That is TRUE. My father in law, who lives in the middle of Siberia, had a double-blowout in a truck in the middle of nowhere in high-winter. He kept the engine running all night, and did indeed light a fire to get things fluid again. He did almost perish before he was rescued. Never drove long-haul again.
Saw photos once of a bloke in Siberia lighting a wood fire under his truck in the morning before getting it started to free the transmission shaft.
When I was working in Andorra the temp was always sub zero and -30c at times as we were in winter above 3000m. The local servos all sold a special blend of diesel because when it gets that cold the paraffin separates and clogs the fuel filters like a bad mayonaise that turns.
Yes it snows in Oberon though not regularly, and certainly more often than in Canberra.
Lived in Canberra for 13 years ... it snowed occasionally but most years none.
In the days of printed newspapers we used to cover the car windscreen with that - in the morning it would peel off with most of the ice so demisting was relatively quick. Whatever cover you choose had better be disposable as the ice that forms isn't particularly clean given what else is in the air on a cold Canberra night - smoke from fireplaces and wood stoves.
Welcome to the harsh reality of Canberra winter.
I've lived in the Canberra region for 30 years and have always used warm water without any problems. I start the car, get out and pour some of the 2L juice bottle (washed out) over the screen. Start the wipers on normal speed and then pour small amounts where the ice is re-forming (you can hear the scratching sound). Splash a bit on your rear view side mirrors and side windows (so you can see the mirrors). Splash a bit more on the screen if ice is reforming and off you go.
Existing cracks have not become larger. It only has to feel warm and it works fine. I agree if it's too hot it can be a problem.
Bruce
9:13am here in Launceston and it's 1.3 deg. I use warm water on our windscreen. No problem. I do try to make sure it's lukewarm and not hot. Otherwise a card from my wallet although I did snap my fishing license last year doing this.
No ice this morning thanks to the cloud cover last night but it did hit -2 where we are. I must be acclimatised...still wearing shorts and thin shirt with just a thin jacket on top.My self-induced lipid layer helps a lot with cold control
My car is in an underground carpark at home so all good for me there...but when I am out at the observatory in winter for the cold nights (like tonight will be!) with the car parked outside, I have one of those reflective windscreen covers used in Summer, I put it on the outside of the windscreen and secure tightly against the glass using the doors..in the morning when I want to leave, I take it off, turn on the windscreen demister and all good. The only down side is the cover is usually covered with a layer of ice, which obviously melts so I can't put it in the car, so I brush off at least some of the ice and leave it inside the observatory site shed, you would leave it at home in the garage I guess?
Yeah, but I leave the reflector sheet out at the observatory anyway, besides, I'd forget to take it out of the bag to dry and there is usually heaps of ice on the cover too, quite thick sometimes too, so be better to leave it somewhere it can just melt off and drip dry
Was -4C out here last night and looking like going there again tonight..the car was covered in ice at 5:30am this morning but the sun shade did its job, perfectly clear windscreen when removed
My back bumper and window was iced over, but the windscreen was not. I tried spraying metho on the cold glass directly, and contrary to advice here, it INSTANTLY melted the ice there. Perhaps it helped the metho was warmer than the glass, but the effect was instant.
Not as frosty around the place here as the other day - the humidity was lower.
Hot kettle or an old credit card to scrap the ice. Alcohol in the water won't make the ice on your windscreen melt. Might help stop the water lines from freezing though.
Well, whilst not as cold as Siberia, it does drop to -10 to -15 here overnight in winter. So I'll add my voice to not using hot water on your windscreen. But difference between 100 ish degree water and a -15 piece of glass. The locals all have ice scrapers here. And it's ice, not a frost, which we would typically get in Melbourne. The doors of the car are frozen shut, you hear the ice crack when you open them.
My car has remote start and heated screens, yes, plural, front screen is heated as well (as are the seats and steering wheel), simply start the car 10 - 15 minutes before you want to head off, and go out an manually remove the stuff from the side windows, I use a rubber squeegee as it's generally a bit loose from the heater in the car. The rear view mirrors are also heated.
Other parts of Europe and the US are another kettle of fish.
Either MeOH or EtOH will be great, I just use the premixed stuff here, it's cheap enough and has detergent in it to clean off the bugs from summer driving.
A pic from last night's session. This particular session had seeing that was virtually perfect. Near-textbook diffraction rings at 600x at times. Also first light for my Delites. Report coming soon.
