Through the last several weeks in Britain, we’ve gone through probably the roughest winter weather for many years. Possibly the worst feature of these winters is that they ar not severe enough. If my theory appears to be a bit of a nonsense, just think about it for a while. A really severe winter for us in Britain is when the temperature stays below zero centigrade.
Accordingly our problems are dual. To begin with, we simply don’t invest in infrastructure to handle real winter weather. We have very few snow ploughs and gritters, and almost no-one, including the emergency services fits winter tires. Secondly, when we do have for us frozen weather, the temperature very infrequently falls beyond a few degrees below That consequently means that the humidity levels stay rather high, and that consequently brings frozen wiper blades, windscreens, door locks and door seals on our vehicles.
I first became aware of the oddness of our winter weather when I was visiting Sweden one year at the beginning of winter. Everyone complained of being very cold, and we had all those humid winter issues with the vehicles in the mornings. But, the locals surprised and horrified me with their insistence that it would all get better as soon as the temperature fell an additional ten degrees or so. At that time, they assured me, the sea would freeze over and the moisture level would drop.
As this comes about, there’s so little humidity in the atmosphere that there’s little or no condensation to settle and then freeze on your car overnight. This means that the windshield is clear and clean, the Wiper Blades are not to the screen, the locks all work, the door seals aren’t frozen, and above all, the ignition system is nice and dry. You don’t even really need winter screen wash additive, because there’s no nasty wet spray being thrown up onto your windshield by other cars. In truth the only issue you might have is that your wiper blades, if you are using rubber ones, may be frozen solid.
So, it appears that we English are victims of our own soft climate. Once I had understood this fact, I looked into what I could do to mitigate the problem. Preparing a car for the Uk winter is nothing like the same as preparing it for a real Nordic|Arctic|Alpine|Scandinavianrarely see temperatures as low as minus eight degrees Celsius, but we will often have humid weather during the day followed by overnight frost.
For all those reasons, I always carry out the usual pre-winter checks on my car: anti-freeze, drive belts, lights, windshield and wiper blades, battery, alternator and ignition system etc. On top of that, I make sure to lubricate my car’s locks with a good water repellent lock oil, then I clean and polish the rubber door seals with silicone wax. Most “Cockpit Shine” type products are an excellent source of silicone. Use enough to leave the rubber shiny black. Remember that lots of vehicles have 2 door seals: one on the door frame and the other on the door itself.
Lastl but not least, so as to avoid the risk of wrecking my windshield wiper linkage or motor, I have permanently switched over to Silicone Wiper Blades. These stay flexible down to -60°C so they give a clean sweep in even the harshest conditions, and they don’t crack or split with the cold. Additionally, silicone is more water repellent that rubber, so it ensures a much lower risk of your wiper blades being frozen to your vehicle’s windshield. Silicone wiper blades also have superb resistance to the chemicals used in winter screen wash antifreeze, UV and Ozone, making them an excellent choice for summer use also.
I found a brand called XOPC. These are designed for Russian winters. They are very competitively priced and come with a 12 month guarantee.
Digital Trends | Email this | Comments
