George wrote:
David Combs wrote:
My lifelong problem with windshield-wipers is that, being 6'3", while
driving a car, my eyes's sightline to the road has always gone through
the windwhield *precisely halfway between* those two
supports that push the rubber "blade" against the windshield.


So, where *I* most comfortably look through the winshield is
where the wiper is guaranteed
to push lightly (if at all!) against the glass -- the
rain/snow/ice/dirt/roadScum-hit glass.

Thus leaving a 3-inch band ("annulus") the windshield has any (if any)
effect on.

So, my first question:

Is there a windshield-wiper manufacturer who make ones that have not
two, but three, supports directly pushing the actual blade against
the glass?


And my second: how about ones made for really difficult weather,
eg northern canada or alaska, with lots of ice, freezing-rain, etc?

----- just for fun:

What about these huge semi-trucks -- drive all night in that kind of
weather, what kind of wipers do they have.

Or airplanes?
Or navy destroyers?




Thanks!

David


Wipers seem to have become real junk quality. The reality is you just
have to keep replacing them frequently. I put silicone blades on one
vehicle and I haven't changed them for at least a year and they seem to
be lasting like blades used to. They are 3x the cost of the others so I
don't know if it makes economic sense to use them.

I think that it does on a seldom-driven car. I've had silicone blades
on the Porsche since December of 2007. I'd have replaced regular ones
at least twice not because the wiping edges wore out but because they'd
have become hard and stopped flipping over.

Now I put silicone on my company car at the same time, and I've had to
refill them once; however I replaced them not because they had hardened
(they hadn't) but because the wiping edges were literally worn out - but
that's a lot of miles, a lot of them in rain/snow, and a lot of usage of
windshield washer to clear salt/dirt/dust etc. off of the windshield.
It doesn't help that the driver's side wiper runs over the windshield
trim at the top of its sweep. GREAT engineering, GM.

As an aside, when did it become common to tie the windshield *washer*
switch to a timed relay so that the wipers will run for several seconds
every time you hit the switch? I far prefer the old school way where
you'd spray the windshield *first* and then run the wipers manually,
especially if, say, you need to clean the windshield because it got all
dusty or muddy while you were parked. The old way would seem to be far
kinder to the blades, although if someone can prove that it really makes
no nevermind I'm willing to be educated.

nate

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