Do-it-yourself heating of the wiper zone

The installation of this function in my car continued for several months. Slowly, little by little, and finally finished)).

I would like to note right away: This function is used at street temperatures down to -10, -15 degrees. In cold weather this function is not needed. It is needed in slushy weather. That's why the glass won't burst)))

Heating elements (HE) were purchased to heat the wiper area. At the first opportunity they were installed on glass. It stuck perfectly, but not as I would have liked. It turned out that they were visible from the street. The length of each NE is 55cm, when ordering I somehow didn’t think that it was worth taking one NE 55cm and the second 35cm, then I think everything would have stuck perfectly. In principle, they are not even noticeable and if you don’t look closely, they are not noticeable, so I don’t worry about it.

Then the connection issue arose. There were several options: 1. Connect together with the heated rear window. 2. Connect separately from everything else and display a separate button. 3. The most interesting. Connect it separately from everything else, make a small electronic control unit and use the same button as turning on the heated rear window. And to turn it on, for example: a short press turns on the heating of the vehicle, a long press turns on the heating of the vehicle, turn it off in the same way. Plus, make sure that after a certain time the heating turns off automatically.

In the end, I settled between the second and third options, since I myself am not good at programming and besides Stepan Palych

I have already designed a similar device. So all that remained was to assemble it.

The result is this device:

To turn on the heating, I bought a used PWR HEAT button, it is intended for an additional interior heater that is found on diesel cars. It is clear that I do not need it for these purposes, but this is the best option since there is a picture of heating and there is free space in my car for the housing of this button. I found the chip I needed to connect the button in my car in the area of the stove, since this chip was not used, I happily removed it))

This button has undergone a slight modernization to suit my wishes. The board was redesigned and the button fixation was removed.

Circuit board in the button.

And this is how the indicator lights up

When the engine was running, the current consumption was 4A (two heating elements), the fuse was set to 5A. I touched the heating of the glass with my hand, after about 1-1.5 minutes the heating was 40-45 degrees, but since I’m not a thermometer, I can’t say for sure))). In general, it doesn’t heat much, but at -10 degrees outside, I think it will stay about 5 degrees, and this should be enough to thaw the brushes. Accurate tests can only be carried out after 3 months.

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

Methods for defrosting windshield wipers

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

There are several alternative solutions to the issue:

organize heating of the resting zone of the brushes 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;
make your own heating element and install it on standard wipers with connection to the electrical network through the 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 factory it undergoes heat treatment and is not afraid of temperature changes in different zones. The same cannot be said about the windshield, whose heating in frosts of minus 15 °C and below will cause cracks to appear. This is a consequence of a sharp increase in temperature in one area, which the three-layer “triplex” structure is not designed for.

Warming up the lower zone of the glass is quite simple: buy a film thermoelement and glue it to the surface (the product has an adhesive layer on 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 window, do not turn it on in frosty temperatures of –15 °C or below. First, warm up the car in the traditional way.

Advantages and disadvantages

Like any other product, these windshield wipers have their pros and cons. Studying their advantages and disadvantages will help you understand which winter windshield wiper blades are best. The positive qualities of such wipers include:

the brushes do not freeze or freeze even in heavy snowfall, and, therefore, cope with their task in any problematic conditions;
the heating surface can easily and quickly melt snow on glass;
the liquid remaining on the glass and wipers does not freeze in the cold season, that is, at low temperatures an ice crust does not form and does not create unnecessary problems for motorists;
longer service life compared to standard wipers;
easy accessibility. Today, winter wipers are in great demand and can be found in almost any automobile store;
ease of operation and installation. Installation of such windshield wipers takes very little time and does not require outside help.

Heated Wiper Blades Consul Winter

Disadvantages of winter windshield wipers:

The most significant disadvantage is the inability of such wipers to cope with ice. Tests have shown that windshield wipers cannot help with the most serious problem - frozen glass. In this regard, the car owner will still have to resort to such proven means as brushes and scrapers;
possible difficulties associated with installation. If you decide to install not through the cigarette lighter, then there may be difficulties with the connection and the need to involve specialists;
The cost is an order of magnitude higher than the price of conventional wipers.

