How to organize the heating of the washer tank with your own hands at home?
Features of the winter period of operation force motorists to take a number of measures that are aimed at ensuring trouble-free operation of mechanisms and comfortable conditions of movement. These include the organization of seat heating , and ensuring optimal fuel flow and prevention of freezing of the locks. Experienced motorists do not forget about ensuring good visibility in adverse weather conditions.
Why do you need a heated car washer tank system?
It is not always possible for car owners to buy a quality non-freezing liquid. Diluted substance is able to lose its properties already at several degrees below zero. However, even original products start to get thick at -20°C. The consequences of this fact can be as follows:
- loss of fluid pressure from the nozzles;
- Increased washer fluid consumption;
- poor windshield cleaning.
Another reason to organize a heated washer reservoir with your own hands is a better washing of windshield with warm fluid. When driving on country roads, where the dirt from under the wheels of the car in front is flying quite intensively, such an option will not hurt.
What methods can be used to organize a heated washer fluid?
It goes without saying that for owners of Mercedes Benz GLS or other modern foreign cars, such a question is not relevant. The rest of the motorists are forced to take care of the cleanliness of the windshield in adverse conditions on their own. Homemade system heated washer tank can be implemented in two ways:
- With the use of electric heating.
- With the use of the engine cooling system.
Choosing the method, you should consider the availability of materials and the ease of manufacturing the unit in specific conditions. It will not be superfluous to additionally insulate the pipes and make heating of the jets.
How to make your own hands heated car washer tank from the cooling system?
Despite the possibility of purchasing a factory device type “Geyser” in an auto store, many car owners decide to make such a device on their own. They justify their decision by the fact that it is more reliable and cheaper. For the work you will need:
- copper tube with a length of 500 mm and a diameter of 0.8 mm ;
- 4 clamps to hold it in place;
- Reinforced steam pipe to connect the device to the system.
As a tube you can use an ordinary fuel, but after two months of operation it will corrode and have to be replaced. That is why it is better to use a copper one. It is also necessary to take into account the location of the homemade device, so that the tubes do not interfere with the liquid level sensor and the pump.
The method of making a heating device is not very difficult and consists of several points:
- Give the tube the desired shape, it can have a spiral (with a tube) or U-shaped configuration. To ensure reliable attachment of the hoses, wrap copper wire on the ends of the tubes and solder.
- Make holes in the top of the housing or in the lid for the outlet of the tubes. You can use a soldering iron for this.
- Install the heating element and seal the holes with sealant.
- Connect the heated washer reservoir of the car with your own hands to the cooling system with the help of steam pipes.
The last point is of particular interest to car enthusiasts. Connecting the device is possible in two ways:
- To the heating of the throttle assembly;
- to the return line (return) of the heater.
The given way of connection obliges the owner to observe certain rules of operation. At ambient air temperature below -20°C it is not recommended to use washer because of difference of temperature indices of liquid and windshield. Otherwise you may end up with cracked glass.
To illustrate the installation process a video of the Geyser system installation will be helpful.
Some nuances of the connection method to SOD
If you carefully study the reviews of car owners, you can meet a lot of negative feedback about the method of connecting the heated liquid for cleaning glass to the cooling system. It is connected with excessive and uncontrolled heating of antifreeze solution, as a result of which the alcohol component of the solution evaporates and water remains in the container, which freezes during winter parking.
Experienced motorists in this case recommend to connect the system in a gap of an expansion tank and a steam line of a radiator. But this option is possible only with the thermostat 21082 , which has six sockets.
In this case, the expansion tank is included in a small circle of the cooling system and the antifreeze enters it even at low engine speeds. The stock ECS with a standard thermostat provides inflow of the antifreeze into the expander only at full opening of the big circle. Thus, the system of the car washer reservoir heating will operate within the optimum temperature range.
How to make an electric heating of the windshield washer tank?
This option in terms of execution is much easier than the method described above. You do not need to make special structural changes, except to install the control button and a fuse in the cabin.
