OK. the upside that that they ram this right up our backsides and charge us for the experience. That’s a common enough theme.
If you have windshield wipers slapping at a rate of more than 60 cycles per minute in the center of your field of view it’s distracting no matter where you’re trying to focus. Yeah, it clears the water but now you’re trying to look through a moving black stick wagging back and forth. Yeah, we all do it, it works–but why do we still have windshield wiper technology that is 115 years old?
My guess is that NeverWet forms a surface that is more cohesive to itself than water adheres to it. But you add a little soap to water and it acts as a surfactant–the surface tension of the water is broken down and it becomes “wetter” and now adheres to the NeverWet surface instead of beading up and running off. Whether it penetrates that surface, I don’t know.
I change my wipers once a year and have no problems.
We get absolutely torrential rain where I live, in which case the remedy is to slow down. I think there’s not much more you can do about massive amount of water hitting a large piece of glass at high speeds.
Perhaps someday we won’t have windshields and instead use screens with covered cameras or something to that effect.
I’ve yet to get a definitive answer on my Rain-X/headlights question.
Pennsylvania state law specifically says drivers must have their headlights on when you have your wipers going. That’s how the law is worded. I think it’s a good law.
But, it could be raining buckets and a Rain-X treated car will not need the wipers running at highway speeds. Do my headlights need to be on?
I like Rain X too. I have also found that if I get OEM wipers, they last longer than anything else out there.
Definitely- my wife’s car has a windshield that is closer to horizontal (shallower angle) than my pickup’s windshield (more straight up and down), and rain-x works a treat for her, and isn’t that effective for me.
The flip side is that her windshield is much larger, and those sunshades are less effective for her- there’s more horizontal-ish surface area for sunlight to enter the car and heat it up, even with the sunshade up than there is in my pickup.
I would interpret it as “headlights on in any situation where the wipers would typically be needed.”
Off-thread question for Rain-X users - sorry OP
Do Rain-X or similar products help when scraping ice from windows during the winter? Helping keep the glass clean during the rain is nice but helping me chip a thick crust of ice off the windshield at -20C is beyond huge. Does it help?
The quality of the flexible strip that is in contact with the screen has improved enormously over the years. When you think of the extremes of temperature etc that they have to endure, it is a surprise that they work as well as they do.
It helps a lot if you have a heated screen and you should be sure to turn auto-wipe off when you park in frosty weather.
I’m thinking most judges in traffic court would agree. I don’t always turn on my headlights if the rain-X is doing the job, but I think it’s important to have your tail lights on so you don’t get rearended.
Well, here’s the law as written for our armchair (and real) lawyers:
I would assume that the spirit of the law is to help other people see you (we have the same type of law here in Illinois), so whether rain is repelled by your car or not shouldn’t matter, but as far as the letter of the law goes, I don’t know. It seems you might have an argument, although a cop may be able to stick you on #2 or perhaps under “intermittent use” in #3.
If they start to chatter and skip they get replaced. Sometimes it’s 6 months, sometimes sooner. My garaged vehicles blades last a little longer than on my pickup that sits outside. Lots of bird poop etc is bad on the blades.
The bolding is mine. This thread is reminding me that I need to change my wipers before rainy season starts.
This thread is reminding me of my grandpa’s stories of how they used to keep leaf tobacco under the seat to rub on the windshield when it rained. It helped the water form a sheet instead of clinging drops and made it easier to see. He was always really happy with windshield wipers.
I have a four year old car. Origional wipers. No problems.
Rain-X isn’t all that special. A lot of cheaper compounds work. E.g., any of the rubber/leather/trim restorer sprays. I have even found paint thinner to work but harder to get right.
Just remember, use an incredibly tiny amount.
I bet heat and sunlight have a lot to do with wiper longevity; mine work well for about a year, and then need replacement, and we don’t get a lot of snow or ice here but we get plenty of heat and sunlight.
I’d also wager that the springs in the wiper arms themselves would be a factor in premature failure of the blades. If the wiper arms are wearing out then even the best blade can’t work correctly and may prematurely fail. A few years back, a ham handed worker at a quick-lube place managed to completely bend one of my car’s wiper arms. As recompense, they paid for two new arms and I installed them myself. After that time, the wiper blades seemed to last much longer, possible because they were held more firmly in the correct position and at the correct pressure,
Bingo. On both points.
I find a direct application of RainX to the windshields, sides, and rear windows are very effective at sheeting water off them at even low speeds. At least on my car ( swoopy coupe )
In all my automotive motorheadom over 3 decades, I have yet to run across aftermarket wiper blades that are as durable in the long run as OEM ones. Of course, I clean and treat them with silicone every now and then too…but I did that with the aftermarket pieces too.
Those guys are re-inventing the air knife, a fairly common industrial device. I have one on a conveyor belt and it blows through the mesh belt to clean particles off that cling. They are going through all the problems that have already been solved: how to get even air flow across the length of the opening, what velocity and mass flow is needed, etc. One that would clean an entire windshield would sure need a lot of air. Mine uses a regenerative blower and they use a lot of power. So there goes the gas mileage a bit…
As for Rain X, I prefer to use the windshield cleaner solutions that contain Rain X. Every time you squirt the windshield it applies a bit more. It is never too thick.
Dennis
Repeat after me: “Old” does NOT equal “obsolete.”
Write that down on paper 100 times, or as long as it takes to sink in.
The technology of eating utensils is much, much older than windshield wipers. Why aren’t you clamoring for some modern, new & improved, high-tech way of eating food?