Condensation front screen

masterboy123

Since winter is coming i have started to note alot of condensation on front windshield making it impossible to drive unless i wipe off using a cloth towel.

I used AC but it takes ages to warm up.

Is there any remedy to sort it out? Some people say to put baking powder?

Atlantic Dawn

Do you know when the pollen filter was last changed? Also if you are using AC turn it off about a mile or so from your final destination.

Jayop

Those wee pouches of silica gel you get when you buy shoes or toys. Otherwise you can go to a point shop and buy the wee dehumidifier tubs and keep one in the car. Your carpets are probably damp.

exaisle

The condensation is there because there's dampness around somewhere.

If it's an older Passat, I'd check in the passenger footwell for dampness....this is linked to water ingress at the pollen filter from a build up of leaves (loads of links about it).

Otherwise, check around and see if you can find the source.

Have you noticed the water level falling or have you had to top it up? If so, you may be looking at a leaky heater rad or pipe....

JOSman

Make sure you're not recycling air as this can cause condensation.

biko

Clean the inside of the windscreen really well, it will make it defrost faster.

Is it only windscreen or also other windows?
Change cabin filter.

Odelay

JOSman wrote: »

Make sure you're not recycling air as this can cause condensation.

This, big time! People have a habit of pushing all the buttons until the light up. The recycling air should never be on, unless needed for some odd reason, and I never understood what reason was unless you want foggy windows and a headache.
Why do we need recycling air?

Atlantic Dawn

Odelay wrote: »

This, big time! People have a habit of pushing all the buttons until the light up. The recycling air should never be on, unless needed for some odd reason, and I never understood what reason was unless you want foggy windows and a headache.
Why do we need recycling air?

If your behind a diesel car with the DPF removed, driving outside a traveller camp with cable being burned or down the country where fresh slurry is being spread

Vic_08

Odelay wrote: »

This, big time! People have a habit of pushing all the buttons until the light up. The recycling air should never be on, unless needed for some odd reason, and I never understood what reason was unless you want foggy windows and a headache.
Why do we need recycling air?

If you are sat in traffic behind something belching out a fug of half-burned fuel it is handy. Other than that yes, keep it on fresh air.

Keeping the window clean is the other major help, if op is wiping it with a greasy rag then it will just mist up again. Once it is clean not touching the screen with anything, especially hands also helps.

H3llR4iser

Odelay wrote: »

Why do we need recycling air?

When using the air conditioner to cool down the temperature; If there are 38 degrees outside, the car's AC won't be much use if every bit of air coming in has to be cooled down some 20 degrees. Cars aren't sold exclusively in Ireland an/or northern countries

OP, contrary to popular belief the air doesn't need to be warm to clear the windows / windscreen; If you turn on the AC and the glass doesn't clear out in a matter of seconds, one minute tops, it's likely you need to recharge it.

Finally, except for the very rare times the temperature drops below zero, Ireland is a very humid place - any air coming from the outside will contain a lot of moisture; That's why just running the fan on "heat" without pressing the AC button results in faster fogging, if anything.

Clean the inside of the windows/windshield well and then apply an even coating of RainX with a clean cloth, and it should take care of the issue for a few weeks. Rinse, repeat

kirving

masterboy123 wrote: »

I used AC but it takes ages to warm up.

Could he the root cause of the issue, is your car okay on coolant? If it's low, there may not be enough to circulate the heat from the engine and into the heater matrix.

shedweller

The cold weather has made all the moisture in the car condense on the windscreen. Probably from wet carpets.Happened mine every year until i got them dehumidifier yokes from halfords. Now there is no fogging. When they get saturated i leave them on a radiator for a day or two and they are good to go again.
Actually, there's a thing i noticed. Its always the front windscreen that fogs up and the sides hardly fog up at all! Evil

punisher5112

It can be caused as others say from dampness but many reasons why.

Water can be getting in anywhere including the boot so feel around and look under spare wheel.

As suggested keep windows cleaned regularly.