You will need an electric element similar to the one used for heating the seats. Its installation is made outside the tank with a special adhesive tape, and then the wiring is laid and the working scheme is collected. A solution with a heating element for exterior mirrors can be called a neat solution.
The voltage is supplied by a switch, the circuit of which necessarily includes a relay. Another connection option is the use of the rear window heating button. In this scheme, a fuse must be present to prevent a short circuit.
Conclusions
Good visibility for the driver is important at any time of year, but it is especially relevant in winter conditions. Make a heated windshield washer tank with their own hands is quite feasible for many people. For the functioning of the device use two options: the engine cooling system or electrical elements.
The variant with the connection to the COS is rather labor-intensive and requires certain skills. Things are somewhat easier with the implementation of electric heating. Excellent results show complex approach to the problem, including heating of feeding tubes and arrangement of nozzle heating.
How to make a washer tank heating with your own hands
If you are good with a screwdriver and can make simple things with your own hands, then you will definitely be able to make a heater with your own hands. We have tested in the work of this device and are ready to share with you not only tips, but also pictures of ready and tested in the work of the device. Which has proven itself exclusively from the positive side.
What you must have.
Before you start to realize your dream, pay attention to what you should take care of before you start. In fact, there is nothing scarce or expensive here. You will need a thermoelectric heater kit (Geyser or similar), but an electric seat heater kit will work.
Secondly, get a set of hoses for cooling system of power unit and additional hoses and clamps. Finally, and it goes without saying, you will need a set of tools in your work – screwdrivers, wrenches, and cutting tools. Do not hurt and “right hands” and good skills to work with them.
Home-made thermoelectric heater.
We are already at the beginning can save a lot of money if we decide to make a thermoelectric heater (TEN) with our own hands. To do this you need to buy a copper tube with a diameter of 8-10 millimeters and a length of about 85 centimeters, a steam pipe (tube) and four clamps.
Then it is necessary to make a spiral out of the tube. You can not make it, take a straight tube, but the heating time of washer fluid will increase significantly. In what we are not interested at all. For simplicity, we offer you pictures of the process, which is clear without words how to do everything.
Let’s integrate the heater into the washer fluid reservoir.
Pay special attention to “Geyser”. Its main advantage is fast, within fifteen minutes heating from 0 to 70 degrees. At the same time it should be taken into account, it should not be used at temperatures below -20 degrees. In addition it is necessary to fill only the antifreeze liquid at temperatures below -5 degrees. Use of water in this case is excluded.
Again, when installing the heater, you should not allow significant pressure on the washer tank. As it can crack under influence of low air temperature. The lines from the heater are connected to the climatic unit (return) or to the flap heater aperture. In the pictures below we show in detail how this happens.
Heated washer fluid.
Our washer fluid heating option uses energy generated by consumer electronics. The following things will be needed for successful implementation: elements of electric heating of front seats (“Emelya” will do fine). You can also use a wire, which should be twisted in a spiral, connect to the wiring and drop directly into the tank.
The activation button should be put in a convenient place. It will be more convenient if you put it on the front panel.
As a disadvantage, you should note a decrease in efficiency at temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius. However, the instant heating, which does not depend on the motor temperature, outweighs this disadvantage. The installation process is shown in the pictures below:
Heating washer nozzles
When heating the nozzles, special nozzles are required. It is best to make them with your own hands. This will require four resistors rated from 120 to 200 ohms, which should be connected in parallel.
After that we make a small hole, in which it is necessary to integrate the heater element and fill it with epoxy resin. Then we add and connect in series resistors (150 Ohm, 0.25 Watt). This brings the temperature of the inside of the nozzle to sixty degrees, the temperature of the nozzle will be 48 degrees.
We connect the system to the button of heated rear window or side mirrors. Below are pictures of the result of the work:
Set of heaters.
But in today’s market there are ready-made kits, which can be integrated to heat the liquid in the tank. How to install them and detailed specifications can be found in the instructions.
It should be noted, in order to get the maximum effect from the heater, the lines, which conduct the washer fluid, should be insulated with a special material of foam rubber (K-FLEX), designed for thermal insulation of pipelines.
