Heated Windshield, anyone?, Save on shipping Options

[tygaboy]

After doing most of the work to add a heater core to my fresh air box, 3D printing some cool parts, fabbing the lines and buying everything else I need, I thought "do I really want all this when what I really need is a simple defrost function?"
I mean, I live in CA, don't drive the car if it's super cold or raining and I have heated seats. So the answer is "no, not gonna do it."

Instead, I'm going to order 2 heated windshields (one for the LS car, one for the Ferrari build) from Heated Windsceens / Ricky Evans Motorsports in the UK:

www.heatedwindscreen.com

From their site:
Is my windscreen going to be fully road legal?
Yes - A lot of our heated windscreens are designing for motorsport use, however all of our products are fully road legal with all the correct markings for use on roads all over the world.

Cost is currently about $400 US plus shipping. When I told them I wanted two, they said they have to put them on a pallet and the shipping cost would stay the same if it's two or up to 5 or 6.

So... Anyone interested in a heated windshield?

As far as needed wiring, here's the response I got when I asked about wiring it:
To get the best performance from the screen it’s a 25A fuse and relay both sides to a single switch, you can do just a single circuit and rate it higher, attached the inner two wires on the screen but then it will take longer to warm up.

PM me if you're interested and we can work out the details.

[JeffBowlsby]

I wonder if these could be used as an antenna? :thinking:

[GregAmy]

Are these laminated clear elements? Any photos?

It's a common racer trick to buy a rear window defrost grid and install it on the inside of the front windshield. Don't even notice it while driver after initial surprise.

[tygaboy]

Are these laminated clear elements? Any photos?

It's a common racer trick to buy a rear window defrost grid and install it on the inside of the front windshield. Don't even notice it while driver after initial surprise.

@GregAmy - Here's what they say on their site:

Our heated windscreens aim to eliminate condensation, de-mist and speed up de-icing of the glass, allowing for a clearer and safer view of the road ahead. This could be the difference between winning the World Rally Championship or simply giving yourself 10 minutes extra in bed on a cold winter's day.

The heated windscreens use almost invisible tungsten elements which work to increase the surface temperature of the glass, and in turn quickly clears the screen increasing visibility.


With the exception of a few, all of our screens use a dual heating system meaning that there is a live and an earth wire on each side of the heated windscreen, each one will power half of the screen. If you are unsure please contact us to confirm if you have a single or dual element screen.

[JeffBowlsby]

I contacted the manufacturer asking:
"I was wondering if your wired windscreens could be used as a radio antenna?"

His reply:
"Hi Jeff, Had a chat with Ricky and if you got an amplifier off like an old Saphire Sierra then yes this actually could work. I couldn’t say if the heated function and everything would all function at the same time but in theory yes.

Thanks, Dan"

Ricky Evans Motorsport Ltd
Unit 11, Roman Park
Claymore , Tame Valley Ind Est
Tamworth
Staffs
B77 5DQ

Tele 0044(0)1827283688
email sales@heatedwindscreen.com

[windforfun]

I contacted the manufacturer asking:
"I was wondering if your wired windscreens could be used as a radio antenna?"

His reply:
"Hi Jeff, Had a chat with Ricky and if you got an amplifier off like an old Saphire Sierra then yes this actually could work. I couldn’t say if the heated function and everything would all function at the same time but in theory yes.

Thanks, Dan"

Ricky Evans Motorsport Ltd
Unit 11, Roman Park
Claymore , Tame Valley Ind Est
Tamworth
Staffs
B77 5DQ

Tele 0044(0)1827283688
email sales@heatedwindscreen.com

How are the heating elements oriented? AM is vertically polariazed & FM/TV is horizontally polarized. This gets partially scrambled as the fields propagate & bounce around.

[JeffBowlsby]

I contacted the manufacturer asking:
"I was wondering if your wired windscreens could be used as a radio antenna?"

His reply:
"Hi Jeff, Had a chat with Ricky and if you got an amplifier off like an old Saphire Sierra then yes this actually could work. I couldn’t say if the heated function and everything would all function at the same time but in theory yes.

Thanks, Dan"

Ricky Evans Motorsport Ltd
Unit 11, Roman Park
Claymore , Tame Valley Ind Est
Tamworth
Staffs
B77 5DQ

Tele 0044(0)1827283688
email sales@heatedwindscreen.com

How are the heating elements oriented? AM is vertically polariazed & FM/TV is horizontally polarized. This gets partially scrambled as the fields propagate & bounce around.

Hi Peter! I don't know...will ask...