Get a dehumidifier pouch that can be recharged by heating in microwave.

pa990

1. Run your A/C all the time when driving
2. Get something to dry out the car, dehumidifier /silica gel/ etc
3. Change pollen filter
4. Clean your windows,.. moisture will sick to the dirt, clean windows don't fog up easily
5. You might have a leak.. fix it

bman1

What car have you got? Only asking because if you do have a leak so many different cars these days have particular places to look out for it might help you find the source of the leak if you have one.

masterboy123

It's an Opel Astra.

bman1 wrote: »

What car have you got? Only asking because if you do have a leak so many different cars these days have particular places to look out for it might help you find the source of the leak if you have one.

masterboy123

Thanks everyone for the help.

Yes i am not recycling the air inside the car and pollen filter was changed in March this year. The mistake could be i keep my umbrella on the backseat and there could be water drops left there.

I am going to get dehumidifier box from Dealz and see if it helps.

CarrickMcJoe

Had the same problem and solved it by changing pollen filter.

Irish Steve

Had a car in at a local garage yesterday, the pollen filters were saturated, the reason was that there was close on 5 Litres (yes, that's not a typo) of water sloshing around in the scuttle area. Both drains were blocked by leaf debris, so the water couldn't drain away. The car came in because the owner could hear the water sloshing around the scuttle when going round corners. And yes, that amount of water at the start of the air entry system was doing nothing to help clear the screen.

The aircon is not needed to clear the screen, AC is designed to cool air, what's needed to clear the screen is a good airflow, and ideally some heat from the heater matrix, if the aircon is good, it will be adding to the problem by chilling air and water is condensing, or freezing on to the aircon coil, which in summer temperatures is no problem, but in winter, extra water in the system is not helping, had exactly that problem last week with a Mazda6, took me several minutes to work out how to turn off the A/c (not my vehicle), which solved the issue.

frozenfrozen

silica cat litter in a sock apparently works but it doesn't bother me enough to warrant doing that

I just leave the car warm up before leaving. Once the glass gets to a certain temperature the moisture won't stay on it. I don't have a/c in my car

It was my understanding that air conditioning removed moisture from the air.


You can also get little silica packets designed to be rebaked several times and will have a dye that changes colour when they are saturated. Old silica packets are no good, they will be fully saturated unless you bake them.

rex-x

Irish Steve wrote: »

The aircon is not needed to clear the screen, AC is designed to cool air, what's needed to clear the screen is a good airflow

Air conditioning removes moisture from the air, which is exactly what you want to clear the screen, there is a reason it comes on automatically when you hit the windscreen button on most cars It is far more effective than just good air flow

Jayop

Irish Steve wrote: »

Had a car in at a local garage yesterday, the pollen filters were saturated, the reason was that there was close on 5 Litres (yes, that's not a typo) of water sloshing around in the scuttle area. Both drains were blocked by leaf debris, so the water couldn't drain away. The car came in because the owner could hear the water sloshing around the scuttle when going round corners. And yes, that amount of water at the start of the air entry system was doing nothing to help clear the screen.

The aircon is not needed to clear the screen, AC is designed to cool air, what's needed to clear the screen is a good airflow, and ideally some heat from the heater matrix, if the aircon is good, it will be adding to the problem by chilling air and water is condensing, or freezing on to the aircon coil, which in summer temperatures is no problem, but in winter, extra water in the system is not helping, had exactly that problem last week with a Mazda6, took me several minutes to work out how to turn off the A/c (not my vehicle), which solved the issue.

Erm...

If you have aircon in a car then it helps to both heat and cool a car.

pa990

Irish Steve wrote: »

......

The aircon is not needed to clear the screen, AC is designed to cool air, what's needed to clear the screen is a good airflow, and ideally some heat from the heater matrix, if the aircon is good, it will be adding to the problem by chilling air and water is condensing, or freezing on to the aircon coil, which in summer temperatures is no problem, but in winter, extra water in the system is not helping, had exactly that problem last week with a Mazda6, took me several minutes to work out how to turn off the A/c (not my vehicle), which solved the issue.

Ehhhh.. A/C drys the air.

its actually clears windows fantastically when used with the heating

Boeing777

A really easy solution is to rub some fairy liquid onto the inside of your windscreen with a dry cloth and clean it off with a moistened cloth until the smears disappear. Washing-up liquid is really good at cutting grime and oily substances which are exactly what is causing the condensation to build up inside your car. It has always worked for me, even on windows inside the house!

masterboy123

How much would it cost to change only pollen filter and mechanic fees? I got it done with full service last time so don't know.

