The water bottle for the windscreen wash on my car continually fills up with
slime, algy and other residues - does anyone know what's causing this? - I
have tried various additives that claim to be antifreeze, non smear etc, but
all seem to turn into solvite within a week or two....my reason for adding
them was not for their claims, but to try and kill off the organisms which
obvioulsy love the conditions in there.
The water bottle holds 5 litres of water, I've tried just putting in one
litre and refilling when nessecary, in case it was the length of time in the
bottle that was the culprit, all to no avail.
It might sound like a trivial problem, but when this crap works loose and
comes down the tubes, it blocks all the jets.
Today I took the bottle off and it is now in a bucket containing bleach,
caustic soda and hot water, I've had to do this every year since I've had
the car, what's causing it and how can it be stopped?

TIA

X-posted to uk.d-i-y and uk.rec.cars.maintenance

"Phil L" wrote in message
. ..
The water bottle for the windscreen wash on my car continually fills up
with slime, algy and other residues - does anyone know what's causing
this? - I have tried various additives that claim to be antifreeze, non
smear etc, but all seem to turn into solvite within a week or two....my
reason for adding them was not for their claims, but to try and kill off
the organisms which obvioulsy love the conditions in there.
The water bottle holds 5 litres of water, I've tried just putting in one
litre and refilling when nessecary, in case it was the length of time in
the bottle that was the culprit, all to no avail.
It might sound like a trivial problem, but when this crap works loose and
comes down the tubes, it blocks all the jets.
Today I took the bottle off and it is now in a bucket containing bleach,
caustic soda and hot water, I've had to do this every year since I've had
the car, what's causing it and how can it be stopped?

TIA

X-posted to uk.d-i-y and uk.rec.cars.maintenance
Algae, fungi, and yeasts can be very difficult to eradicate. I'd remove all
the antifreeze, wash out the bottle as well as possible, and try running
with a dilute bleach solution for maybe a month or so. Something like a
couple of tablespoons per litre. Use the screenwasher frequently to keep
fresh solution in the pipes. This may shorten the life of the wiper blades
slightly and perhaps the rubber impeller in the pump. I don't believe the
windscreen rubber seal or paint should suffer unduly because they expect to
see ten years plus of sunlight. Ultra-violet plus air does the same to
rubber as the increased oxidation rate from the bleach. (Wiper blades are
made to be replaceable, and the impeller doesn't see sunlight).

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 20:06:47 GMT, "Phil L"
wrote:

|!The water bottle for the windscreen wash on my car continually fills up with
|!slime, algy and other residues - does anyone know what's causing this? - I
|!have tried various additives that claim to be antifreeze, non smear etc, but
|!all seem to turn into solvite within a week or two....my reason for adding
|!them was not for their claims, but to try and kill off the organisms which
|!obvioulsy love the conditions in there.
|!The water bottle holds 5 litres of water, I've tried just putting in one
|!litre and refilling when nessecary, in case it was the length of time in the
|!bottle that was the culprit, all to no avail.
|!It might sound like a trivial problem, but when this crap works loose and
|!comes down the tubes, it blocks all the jets.
|!Today I took the bottle off and it is now in a bucket containing bleach,
|!caustic soda and hot water, I've had to do this every year since I've had
|!the car, what's causing it and how can it be stopped?

Clean the whole thing out, pipes and all with Puriclean from caravanning
shops. We do our caravan water system yearly. Milton is reputed to be
OK bleach attacks the seals.
--
Dave Fawthrop sf hyphenologist.co.uk 165 *Free* SF ebooks.
165 Sci Fi books on CDROM, from Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page Completely Free to any
address in the UK. Contact me on the *above* email address.

