COLD

[Thomas]

Looks like your taking pretty good care of the Tom brothers..so far all I have 6 butter balls deer and fox.

Our woodstove on no diet..yikes. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

I rather face the mud & bugs than the cold and ice..gee than could almost be a country song w/some fine tuning. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Stay warm up there and think of black t-shirt & sun glasses summer breeze when riding.

 

[PhilNH5]

Trev,
I live near one of the state maintained snowmobile trails. There is a vast network - some connected, some not. They are not part of the Appalachian nor Long Trail, 2 famous hiking trails in NE.

The state says they are recreational trails for snow mobiling, X-C skiiing, hiking, mountain biking etc.
Me, personnally, I wouldn't go on those trails for love nor money. In the winter there are snow mobilers. Lots of them. Now they pay the registration fees which helps with upkeep so they desrve to be out there. Come mud season it is the 4 wheelers. These scare the heck out of me.

With all that horsepower and speed I find other places to go snowshoeing, hiking or mountain biking.

Phil

 

[JohnMiller3]

<font color=blue>… These scare the heck out of me…</font color=blue>

Hi Phil,

Hey, some of these guys think the same thing with tractors… “Hey… they scare me!” /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

On a side note, I noticed you’re a “Pharmaceutical Scientist”… any chance you have a percentage breakdown of “windshield washer fluid” materials… @ -20F…?

Thanks! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[rancar]

-15F in Cambridge, NY @ 6:45AM......water pipes froze up twice overnight....overhead space heaters are working overtime....small water leak from one of the water valves dripping on the wood pile in the basement....stalagmite now growing on the wood pile.....windows all frosted up, just like the Siberian winter scene in that movie Dr. Zhivago....and the DEEP FREEZE continues/w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif.

Pardon my use of the *cool* emoticon....this is the closest we have available to [frozen] /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

....Bob

 

[PhilNH5]

John,
I always thought that winshield washer fluid was simply methanol in water plus blue dye so you can see the level in your resovoir.

I don't do much physical chemistry if any so I checked the the only topical reference I have - CRC Handbook of Chemisrty and Physics. It listed a slew of compounds that cause freezing point depression but not methanol. It did list water. So now I simply needed the FP of methanol to plug into the CRC equation.

I checked The Merck Index and it was kind enough to list FP data for methanol/water mixes. Saved me the chore of all that math.

%Methanol in water Freeze Point(F)
10 -20
20 -24
30 -29.4

A few disclaimers :This is all based on my assumption that washer fluid uses methanol. Methanol is flammable and will remove nail polish, indelible ink and some paints. I don't know what the cost would be. I think you can get methanol at a hardware store. It may be called wood alcohol and is sold to thin laquer. But the commercial washer fluid is cheap so I don't think there will be a cost savings. Only reason to make your own would be to lower the freeze point versus the blue stuff.

Phil

 

[rancar]

It's difficult to beat the cost economies of simply purchasing the blue windshield wiper fluid. I just bought 2 cases (12 bottles) at Home Depot for 50 cents per bottle. It's cheap, saves time, and sure beats having to mix this stuff (using own home made formula) in -10-20F weather. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

....Bob

 

[JohnMiller3]

<font color=blue>...sure beats having to mix this stuff (using own home made formula)...</font color=blue>

Hi Bob,

If it's not top secret... what is your formula? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Wingnut]

<font color=blue>Do you still have a face??! </font color=blue>
Balaclava ... this was way before closed faced helmets become common and we used balaclavas ... or didn't wear a helmet and used a parka. If it was really cold (below -40) then I usually used my balaclava AND my parka and left the silly helmet in the house. I still have my parka ... it has 7 pounds (yes POUNDS!) of icelandic goose down for insulation and has wolverine fur trimming the hood .... worked fine ... never got frostbite that I can see any signs of ...
Hey ... it was a DRY cold /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[rancar]

Hi John....

<font color=blue>... what is your formula?</font color=blue>

I haven't really found one yet I'm all that happy with and which for me is cost-effective and convenient. Certainly, in the warmer months, I could be content with straight water...but this didn't really get all of the dust and dirt off without smearing and without requiring spraying the windshield to a considerable degree. I then combined this with a small portion (no more than a 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon per gallon) of Palmolive dish washing detergent. I never felt that I was able to get this mixture just right and I was always left with a soapy film or residue on the windshield that left its own unique smear mark. I suppose I could have experimented with different brands but......

Some years ago during the winter I ran out of my blue washer fluid most of us purchase in the market and I started experimenting with some cases of old isopropyl rubbing alcohol I had stored in the barn. Some of my mixes were OK....others weren't when I found my fluid canister frozen. This proved more of a detriment than it was worth since I had to remove the canister, thaw and drain it, and then I'm back to square one looking for another correct mixture that was compatible with fluctuating temperature extremes that varied day by day. I've just never found one mixture I was happy with and decided instead to look for those $.50-.75 per gallon sales in the markets. For me, this was the most time-efficient, cost-efficient, and productive way to go.

Another thing for those interested in making their own washer fluid is making sure whatever is used doesn't freeze up in the windshield washer pump. It's easy enough, albeit somewhat time consuming, to remove a fluid canister. It's a bit more difficult to remove and/or thaw out a fluid pump in sub zero temps.

Out of curiousity, I did a quick Google search and came up with the following links that may be useful for your query. First one provides one vendor's specs. The second link is chat room discussion from another forum that deals with home made windshield washer brews.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.douglasproducts.com/commercial/msds_ww.html>Wiper Blue Windshield Fluid Specs</A>

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://pub157.ezboard.com/fthefrugalshopperfrm26.showMessage?topicID=508.topic>Some Home Made Jack and Jill Recipes</A>

Hope all this is helpful in some way.

....Bob

 

[Mosey]

I should have known better than to believe the weather forecasters! Two days ago they were predicting a high of 37 on Monday. Now they're calling for a high of 17!

How many jobs are there that don't fire people who are constantly doing things wrong? Weather forecasters are wrong all the time, yet they retain their jobs and people take what they say as gospel!

 

[rancar]

This is just a reminder on how we need to care for pets and other domestic animals in this extreme cold. I'm amazed when I hear stories of people who 'forget' about their pets when they leave them outside in extreme temps.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.canada.com/edmonton/story.asp?id={8076EDB5-EB38-4551-98FE-2B001CECB2FE}>Pet Care and Extreme Temps</A>

 

[Wingnut]

Just think, if they were paid for their accuracy, they'd be in a serious deficit situation!
Oh well, as I constantly remind the wife "the only thing you can do about the weather is talk about it"

 

[Wingnut]

<font color=blue>"forget about them"??? </font color=blue>
Heck, I'm just barely holding my own stopping the wife from bringing the horses in the house. Even with her allergies, the dogs (who lived in the pool house attached to the house) have been in the main house for over 6 weeks already .... Don't know how they're going to react when warmer weather comes and it's time to move them out again /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif

 

[rancar]

<font color=blue>"...any chance you have a percentage breakdown of “windshield washer fluid” materials… @ -20F…?..."</font color=blue>

John...

Here's a few more vendor spec sheets that may address your initial query.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.visi-sol.com/303SPEC.html>Visible Solutions Washer Fluid</A>

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.daycon.com/MSDS%20Sheets/Windshield%20Washer%20Fluid%20MSDS.pdf>Daycon Washer Fluid</A>

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://msds.caltex.com/cgi-bin/p6c/makemsdspage.pl?0250&100983>Caltex Washer Fluid</A>

....Bob