I bought dehumidifier granules today from Dealz.

Atlantic Dawn

masterboy123 wrote: »

How much would it cost to change only pollen filter and mechanic fees? I got it done with full service last time so don't know.

I bought dehumidifier granules today from Dealz.

Around €15 for non original, around €25 for an Opel filter I'd say. It's an easy DIY job, takes about 5 mins, only tool needed is a screwdriver...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEJrkSlK18Y

frozenfrozen

I'm in the car now waiting for it to clear. Would love some cat litter now or the opulence of a/c. I'll be waiting for it to clear just as long as the journey home will be

shedweller

frozenfrozen wrote: »

I'm in the car now waiting for it to clear. Would love some cat litter now or the opulence of a/c. I'll be waiting for it to clear just as long as the journey home will be

http://www.c2.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductMobileDisplay?catalogId=15551&storeId=11101&productId=1145999&langId=-1&categoryId=212431
This will sort it out. I have two this past year and they are great this time of year.

frozenfrozen

shedweller wrote: »

http://www.c2.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductMobileDisplay?catalogId=15551&storeId=11101&productId=1145999&langId=-1&categoryId=212431
This will sort it out. I have two this past year and they are great this time of year.

I think I might actually do the cat litter, it's only 3 euro per kilo or something and I'd say that would last a whole winter.

I'm very cheap

masterboy123

That's awesome. I will wait first to see if car dehumidifier works. If not i will go with this option. Sound

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Around €15 for non original, around €25 for an Opel filter I'd say. It's an easy DIY job, takes about 5 mins, only tool needed is a screwdriver...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEJrkSlK18Y

Irish Steve

At the risk of derailing the thread, to those people that are talking about A/C drying the air, can I ask you to think about why fog is mainly prevalent in cold weather, and why hurricanes with massive rainfall happen mainly in summer time?

A/C cools the air, in part by condensing water out on to the chilling coils, depending on the temperature and the efficiency of the A/C, it may even freeze. That's good as far as it goes, but, and it's a significant but, as a result of cooling the air, it is now less capable of absorbing moisture, which is exactly opposite to what's required.

Heating the air allows it to absorb more water, which is what is needed, so the hotter the air, the more effective it will be at clearing the screen. When the clear screen option is selected on some cars, it may well put the A/C on, but in reality, the A/C as such is not going to help much, the main effect is the extra air volume being thrown through the system by the fan, possibly aided by some heat from the engine, depending on how long the engine has been running.

frozenfrozen

hot air carries more water, that's what evaporation is, water going below the dew point as the temperature rises and that water is sucked back into the warmer air.

Air conditioning pulls the moist air out of the car and replaces it with dry cool air.

turning the heat on will evaporate the water slowly back into the car and will heat up the glass enough that water will not condense on it.


an experiment: sit in the car with the heat on and wait for it to defrost then get someone to put the garden hose running on the windscreen, it'll instantly fog back up

do the same after clearing with the a/c and it won't fog, because there is not enough moisture in the air to condense as the dew point for that little moisture would be a much much lower temperature

ThisRegard

Irish Steve wrote: »

the A/C as such is not going to help much,

If you get a chance to experiment with a car with air conditioning, do it. You'll see the difference it makes.

Del2005

Irish Steve wrote: »

At the risk of derailing the thread, to those people that are talking about A/C drying the air, can I ask you to think about why fog is mainly prevalent in cold weather, and why hurricanes with massive rainfall happen mainly in summer time?

A/C cools the air, in part by condensing water out on to the chilling coils, depending on the temperature and the efficiency of the A/C, it may even freeze. That's good as far as it goes, but, and it's a significant but, as a result of cooling the air, it is now less capable of absorbing moisture, which is exactly opposite to what's required.

Heating the air allows it to absorb more water, which is what is needed, so the hotter the air, the more effective it will be at clearing the screen. When the clear screen option is selected on some cars, it may well put the A/C on, but in reality, the A/C as such is not going to help much, the main effect is the extra air volume being thrown through the system by the fan, possibly aided by some heat from the engine, depending on how long the engine has been running.

Then why does a car which fogs up all the windows when driving clear nearly instantly when the AC is turned on?

