rain-x or otherwise?

[nature boy]

i think jai said that he uses aquapel? what do the rest of you guys use (if anything)? and why?

[geForce]

I use rain-x... I've never seen any readily available alternatives aside from generic brands, so I can't really compare to anything else.

Jai swears by aquapel though. Looks the same as rain-x though, but I guess it lasts longer?

[nature boy]

i find that rain-x doesn't last that long anymore. maybe i'm using too little or the bottle i have is too old (probably close to 10 years haha), but i find that i almost have to apply it every month or so.

[geForce]

I use rain-x less and less now too... it messes up your wipers, I think.

[nature boy]

it does? how so?

i use it so often though that my wipers don't have to work well. i just need something to push the water off windshield.

[geForce]

I dunno if it's directly related to rain-x, but it makes the wiper blades chatter against the windshield.

[nature boy]

never had that problem with rain-x, and i've used it on all my cars.

i hear the chatter isn't from the blade, but from the actual arm being slightly twisted.

[geForce]

I never had that problem before either. It happened on my WRX, so I'm sure it's not from the arm being twisted. Plus, the chatter went away after a while, so I figure it was after the rain-x wore off.

I think a twisted arm does cause chatter too though, but that's not the only reason chatter happens.

[nature boy]

for sure it does. on my vr6 the chatter was nuts. i had to twist the arm appropriately to stop it, but it'd always come back. i was about to get myself a new wiper arm but i sold the car instead.

if it's from the rainx, i'd imagine that you could just wipe down your wipers and see what's up. or maybe reapply it because you missed a spot or two? i dunno.

[geForce]

I think the rain-x combined with a new windshield made it so the surface was super clean so there was no surface tension from the water and the wiper blade just clung to clean dry glass instead.

[nature boy]

but the windshield isn't dry.

[geForce]

No, but usually when the wiper blade is skimming across the windshield, there's a small layer of water that the blade glides on top of. My theory is that the rain-x makes it so that when the blade glides by, there's actually no water for the blade to glide on top of, so it's just rubber on glass.

[nature boy]

i don't know if i agree with that theory, because there IS water on the glass. it may not stay there for very long, but it's there. i don't know if anything could repel water that well so that it'd be as you describe. doesn't seem to make sense to me.

but then, i'm no water on glass expert.

[geForce]

I dunno.. I came up with that theory because of how Rain-x works. Glass is porous, so water sticks to glass. Rain-x is a water repelling polymer that coats over those pores so instead of sticking to the glass, the water forms into droplets and rolls away (since the windshield is angled). Even though there would be water on the glass when it's raining, it doesn't stick to the glass. When a wiper blade goes over dry, clean glass, it chatters too.

But then, I'm no water on glass expert either.

[nature boy]

i understand the reasoning behind the theory, but i don't know if the contact between the wiper and glass could be so tight that even a thin layer of water couldn't be left behind.

maybe it has something to do with the temperature too.