Based on the above, we can say with confidence that the pros still significantly outweigh the cons and an increasing number of car owners are installing heated brushes.

Installation of heated wipers

Frameless blades equipped with factory thermocouples 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 product’s operating instructions and install them in this order:

Remove the standard brushes from the brackets, and remove the plastic covers of the adaptive modules from the new parts.
Select a suitable mount from the kit and fix it on the adapter, carefully leading the wiring through a special hole.
Install the wiper blades by running the wires inside the brackets. To prevent them from dangling, secure the current-carrying wires with thin plastic clamps.
Using any technological hole in the partition, route the wiring to the button or cigarette lighter socket.

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

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

The practice of car enthusiasts who use factory brushes shows that heating and thawing of the glass under the rubber bands occurs in literally 2–4 minutes. The unheated area remains covered with ice, which must be melted with hot air from the stove.

Manufacturing instructions

Well, let’s move on to production, I’ll list it point by point, it’s easier to digest.

We are disassembling our frameless wipers, do it carefully so as not to break anything! Otherwise you won’t be able to collect it later.

We will thread the thread into the elastic from both sides. It is IMPORTANT that it does not fall out, that is, we hide it inside. Also, be careful not to damage the elastic, because if it is torn, it will not clean.

What else I would like to note is that we encountered such a difficulty - the design has two separate metal plates that hold the elastic. To insert it there, and even push the thread, you need to use all your dexterity. Therefore, without thinking twice, we simply glued the elastic band to the plates with a glue gun, so it did not fall out and sat in place. This is exactly how we managed to insert the nichrome thread.

It's almost ready. However, we immediately measure the resistance. It should be 8 - 9 Ohms remember! So the thread will heat up evenly, if the resistance is 5 - 6 Ohms then this is bad, the thread will heat up quickly, which is not very good in the cold, the glass may burst. The large wiper was fine, about 8 - 9 ohms, but the small one was about “6”, so they added a little more wire, somewhere they made it like a herringbone under the rubber band. In general, after 15 minutes - 8.5 Ohms - you can assemble normally.
Two holes were made in the mount for the outlet of heating wires. Our black speaker cable will go to it.

After being assembled, we tried heating. In about 7 - 8 minutes the heating was about 49-51 degrees. Which is more than enough, given the cold weather, there will be no such heating, it will warm up to about 20 degrees outside, during the same time - that’s what you need.
We put the wipers in their regular places. We take the mass from the body, plus we connect it with another cleaner in parallel! And to the salon. It should be noted that we connect it through a fuse, about 5A will be enough, and also, if desired, install a relay (so that it cuts off automatically when the resistance changes - after heating)! You can do it without it, but just press the button, then you need to monitor it yourself - which you don’t want to forget.

The result is great heat, even at minus 25 degrees, the wipers go off almost instantly. With a slight minus, especially when it snows, the ice does not linger on the brushes at all. Here are the instructions. The asking price is approximately 200 rubles per wire.

However, I repeat once again - if you cannot work with the car’s electrics yourself, DO NOT CLIMB, it’s dangerous!

I’ll finish this, I think my instructions helped you.

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9 votes, average: 4.56 out of 5)

Assembling homemade heating

To make heated wipers, you need to understand how factory-made products are designed. The design is as follows: a film heating element is glued to the metal strip that serves as the base of the brush, whose contacts are brought out approximately in the middle (where the mount with a lock is located). The heater is covered on top with a rubber windshield wiper. Hence the conclusion: it is necessary to make the same flat elements and integrate them into standard brushes.

For work you will need the following materials:

MGTF brand wire - 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 thing you need to do is 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:

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

Alternative connection option

We install heated wipers with our own hands; for this we will need to purchase some additional parts.

In addition to the fact that wires of a much larger cross-section are needed, the logic of turning the heating on/off also causes difficulties.

Trial and error leads to an ideal circuit similar to turning on/off the rear fog lights.