Alanstrainor

shedweller wrote: »

The cold weather has made all the moisture in the car condense on the windscreen. Probably from wet carpets.Happened mine every year until i got them dehumidifier yokes from halfords. Now there is no fogging. When they get saturated i leave them on a radiator for a day or two and they are good to go again.
Actually, there's a thing i noticed. Its always the front windscreen that fogs up and the sides hardly fog up at all! Evil

If your carpets are getting saturated it would be worth figuring out the root cause rather than going through other steps to dry them.

soups05

Don't hate me but am not really a car guy, it gets me from a to b and that's it. until I read this thread I did not really think about condensation, just assumed all cars were the same. I also did not know my car had a pollen filter.

Thanks for all the info guys, it was a real eye opener for me. I also thought AC only cooled the air so i never used it lol.

Irish Steve

ThisRegard wrote: »

If you get a chance to experiment with a car with air conditioning, do it. You'll see the difference it makes.

I did. I had to collect a Mazda 6 last week, and it was only when I found the A/C button and turned it off that I was able to stop the screen from fogging up again, once the A/C was off, and the heater was able to provide some warmth to the air, the screen cleared and remained clear for the rest of the trip home.

Voodoomelon

It's amazing how little people know about heating and cooling a car, how the HVAC controls work and how to keep your windows fog free.
It's something that really bugs me, people pulling out of housing estates or sitting in traffic, rubbing the windscreen with a little cushion or an aul pair of boxers.
If someone touched my windscreen, or any glass for that matter they'd know all about it.

The three keys to keeping glass fog free, without even having to think about it:

1. Keep your air conditioning on year round.
2. Get a bottle of this and throw out all your Windowlene, glass cleaner, vinegar solutions etc:



Rub it onto all your glass with a microfibre. Come back to it in 10 minutes after it's dried to a haze (you won't be able to see through the glass) and buff off the residue. Then *never* touch your glass again.

3. Keep all moisture out of the car. Try and make sure your clothes are dry or throw a soaking wet coat in the boot. Make sure all door seals are intact and you have no wet carpet. Check your pollen filter and keep your recirculation button off.

Job done.

Notch000

It's something that really bugs me, people pulling out of housing estates or sitting in traffic, rubbing the windscreen with a little cushion or an aul pair of boxers.
If someone touched my windscreen, or any glass for that matter they'd know all about it.

Im one of these dredges to society you talk about. My cars is 17yrs old and is damp in winter, dont have aircon either and my thermostat is shot too, get over it

masterboy123

So i cleaned the windshield neatly and got the dehumidifier tub from Dealz. Results are astonishing No more condensation!!

Cheers everyone

Cheensbo

Notch000 wrote: »

It's something that really bugs me, people pulling out of housing estates or sitting in traffic, rubbing the windscreen with a little cushion or an aul pair of boxers.
If someone touched my windscreen, or any glass for that matter they'd know all about it.

Im one of these dredges to society you talk about. My cars is 17yrs old and is damp in winter, dont have aircon either and my thermostat is shot too, get over it

You're just lazy then you dreg :P , my cars are 18 & 25 respectively - one is completely porous - doesnt have aircon and has a fecked stat, its got its own climate its that feckin damp. But despite that, I still manage to clean & clear my screen.

All it really takes is for the glass to be good and clean tbh, A little bit of effort can go a long way.

shedweller

Alanstrainor wrote: »

If your carpets are getting saturated it would be worth figuring out the root cause rather than going through other steps to dry them.

True dat. It was me and the kids getting in with wet boots. The kids football boots were very wet. I checked for leaks and is nothing leaking into the car. Ventilation system is clear with a new pollen filter.
There's not much water on the windscreen without the absorbtion thingy but whatever is goes on the front window. Cant see through for a few mins when the engine warms up.
Problem is now gone!

Voodoomelon

Notch000 wrote: »

It's something that really bugs me, people pulling out of housing estates or sitting in traffic, rubbing the windscreen with a little cushion or an aul pair of boxers.
If someone touched my windscreen, or any glass for that matter they'd know all about it.

Im one of these dredges to society you talk about. My cars is 17yrs old and is damp in winter, dont have aircon either and my thermostat is shot too, get over it

I had the mispleasure of driving a '00 3 series recently in wet weather with no working aircon and HVAC controls with a mind of its own. I can only describe the short journey as dangerous the way the windows fogged, I had to pull in and sort them out several times coupled with driving with the passenger window open so I could see clearly.
If you drive a car in poor condition with fogged windows on a regular basis, you are a danger to others on the road. It should be driving without due care and attention in my view.

