The rear windshield defrosters seem so much more effective. Is it just the lines across the drivers field of view that makes it decidedly unsafe?
In: 17
Answer: The engine is right underneath your front windshield, and it’s more cost effective to steal heat from it
To do it right would be expensive and piss off the customers.
You run a few extremely thin strips down the windshield. Typically gold. It’s so thin you can’t really see it at all. Connect to a power source. It’s incredibly effective and quick! It’s also not cheap.
The pissed off customer part? You know how you’re driving down the road and hear little clicks of sand hitting your windshield? This makes really small chips. Over time, they add up and are changing how the glass is stressed. If you use air to gently and slowly change the temperature of the glass, it will probably be fine for a very long time. That super hot line of glass? That’s a cracked windshield. You’d also have to build in a safety regulator that wouldn’t allow someone to use the feature unless the glass was below a certain temperature. Otherwise, the strips melt inside the glass, also possibly cracking a windshield.
Ppg makes aerospace windshields like this. I’ve seen probably a hundred pilots crack windshields turning on the anti-ice when they should have used the defrost vents.
Back glass doesn’t need to be as easy to see through, doesn’t get chipped up much if at all, and is typically just tempered safety glass. Windshields are layered and the glass has different qualities. You want to add about 1500 dollars to the cost of the windshield? Most people would prefer the slower air method over the expense and increased likelihood of windshield cracks.
My dads old ford mondeo had something like that, tiny wires running along the length of the windshield
Answer: The engine is right underneath your front windshield, and it’s more cost effective to steal heat from it
My dads old ford mondeo had something like that, tiny wires running along the length of the windshield
They can, but there’s already hot air available at the front of the car, so it’s cheaper to just use that. Running ductwork to the rear windshield is more expensive than running wires
Credit u/longjumpinhgrowyh1xx
Ignoring the modern high tech options, you can put a rear style on the front. Meaning the big chunky wires running across it. It’s fine a lot in racing because it’s cheap and easy to install. We did it in our amateur race car, bought a diy defrost kit and installed it inside the front windshield. In our case it’s because we have to keep the windows open while racing, even in the rain, which often leads to really fogged windshields. The diy kit + OEM blower do am amazing job.
In a street car the wires would drive you mad. On the race track is really easy to tune them out. I don’t notice them at all anymore. But on the street when you’re not having to concentrate so hard you’d see them a lot.
To do it right would be expensive and piss off the customers.
You run a few extremely thin strips down the windshield. Typically gold. It’s so thin you can’t really see it at all. Connect to a power source. It’s incredibly effective and quick! It’s also not cheap.
The pissed off customer part? You know how you’re driving down the road and hear little clicks of sand hitting your windshield? This makes really small chips. Over time, they add up and are changing how the glass is stressed. If you use air to gently and slowly change the temperature of the glass, it will probably be fine for a very long time. That super hot line of glass? That’s a cracked windshield. You’d also have to build in a safety regulator that wouldn’t allow someone to use the feature unless the glass was below a certain temperature. Otherwise, the strips melt inside the glass, also possibly cracking a windshield.
Ppg makes aerospace windshields like this. I’ve seen probably a hundred pilots crack windshields turning on the anti-ice when they should have used the defrost vents.
Back glass doesn’t need to be as easy to see through, doesn’t get chipped up much if at all, and is typically just tempered safety glass. Windshields are layered and the glass has different qualities. You want to add about 1500 dollars to the cost of the windshield? Most people would prefer the slower air method over the expense and increased likelihood of windshield cracks.
To do it right would be expensive and piss off the customers.
You run a few extremely thin strips down the windshield. Typically gold. It’s so thin you can’t really see it at all. Connect to a power source. It’s incredibly effective and quick! It’s also not cheap.
The pissed off customer part? You know how you’re driving down the road and hear little clicks of sand hitting your windshield? This makes really small chips. Over time, they add up and are changing how the glass is stressed. If you use air to gently and slowly change the temperature of the glass, it will probably be fine for a very long time. That super hot line of glass? That’s a cracked windshield. You’d also have to build in a safety regulator that wouldn’t allow someone to use the feature unless the glass was below a certain temperature. Otherwise, the strips melt inside the glass, also possibly cracking a windshield.
Ppg makes aerospace windshields like this. I’ve seen probably a hundred pilots crack windshields turning on the anti-ice when they should have used the defrost vents.
Back glass doesn’t need to be as easy to see through, doesn’t get chipped up much if at all, and is typically just tempered safety glass. Windshields are layered and the glass has different qualities. You want to add about 1500 dollars to the cost of the windshield? Most people would prefer the slower air method over the expense and increased likelihood of windshield cracks.
My dads old ford mondeo had something like that, tiny wires running along the length of the windshield
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