What isn't "recommended anymore"; alcohol is still used as windshield antifreeze. Who exactly un-recommended it?

Have you ever heard of a windshield catching on fire?? LOL... c'mon!

 

it has to do with the concentration... it wont spontaneously catch fire.. but if the concentration gets high enough and you just happen to get that lucky little single spark it could ignite it... i never said the regulatory committees were sane in their reasoning... just saying thats why they advise against the additions...

its about like all the labels these days that say "xxxxxxxx by the california standards indicate this product contains known agents that may cause cancer... " anymore by most those standards just about everything made can give you cancer..

 

Who is "they"? I've never heard anyone caution against using alcohol based windshield washer fluid due to fire hazard. Do you have an example? Even Vodka won't ignite in the presence of flame. It's just not a cause for concern.

 

We put vodka in our windshield washer fluid once, but had trouble with people sucking on the emitters.

 

I am having the same problem with a 2015 F-150. I have been using the -20 Rain Ex fluid. The tank and lines (as far as I can tell) are not freezing, the problem is in the nozzles. Originally it was happening when it was in the low teens or colder. Once the truck had gotten warm and you stop and let it sit for a few minutes the problem would go away and generally worked the rest of the day. Today, however, I was getting really frustrated with it. It was 25-28 and the nozzles kept freezing up. If I stopped for a few minutes they unfroze and worked, but the minute I was moving again they froze right up.

 

Rain-X uses alcohol, so you have the evaporation problem at the nozzles that causes them to freeze. That's less of a problem with washer fluid that is based on propylene glycol or ethylene glycol.

 

So have you done the check valve fix yet.. Sounds to me that you haven't..

 

NO, I have a 2015 freezes up all the time. I only use the -35 fluid now and it only got down to 28 degrees last night and it still is frozen. No one can figure it out just give the same crap not the proper fluid. Explain how -35 fluid freezes at 28 above?

 

Wind chill factor..... You can have an ambient air temp of 30 degrees but the wind can drop the temp 20-30 degrees below that easily depending on conditions.

 

I understand how windchill affects the temp. It does it all the time, it was not windy last night.

 

First, wind chill does NOT lower the temperature. A popular misconception. Wind chill is a measure of how fast an object that is at a temperature above the current ambient temperature will cool down to ambient. If the temperature is 20 degrees and the wind chill is -20 degrees, objects will still be no colder than 20 degrees. They'll just get there faster if they were warm to start with or if, like your nose and ears, they can't supply enough heat to remain above freezing.

As to windshield washers - the inexpensive washer fluids are primarily alcohol based. The alcohol in the washer nozzles evaporates leaving water and pretty blue dye which then freezes into a plug in the nozzle. Use one of the washer fluids like Prestone and others make that rely mainly on ethylene glycol or propylene glycol. They don't evaporate as readily. I switched years ago for the same reason and haven't had a freeze up problem since.

 

 

Thanks for the science lesson, I have tried different brands and types of fluid. Some work better than others but it still freezes up. I have flushed it several times.

 

edit- nevermind

 

Thank You PupnDuck I live here in upstate NY near Lake Ontario we get lake effect snow and its almost always windy here I understand your logic about to wind chill
and the Ethylene Glycol and Propylene Glycol that's the only washer fluid I get Prestone but I always look at the ingredience.