the power + for heating power directly from the battery, placing the fuse as close to the battery as possible. The control + relay can be taken from the power plus, then pressing the button in the passenger compartment should send - to the second control output of the relay.

In the diagram below, the control + is taken from the cigarette lighter in the cabin, and the power and control are shorted to ground. This connection allows you to realize the illumination of the button for turning on the heating of the wipers.

Possible connection option

Additional accessories for the car make it much easier to drive and maintain a car at different times of the year. Winter accessories include heated brushes, thanks to which you do not have to scrub the windshield wipers in the morning and replace them after a quick breakdown due to frost. Why are warm wipers so in demand and how to connect them? Can you make warm brushes with your own hands?

The relevance of the use of heated brushes

In winter, in severe frosts, classic frame car wipers freeze over. Over time, the hinges of the rocker arms become immobile due to freezing water, therefore, the adhesion to the glass is significantly reduced. Such deformations lead to the presence of uncleaned areas.

Another problem that the car owner faces is that the wrong choice of rubber compound leads to hardening of the cleaning cloth, after which the car brushes jump on the glass and squeak disgustingly. With the onset of winter, it is better to immediately replace conventional wipers with warm ones, which will increase the level of comfort and safety, as well as extend the operating life of the wipers.

Advantages and disadvantages

In operation, heated wipers demonstrate the following advantages:

• the ability to use in any weather conditions;
• snow on glass melts quickly under the influence of a heating surface;
• long operational life;
• the liquid remaining on the wipers and glass does not freeze, and an ice crust on the windshield does not form;
• ease of installation and operation with basic skills;
• the ability to purchase at any car store due to wide availability.

Along with the advantages, as always, there are negative sides:

• the cost is much higher than traditional windshield wipers;
• installation can be problematic if you decide to install the wipers outside the cigarette lighter;
• if the glass is too icy, even warm wipers will not help.

Warm wiper classification

Modern models of warm wipers should be classified as follows.

1. Frame brushes, where instead of metal parts, plastic ones are installed, since frost is not so terrible for this material. A special rubber with water-repellent properties is also installed. Consequently, the brush does not freeze to the glass surface and when low temperatures remains softer. Such wipers can not be changed to ordinary ones with the arrival of spring.
2. An analogue of a frame brush with a special structure, thanks to which the metal insides remain protected, like the rubber in the key links (read more about). Among the disadvantages, it is worth highlighting the loss of efficiency at high speeds, as well as problems with the elimination of moisture, since it condenses from the air on metal elements during sudden temperature changes.
3. Brushes with heating element. Visually, they are similar to frameless models, but much more effective than the latter. Elasticity remains for a long time, and the structure is reliably protected from freezing.

The principle of operation of the heated wipers

The design of the heated wiper blades is not framed and therefore more flexible. This quality improves the efficiency of windshield cleaning. The design also assumes the presence of a special heating cloth that protects the cleaning surfaces from freezing, prevents unpleasant sounds and preserves their geometry. The cleaning surface along the entire length is equipped with a special flexible heating tape, which is supplied with electricity by the car's power supply network.

Famous manufacturers

Among the most reliable manufacturers of warm brushes, it is worth highlighting brands "Consul Winter" and "Burner"... There are no fundamental differences between them, there is only a difference in shape and fastening. The Burner company has equipped its products with special adapters, thanks to which the installation process is greatly facilitated. Competitive companies equip each brush set with hooks.

If speak about pricing policy, the cost of warm wipers in the minimum configuration does not particularly exceed classic brushes. It's another matter when functionality are expanded due to the extended configuration. The cost will be twice as high.

Connecting warm brushes

You can install heated brushes either in a car workshop or on your own. If the second option is more preferable for you, focus on the following sequence of works.

1. Thoroughly clean the surface of the windshield from dust and dirt.
2. Remove the protective film from the purchased brushes.
3. Decide on where to install the windshield wipers. Mark the area where the brush will stop and glue the ESCHC on this place from the inside of the glass. At this stage, it is important to consider that the wiper stopping zone should be in the center of the heating material.
4. Connect one cable to the ground of the car, and the other to the wire labeled +12 volts through the switch.
5. At this stage, you can start the wipers.

Installation of the power button

During the ride, you need quick and convenient access to the power button, therefore, it must be positioned with an orientation to this requirement. You must have basic electrical engineering knowledge and observe the following guidelines.

1. Connect the relay to the power button. The best place for relays - the area under the hood of the car. Watch the length of the wires.
2. Use a wire to pull the wires into hard-to-reach places.
3. Provide all wires with reliable insulation, otherwise everything will have to be redone due to a short circuit in the circuit.
4. Start with a minus relay connection and end with a plus.
5. Install a fuse between the positive wire.

As a result, turning on the machine and pressing the button should activate the start of devices and the operation of heating. This function should be disabled when the button is pressed again.

Do-it-yourself warm wipers

If you belong to the category of car owners with extensive experience, you can take a risk and not only install warm wipers yourself, but also make them on the basis of classic windshield wipers, flux, acid, wires, a soldering iron and nichrome thread. The manufacturing process of such brushes consists of the following steps:

1. The simplicity of the design of frameless wipers makes them an ideal base. Place the nichrome on both sides of a rubber band that can be pushed inward to prevent it from falling out. Be as careful as possible, otherwise rupture of the rubber bands cannot be avoided.
2. To prevent the structure from falling apart when putting on the protective casing, use a heat gun to connect the elastic to the metal plate.
3. Measure the resistance level, readings of 8 - 9 ohms should be a guideline for you. If the resistance is lower, the glass can overheat and even break.
4. Put protective covers on the wipers to prevent destruction when connecting to the wiring mount.
5. Equip the wipers with fasteners, drill small holes for the wires.
6. Drill 2 more wire holes in the top cover if the wires will be routed through the slot when opening the cover.
7. Prepare some heat shrinks to prevent the threads from closing with each other.
8. In the next step, collect all the elements and re-measure the resistance. Proceed to soldering work only if the resistance is normal.
9. Check the presence of earth on the mountings and, if there is one, connect it to the mount by tipping it under the 12V hood.
10. Set the fuse to 5A and connect two windshield wipers at the same time. It remains the case for the relay and the installation of switches in the cabin.