On 22 Mar, 21:03, Dave Fawthrop
wrote:
On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 20:06:47 GMT, "Phil L"
wrote:

|!The water bottle for the windscreen wash on my car continually fills up with
|!slime, algy and other residues - does anyone know what's causing this? - I
|!have tried various additives that claim to be antifreeze, non smear etc, but
|!all seem to turn into solvite within a week or two....my reason for adding
|!them was not for their claims, but to try and kill off the organisms which
|!obvioulsy love the conditions in there.
|!The water bottle holds 5 litres of water, I've tried just putting in one
|!litre and refilling when nessecary, in case it was the length of time in the
|!bottle that was the culprit, all to no avail.
|!It might sound like a trivial problem, but when this crap works loose and
|!comes down the tubes, it blocks all the jets.
|!Today I took the bottle off and it is now in a bucket containing bleach,
|!caustic soda and hot water, I've had to do this every year since I've had
|!the car, what's causing it and how can it be stopped?

Clean the whole thing out, pipes and all with Puriclean from caravanning
shops. We do our caravan water system yearly. Milton is reputed to be
OK bleach attacks the seals.

when youre done, put a pinch of copper sulphate in the bottle in the
water/detergent


NT

Newshound wrote:
"Phil L" wrote in message
. ..
The water bottle for the windscreen wash on my car continually fills
up with slime, algy and other residues - does anyone know what's
causing this? -

Hypochlorite will kill off slime & algae and does so in very low
concentrations. Try a teaspoon full of bleach - not enough to damage
anythiong, but enough in 5 litres to kill off algae.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

In message , Phil L
writes
The water bottle for the windscreen wash on my car continually fills up with
slime, algy and other residues - does anyone know what's causing this? - I
have tried various additives that claim to be antifreeze, non smear etc, but
all seem to turn into solvite within a week or two....my reason for adding
them was not for their claims, but to try and kill off the organisms which
obvioulsy love the conditions in there.
The water bottle holds 5 litres of water, I've tried just putting in one
litre and refilling when nessecary, in case it was the length of time in the
bottle that was the culprit, all to no avail.
It might sound like a trivial problem, but when this crap works loose and
comes down the tubes, it blocks all the jets.
Today I took the bottle off and it is now in a bucket containing bleach,
caustic soda and hot water, I've had to do this every year since I've had
the car, what's causing it and how can it be stopped?

TIA

X-posted to uk.d-i-y and uk.rec.cars.maintenance



I've *heard* but have no first hand knowledge of this, that mixing
different formulations of washer fluid can do this. Something similar to
the problems of mixing mineral and synthetic oil - you end up with a
sludge.

It's not about using brand 'A' then brand 'B', but more about the basis
of the various formulations.

Wasn't there something similar about mixing different types of
antifreeze?

Anyway - this is just what I've heard, no specific experience :-)

Hth
Someone

In message , somebody
writes
In message , Phil L
writes
The water bottle for the windscreen wash on my car continually fills up with
slime, algy and other residues - does anyone know what's causing this? - I
have tried various additives that claim to be antifreeze, non smear etc, but
all seem to turn into solvite within a week or two....my reason for adding
them was not for their claims, but to try and kill off the organisms which
obvioulsy love the conditions in there.
The water bottle holds 5 litres of water, I've tried just putting in one
litre and refilling when nessecary, in case it was the length of time in the
bottle that was the culprit, all to no avail.
It might sound like a trivial problem, but when this crap works loose and
comes down the tubes, it blocks all the jets.
Today I took the bottle off and it is now in a bucket containing bleach,
caustic soda and hot water, I've had to do this every year since I've had
the car, what's causing it and how can it be stopped?

TIA

X-posted to uk.d-i-y and uk.rec.cars.maintenance



I've *heard* but have no first hand knowledge of this, that mixing
different formulations of washer fluid can do this. Something similar
to the problems of mixing mineral and synthetic oil - you end up with a
sludge.

Sorry to reply to my own post but, no, it was to do with washing up
liquid being mixed with washer fluid, rather than different washer
fluids.