To do this, you will need to purchase additional parts: relay control keys for the rear fog lights and the functionality of the warning lamps.

You can turn on the device by briefly pressing the button with the ignition on; pressing it again will turn off the device. When the ignition is turned off while the mechanism is running, it will turn off and start working again when the ignition is re-ignited after pressing the button.

Refinement of silicone brushes

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

Increased elasticity that does not lose over time.
There is a longitudinal hole inside the cover.
Silicone can withstand heat 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 twisted into a spiral, then straighten the wire by heating it with a small gas burner. Then thread the thread through the hole and bring the ends out in the middle, making an inclined channel with an awl. To solder a copper wire to nichrome, treat it with a brush dipped in hydrochloric acid. Then work according to the previous scheme - assemble the windshield wipers and connect them to the power supply.

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

Almost every car owner, especially those living in the northern latitudes of Russia and without a warm garage, has more than once encountered the freezing of wiper blades in their parking area and the windshield becoming icy. As a result, “driving on the highway” was delayed until the functionality of the windshield wipers was restored and the driver’s view was cleared.

Today, unfortunately, very little attention is paid to this problem by automakers. Although many technologies have been developed to equip windshield wipers with thermoelements, spot heating of windshields, supply of heated non-freezing liquid to the windshield wiper parking area with further removal of ice from the windshield, and others. However, they are not used or are included in a set of expensive options, which, in both cases, is inaccessible to the vast majority of motorists.

Therefore, many car owners are forced to use “folk remedies”, and there are currently three of them:

heating the parking area of the wipers using improvised means;
heating the wiper parking area using a standard stove;
heating the wiper parking area using an electric heating tape.

Let's look at each of them.

Driver reviews

Such a device as a heating device for windshield wipers cannot leave any motorist indifferent, given the harsh realities of the Russian winter. Reviews about heating elements are mixed. It is likely that both the quality of workmanship and the climatic conditions in which they were tested play a role here.

I took brushes from Burner for my Chevrolet Aveo. I bought it on the Internet. I don’t have enough knowledge to connect the wipers; my husband did this.

I chose the ones that came with a device that connects to a battery. They operate only at a certain temperature and the machine’s engine is turned on. They turn off as soon as the motor stops or the temperature rises to a certain level. They have enough power from my Chevrolet's generator.

The idea itself is good, but the quality of the brushes is disgusting. Washer streaks formed on the glass and did not wash off. In general, I used them for a season and took them off. We tried to find rubber bands for the brushes to replace the original ones, but nothing worked out.

I decided that store-bought brushes were too expensive. And he did the heating for them himself. As a heating element, I used nichrome in factory insulation, which I took from old seat heating. I disassembled the brushes and installed the elements.

Our winter conditions are quite mild, with a maximum of minus 10 degrees Celsius. Tests have shown that the element heats up in 5-7 minutes. At low temperatures and light snow, such brushes cope quite well.

I was afraid that the glass might burst due to temperature changes on the surface. But this happens due to a sharp change in temperature. I have a smooth heating process. Therefore, no problem.

I installed frameless wipers on my Mazda. I think this is a very useful and effective thing. There is absolutely nothing to break there; the rubber bands can be changed. But our climate has changed dramatically and now there is nothing to freeze. If there is two weeks of frost, then it is not at all necessary to spend money on them.

The windshield wipers were connected not to the cigarette lighter, but to a relay that turns on the heated rear window. It is located under the hood. That is, when the heating in the cabin was turned on, the heating of the wipers immediately turned on. When the glass and the cleaner were heated at the same time, everything that had frozen up immediately “flew off.”

Heating the parking area for wipers using improvised means

Judging by the numerous videos from the famous YouTube portal, there are a great many folk remedies for dealing with frozen windshield wipers. However, the most effective and simplest methods among them, which are used by most car enthusiasts, are only two. This is heating the windshield wiper parking area and the entire area of the windshield (or only the driver’s side) with a warm air flow from a hair dryer or an “anti-freeze” heated to room temperature.

