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Re: How do you make the repair outside in winter?
Posted: December 4th, 2011, 6:03 pm
by Mr Bill
To me; the electric blanket seems scary. Would you cut a hole in it for the injector?
Call ahead and have the customer warm the car and run the heater so the glass is at a good temp..
Re: How do you make the repair outside in winter?
Posted: December 4th, 2011, 8:10 pm
by clearquest
Heck if you have a power source to run an electric blanket why not power up a small forced fan heater? Don't know about where you are but in my neck of the woods the wind blows on those blusterly winter days so trying to hold a blanket down on a windshield would be like pissin in the wind!
Re: How do you make the repair outside in winter?
Posted: December 5th, 2011, 9:56 pm
by Nomad
Don't know if this would work but I don't see any reason not to give it a try. Get some reflextics insulation or maybe a sun shield that is used in the summer, put it on the outside of the blanket to keep the wind from blowing away the heat. If the chip is near the edge you could lift the blanket to get at the chip and have a warm place for your hands. Use the car heater to heat the inside at the same time as the blanket. Might be able to use an inverter to power the blanket from a secondary battery in your vehicle. I think they make 12 volt blankets for RVs too. Might freeze tonight in Yuma so not always that warm down here either.
Re: How do you make the repair outside in winter?
Posted: December 5th, 2011, 11:34 pm
by Roo
UV dome, power inverter, hair dryer, and run the heat inside the car if necessary. The electric blanket sounds like it would take awhile to warm the glass. Btw, you will need a big power inverter to run a hair dryer on high. I have a 800w and can only run my hair dryer on low or it trips the circuit. Good luck, and if you do decide to go the blanket route let us know how it works.
Re: How do you make the repair outside in winter?
Posted: December 6th, 2011, 10:12 am
by Dr.Chipster
I have a power inverter for times when I do not have access to an outlet. My method of choice for power though, is a 100 ft extention cord and a power strip to plug in devices. Since most repairs for me are at the customer's home, I don't mind asking to plug in and most don't mind. I do have plans to build a solar generator to get free energy though. When that is done I'll shoot some pics and post them.
Re: How do you make the repair outside in winter?
Posted: December 6th, 2011, 1:32 pm
by screenman
I have never used anything other than 12v, warm the vehicle up using it's own devices is my preferred method. Mind you we only went down to minus 15c last winter, well a bit more at times but I was not working in it then.
Re: How do you make the repair outside in winter?
Posted: December 6th, 2011, 1:45 pm
by DryStar
Just my opinion but electric blankets were not designed for outdoor use. What would happen if you encountered some rain or sleet in below freezing temps during the repair? Your blanket would end up frozen stiff and unusable. If you tried to fold it, grid elements would most likely break.
Although a nice concept....I wouldn't be sold on it for many reasons.
Re: How do you make the repair outside in winter?
Posted: December 6th, 2011, 2:57 pm
by screenman
Why warm 8 square feet, when you only need to warm 2 square inches, OK maybe slightly more but you get my idea.
Re: How do you make the repair outside in winter?
Posted: December 6th, 2011, 3:20 pm
by clearquest
The electric blanket isn't practical for many reasons and warming the windshield to work on is not a difficult thing. Leave the blanket at home.
Re: How do you make the repair outside in winter?
Posted: April 6th, 2012, 11:16 am
by yukonglass
I live a realy cold climate I do jobs outside at -14c I make sure the car is warm inside then I use my dome and a hairdryer constanly check windshield surface temp,also all my tools and products are warm.
whrn It gets to -42c and below I go to Mexico