That'll learn me to post after the pub :-)

Hth
--
Someone

On 22 Mar, 23:57, somebody wrote:
In message , Phil L
writes



The water bottle for the windscreen wash on my car continually fills up with
slime, algy and other residues - does anyone know what's causing this? - I
have tried various additives that claim to be antifreeze, non smear etc, but
all seem to turn into solvite within a week or two....my reason for adding
them was not for their claims, but to try and kill off the organisms which
obvioulsy love the conditions in there.
The water bottle holds 5 litres of water, I've tried just putting in one
litre and refilling when nessecary, in case it was the length of time in the
bottle that was the culprit, all to no avail.
It might sound like a trivial problem, but when this crap works loose and
comes down the tubes, it blocks all the jets.
Today I took the bottle off and it is now in a bucket containing bleach,
caustic soda and hot water, I've had to do this every year since I've had
the car, what's causing it and how can it be stopped?

TIA

X-posted to uk.d-i-y and uk.rec.cars.maintenance

I've *heard* but have no first hand knowledge of this, that mixing
different formulations of washer fluid can do this. Something similar to
the problems of mixing mineral and synthetic oil - you end up with a
sludge.

It's not about using brand 'A' then brand 'B', but more about the basis
of the various formulations.

Wasn't there something similar about mixing different types of
antifreeze?

Anyway - this is just what I've heard, no specific experience :-)

Hth
Someone

I had this problem some while ago. Found that using different
screenwash liquids sometimes causes a gel to form in the base of the
bottle and pump. Always use the same make now.

Phil L wrote:
The water bottle for the windscreen wash on my car continually fills up with
slime, algy and other residues - does anyone know what's causing this? - I
have tried various additives that claim to be antifreeze, non smear etc, but
all seem to turn into solvite within a week or two....my reason for adding
them was not for their claims, but to try and kill off the organisms which
obvioulsy love the conditions in there.
The water bottle holds 5 litres of water, I've tried just putting in one
litre and refilling when nessecary, in case it was the length of time in the
bottle that was the culprit, all to no avail.
It might sound like a trivial problem, but when this crap works loose and
comes down the tubes, it blocks all the jets.
Today I took the bottle off and it is now in a bucket containing bleach,
caustic soda and hot water, I've had to do this every year since I've had
the car, what's causing it and how can it be stopped?

TIA

X-posted to uk.d-i-y and uk.rec.cars.maintenance


Wash it out with soap and hot water and add some disinfectant to the
refill solution

PSOE wrote:
Phil L wrote:
The water bottle for the windscreen wash on my car continually fills
up with slime, algy and other residues - does anyone know what's
causing this? - I have tried various additives that claim to be
antifreeze, non smear etc, but all seem to turn into solvite within a
week or two....my reason for adding them was not for their claims, but
to try and kill off the organisms which obvioulsy love the conditions
in there.
The water bottle holds 5 litres of water, I've tried just putting in
one litre and refilling when nessecary, in case it was the length of
time in the bottle that was the culprit, all to no avail.
It might sound like a trivial problem, but when this crap works loose
and comes down the tubes, it blocks all the jets.
Today I took the bottle off and it is now in a bucket containing
bleach, caustic soda and hot water, I've had to do this every year
since I've had the car, what's causing it and how can it be stopped?

TIA

X-posted to uk.d-i-y and uk.rec.cars.maintenance

Wash it out with soap and hot water and add some disinfectant to the
refill solution

Bleach is good.

That should keep it alakaline enough to avoid re-infestation.

"Phil L" wrote in message
. ..
The water bottle for the windscreen wash on my car continually fills up
with slime, algy and other residues - does anyone know what's causing
this? - I have tried various additives that claim to be antifreeze, non
smear etc, but all seem to turn into solvite within a week or two....my
reason for adding them was not for their claims, but to try and kill off
the organisms which obvioulsy love the conditions in there.
The water bottle holds 5 litres of water, I've tried just putting in one
litre and refilling when nessecary, in case it was the length of time in
the bottle that was the culprit, all to no avail.
It might sound like a trivial problem, but when this crap works loose and
comes down the tubes, it blocks all the jets.
Today I took the bottle off and it is now in a bucket containing bleach,
caustic soda and hot water, I've had to do this every year since I've had
the car, what's causing it and how can it be stopped?

TIA

X-posted to uk.d-i-y and uk.rec.cars.maintenance
Milton