ThisRegard

Irish Steve wrote: »

I did. I had to collect a Mazda 6 last week, and it was only when I found the A/C button and turned it off that I was able to stop the screen from fogging up again, once the A/C was off, and the heater was able to provide some warmth to the air, the screen cleared and remained clear for the rest of the trip home.

You can have heat with air conditioning.

Irish Steve

ThisRegard wrote: »

You can have heat with air conditioning.

True, but you can have more heat if the aircon compressor is not operating, as the heat is not having to warm the air that's just been chilled by the aircon.

I suspect that the problem I had with the Mazda was that there was an issue with water in the Air Con matrix, it had been standing for a while, so when everything kicked in, the water in the A/C got redistributed to the rest of the vehicle. Stop the compressor, and give the fan a few seconds to clear everything, and the extra heat in the heater matrix soon sorted the issue.

If the external air temperature is below what you want in the car, there is ZERO advantage to be gained from running the aircon compressor, all it is doing is costing you money, and having it running is not helping warm the car, as all that is going to do is lower the temperature of the incoming air even more.

frozenfrozen

Irish Steve wrote: »

True, but you can have more heat if the aircon compressor is not operating, as the heat is not having to warm the air that's just been chilled by the aircon.

I suspect that the problem I had with the Mazda was that there was an issue with water in the Air Con matrix, it had been standing for a while, so when everything kicked in, the water in the A/C got redistributed to the rest of the vehicle. Stop the compressor, and give the fan a few seconds to clear everything, and the extra heat in the heater matrix soon sorted the issue.

If the external air temperature is below what you want in the car, there is ZERO advantage to be gained from running the aircon compressor, all it is doing is costing you money, and having it running is not helping warm the car, as all that is going to do is lower the temperature of the incoming air even more.

Zero advantage.. Except for you know.. Demisting the windows in 15 seconds..

the_pen_turner

AC all the way. its the only way.

Irish Steve

I despair. When I look at some of the complete garbage that's been put out as fact in this thread, I am forced to wonder how people have been so deceived. I can't make my mind up if it's the education system that's failing to teach the basics of physics, or if it's that people have lost the ability to evaluate the information that's presented to them. Either way, some of the contributors here should be looking to take up a career as politicians, at least that will be consistent, given how the gombeens that were around a few years ago swallowed the snake oil from the Greens about Diesel.

Carry on using your A/C when it's doing nothing other than burn extra fuel. You clearly can afford to waste the money. I just hope that some of your other decisions are better informed.

I'm out of here.

beauf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCmgWiEEZwA

TherapyBoy

Ok, so hot air can absorb more water than cold air - so turn up the heater.
And dry air can absorb more water than wet air - so turn on the A/C.
And these aren't mutually exclusive - so if you can, do both!

frozenfrozen

Steve, I'm just wondering here and this may be wrong, but was the button in the Mazda 6 "Aircon" or could it have bloody been "ECON" !!!!!! Where it wouldn't demist until you fooking turned of economy mode aka turned on A/C!!!!!!!


Look at this which found when looking for cars that didn't automatically turn A/C on when doing any sort of windscreen orientated demist mode.

A bunch of kia owners discussing the cheat code needed to not engage air conditioning automatically when putting the front demister on.

"Hi diddy1234, you need to press the recirculation button at least 5 times within 3 seconds.

'1) Turn the fan speed the "0" position.
2) Turn the mode selection knob to the defrost position.
3) Push the recirculated air position button at least 5 times within 3 seconds
Then the indicator light in the recirculated air position button will blink 3 times with 0.5 second of an interval. Follow the same proceedure to restore.'

Hope that sorts it!"


when someone presses the front demister button and doesn't turn on AC... the front demister button actually turns on the AC...... so even if there's more anecdotal evidence of people finding it better to not turn A/C on, they could still be using A/c without knowing it


I don't have A/C in my little car, it's a pain in the arsehole because it takes a very long time to heat up all of the air in the car enough for it to demist the windows.
If people in diesel cars didn't turn on A/C to clear the windows..... they could be waiting half an hour to be blowing enough hot air to demist the car!