Advantages: accessibility, low cost, speed.
Disadvantages: the mandatory presence of a power source for a hair dryer or heating the liquid, freezing of wipers and icing of the windshield while driving or when parked for a short time at sub-zero temperatures, some labor intensity and discomfort.

Heating the wiper parking area using a car heater

It is possible to eliminate freezing of windshield wipers and ice on the windshield using a standard heater only if there are two car options. These are: blowing warm air onto the windshield and the function of moving the wipers 5-7 cm up from the permanent parking zone. Then, as practice shows, even in severe frosts, the glass thaws and cleans itself while the engine warms up.

Advantages: high-quality visibility even in severe frosts; wipers do not freeze to the glass when driving or in short-term stops at sub-zero air temperatures.
Disadvantages: the mandatory presence of the two above-mentioned options and ensuring that the wipers are always 5-7 cm higher than the standard position.

Heating the wiper parking area using an electric heated strip

The use of electric heating tape to prevent wipers from freezing to the glass is recognized as the most effective among the available, low-cost and uncomplicated methods. It works most effectively in cars with the option of warm windshield blowing at almost any sub-zero temperatures outside and regardless of the state of rest or movement of the car. For cars where there are no windshield heating systems, no better method has been invented either. True, you have to put up with increased wear on the windshield wiper blades when they move over the frosty windshield for some time before it disappears.

Advantages: with proper installation, it not only prevents the wipers from freezing to the glass, but also provides an automatic mode for turning on and off the heating of the windshield wiper parking area.
Disadvantages: there are none, except for some physical and financial costs, but they are more than worth it.

What is better to buy rating of winter blades 2018-2019 for the standard windshield wiper of any car

The best solution for winter is to buy wipers with a rubber cover. If you want cheaper ones, look towards the “frameworks”. The advantages of “frameless” and “hybrids” in snow conditions do not justify significant investments.

Testing aspects

The best life test is real operation in conditions of contact with road reagents on the windshield. The main criterion is how long the brush can clean without streaking. Creating a film on the window is not recommended - at night it acts as a significant obstacle to the view.

The quality of workmanship directly affects the service life and performance characteristics of the product. Price is not a determining factor in the duration of work - not only reviews know about this. Tests from reputable publications also confirm this fact. A positive point of an indirect nature is the absence of squeaking.

Wipers that have been used for at least two winter seasons are considered good. Moreover, without significant dissonance of characteristics during the entire period of operation! The lion's share of models lose their ability to clean perfectly after the first winter.

A lot of positive and negative reviews allow us to make a rating of car winter windshield wiper blades for the 2018-2019 season:

Alca Winter (540 rubles).
Maruenu Gyraless Snow (3,500 rubles).
Lynx Winter Wiper Blade (550 rubles).
Goodyear Winter (380 rubles).
Trico Winter (570 rubles).
Masuma Snow Blade (700 rubles).
Avantech Snowguard Polar (340 rubles).
Champion Winter WX41 (475 rubles).

The availability of Alca Winter brushes does not come at the expense of quality - the products function properly during the first two years. No deterioration in the quality of cleaning or squeaks was noticed after a year of operation. The best qualities are revealed in the temperature range °C. Various adapter designs allow you to install wipers on any car. The only negative is the windage after 100 km/h.

Maruenu Gyraless Snow are silent in operation and work without problems for at least three to four seasons. There are no complaints about cleaning throughout the entire service life. Demand is constrained by the high price dictated by the use of tourmaline, which increases the service life of the model.

Lynx and Goodyear cope with eliminating the consequences of precipitation for no more than two winter seasons. Afterwards, unacceptable gaps appear. The packaging of the product is already squeaking. At near-zero temperatures, they tend to rub dirt on the glass.

Trico Winter and Matsuma Snow Blade do not make squeaks, but do not last more than one winter. Avantech have an acceptable level of cleaning during the first two months. Further, acoustic discomfort and significant stripes are observed.

Champion copes with functional responsibilities throughout the entire season without significant complaints. There are some comments regarding the fastening part - it is suitable only for cars with “hook” type leashes. The case is also not ideal - it is made of too thin material.