[windforfun]

I contacted the manufacturer asking:
"I was wondering if your wired windscreens could be used as a radio antenna?"

His reply:
"Hi Jeff, Had a chat with Ricky and if you got an amplifier off like an old Saphire Sierra then yes this actually could work. I couldn’t say if the heated function and everything would all function at the same time but in theory yes.

Thanks, Dan"

Ricky Evans Motorsport Ltd
Unit 11, Roman Park
Claymore , Tame Valley Ind Est
Tamworth
Staffs
B77 5DQ

Tele 0044(0)1827283688
email sales@heatedwindscreen.com

How are the heating elements oriented? AM is vertically polariazed & FM/TV is horizontally polarized. This gets partially scrambled as the fields propagate & bounce around.

Hi Peter! I don't know...will ask...

Hi Jeff. LTNS. A diagonal element orientation will work for both polarizations, but with reduced SNR.

[JeffBowlsby]

More from Rickys 'Dan':

"The wires run vertically in the glass, the screen is dual circuit split left and right side. The heat pattern can not be changed on them."

[windforfun]

More from Rickys 'Dan':

"The wires run vertically in the glass, the screen is dual circuit split left and right side. The heat pattern can not be changed on them."

Good for AM then, but not practical perhaps. 12V DC at your radio's antenna input assuming a parallel connection? High pass filtering required? And all that alternator noise. A PI filter would be required for this.

This ASSUMES that you want to run the heater & antenna simultaneously. Yes?

[Shivers]

I saw it is calc'd out at a 25 amp fuse, do you know the amp draw? Just curious, it will be seat heaters for this kid too.

@tygaboy

[Dlee6205]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon_bump.gif)

There's at least two of us interested in getting a shipment to my shop in NC. Any other East coast guys, please reach out. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[Steve]

The price is right, but not really needed in California. Even with stock defrosters living in Northern California, they would roast you before defrosting the window. I found it better to route cold air to the windshield and hot air down below. But this would be really nice back east in snowy climates.

[GregAmy]

This would be a fantastic answer for my racer.

But at that price, with the strong risk of it getting hammered by rocks on a regular basis, it just makes more sense to buy an adhesive defogger grid...

But I'd love to hear of the experiences once they're installed.

[Chris914n6]

imma going to help you change your mind.... lol

Why assume both cars are going to stay in Socal when they're sold?

I don't need defrost in Vegas, but I do use the floor heater cuz my feet get cold.

[morehills]

I'm in on this east coast deal and I think it's a great solution for my car (thanks for starting this idea Chris). I have headers and no ventilation. To change the car back would be expensive and weighty. I put in seat heaters and they are great for chilly New England mornings in the spring and fall. But I'm tired of using a cloth to wipe the condensation from my windshield. So the heated windshield will be a great solution. I'll need to find a way to wire it, but I've done my fair share of under dash cursing already (converted my car to a 911 column and key) so I expect this will be and easy fix. I'd love it if there were a little toggle switch that was time sensitive, so I could switch it on for 10 min and it would shut down. If anyone has an idea on that let me know. Thanks for setting this up Doug, and I hope someone else joins the east coast buy so we can cut shipping to all. John

[T.Rick6]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon_bump.gif)

There's at least two of us interested in getting a shipment to my shop in NC. Any other East coast guys, please reach out. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

I'm in, I'll take 1, do you want me to pay tygaboy[b] or what do you have in mind ?
Really appreciate it.

Todd

[tygaboy]

Update: I heard back, answers in bold, below.

I've been communicating with them asked to see any pics of the windscreen and installed pics. None available of one installed but here's the screen.

I'm clarifying that once installed:
- the black leads essentially fold down around the windshield frame lip and head off to be connected
ANSWER: Yes

- the silver elements are hidden under the windshield trim
Each screen varies slightly as the buzz bar is a done by hand so I wouldn’t guarantee it. I can try and speak to a fitted I know who has taken a few to be done to see if he recalls it. But we are a motorsport based company so not everyone is putting these in road / show cars.

Assuming so, I'm ordering one.

Heads up that it sounds like the "multiple screens" shipping requires a pallet and a business name / address.

I'll keep you posted...

[tygaboy]

And the bad news is that shipping costs for one windshield are: $775

Essentially 2x the cost of the part. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

Add this to the "if it were easy, everyone would be doing it..."

[tygaboy]

Another update:
I asked about how visible that silver element (the buzz bar) might be. His reply:

We have another batch coming through where we have suggested a thinner buzz bar to the factory on these (and a few others models) they are due in September if you wanted to wait and see?

I told them I'd wait. As always, you'll know more when I do.