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Frame wipers: not the best option for winter
And yet: which wipers are better for winter - the answer is logical
Design of winter wipers by the German company Alca: what's interesting?
Finding out which wiper design is good for high speeds
Hybrid option: what is it?
Exclusive solutions

Many drivers associate the approach of winter only with changing the shoes of the iron horse. Although this is the most important procedure in the process of preparing a car for the cold season, it is not the last. In addition, it is strongly recommended to change the oil in the engine and gearbox and do not forget to install the appropriate windshield wipers.

Briefly about classification

Before determining which wipers are good , it is worth understanding the type of products available on the market. Thus, existing designs of faithful assistants are divided into 4 types:

frame;
frameless;
winter;
hybrid.

All products designed to combat the negative effects of bad weather have a different mechanism that ensures the structure is pressed against the windshield. In addition, the presented subclasses differ in a set of characteristics:

the force that ensures the structure is pressed against the windshield of the car;
the level of aerodynamics, which determines the reliability and quality of the part at various speeds;
the nature of protection from the negative effects of sunlight;
duration of preservation of the declared performance indicators;
ability to work efficiently at sub-zero temperatures and in snowfall conditions.

The maximum combination of the above characteristics in one product will allow you to find out which wipers are better for winter and how long they will serve correctly.

Choosing windshield wipers for winter

Selection of windshield wiper blades » Which wipers are best for winter?

In most parts of Russia, winter has already arrived, and motorists in these regions have already experienced all the delights of operating their car in cold weather and with a lot of snow.

You should always have a clean and transparent windshield, but in winter it becomes much more difficult to make it clean due to the greater amount of dirt on the roads and ice constantly sticking to the blades.

What kind of windshield wiper blades should be used for winter?

There are several types of windshield wiper blades that differ in cost.

The first type of windshield wiper blades are frame blades. The most common type of brushes is sold in any auto parts store and is relatively inexpensive.

But they are less suitable for winter, because... Snow sticks to the brush mechanism.

The second type of windshield wiper blades are winter frame blades. A less common type of brush, designed for use in winter and costs a little more. It differs from the first one only in a special rubber cover in which the brush frame is placed. The cover increases aerodynamic resistance; at speeds above 100 km/h, the windshield wiper may wind and not be pressed tightly against the glass.

The third type of windshield wiper blades is frameless blades. The cleaning rubber edge of the brush is attached to a special polymer “ridge”, which has a slight bend and fits tightly to the windshield of any shape. Due to their miniature size, unlike frame brushes, windage is reduced at high speeds.

In order to understand which type of brushes is more suitable for winter, you need to understand.

The fourth type of windshield wiper blade is a hybrid wiper blade (a type of frameless wiper blade). Such wipers were intended exclusively for expensive models, but every year they are installed on an increasing number of cars. Currently, hybrid brushes are an element of the basic equipment of most modern models of Korean and Japanese automakers.

Snow may adhere to the joints of the casing, which leads to deterioration in the quality of cleaning. These wipers are not recommended for cars that have a strongly curved windshield.

How wipers fight ice

In winter, there are two main problems for windshield wiper blades - frost and ice, which sticks to the blade and prevents it from adhering tightly to the glass.

Frame brushes are not at all suitable for use in winter - their frame very quickly becomes clogged with snow, freezes and the brush becomes a shapeless “round” that does not clean the glass at all. Such a brush will have to be manually brushed off ice frequently.

Winter frame brushes have a number of advantages over others, their frame is protected from snow getting inside with a rubber cover, such a brush is insensitive to frost and will adhere well to the glass in any cold weather. With one caveat - as long as the rubber cover of the brush is intact, which is quite easy to damage.

Frameless brushes were invented in Europe and are perfect for their warm European winters. Such brushes perfectly clean glass in mild frosts. However, at frosts below -10, -15 degrees, their frame stops bending and fits tightly to the glass, and such a brush can no longer clean the glass well.

Hybrid brushes not only have a durable design, but are also very convenient to use in winter, and also have good aerodynamic characteristics. They make almost no noise and are easy to clean with an ice scraper or winter brush. The basis is a classic frame wiper and it is tightly closed with a metal or plastic casing that completely repeats its shape. This increases the weight of the brush, and at the same time the tightness of contact with the glass.

Which windshield wiper blades should you choose?

The choice for the motorist is small; in fact, there are only two types of brushes suitable for winter use - winter frame , hybrid and frameless . Which one to choose depends on the climate of the region where the car is operated. If it is a big city and the temperature there rarely drops below -15 -20 degrees, you can use frameless brushes. If the car often drives along country roads, then it is better to prefer winter frame brushes - they will be less affected by severe frost. Therefore, in Moscow it is recommended to use frameless wiper blades.

And yet: which wipers are better for winter - the answer is logical

The configuration of winter brushes is in many ways similar to frame brushes. Here the disadvantage regarding the formation of ice on the surface is eliminated. The engineers simply sealed the metal part of the windshield wiper with a plastic material, leaving only the rubber on the outside.

Thus, falling snow will melt on the body and crystallize there, preserving the functionality of the product. The most popular products in this class are Alca winter wipers , considered ideal in terms of price/quality ratio according to many drivers.

The disadvantage of this type is the same “sail” effect at high speeds. There are cases when, during long-term use, the rubber cover loses its sealing properties, letting water inside. Under these conditions, the windshield wiper worked even worse.

Thus, manufacturers have long been able to indicate which wipers will be better for winter during daily use of the car. Consumers note that their resource is more than enough for one season. The patented technology is also used:

Champion;
Trico;
Maruenu.

Which wipers are best for winter?

Details Category: Articles Published 10/22/2014

In winter, the problem of cleaning the windshield becomes more acute than in the warm season. If in summer the main indicator of the quality of wipers is the quality of cleaning, then in winter it is also necessary that the wipers tolerate the cold well, do not freeze, cope with snow on the glass, etc. What wipers are best for the winter?

Frame wipers in winter

Conventional frame windshield wipers are one of the most famous, simple and cheap windshield wiper designs. In the summer they cope well with their tasks, but in winter things are worse. The problem lies precisely in the frame of these wipers. It has many connections and transitions into which water gets in and freezes, causing the wipers to lose flexibility and mobility.

Frameless wipers in winter

Frameless wipers are more expensive than frame ones, but they usually perform better in winter. There is no longer a frame here, and ice can only form near the very cleaning edge, from where it can be simply removed by gently tapping the windshield wipers on the windshield.

Winter wipers

Last winter we were able to test special winter wipers from Alca. They are a combination of the first two types of wipers. They are framed in design, but the frame is enclosed in a sealed rubber cover, which protects it from moisture and freezing. In addition, they differ from conventional wipers in their wider working edge, which allows you to remove snow from the glass faster and the first time, while with conventional wipers the snow falls over them and remains on the windshield.

In general, the fact has once again been confirmed that, more often than not, specialized items perform better than universal ones. These are like all-season tires, which behave worse than winter tires in winter, and worse than summer tires in summer. Winter wipers are not a marketing ploy, but a really working thing. And if we have two sets of tires, why not have two sets of wipers - summer and winter.

Design of winter wipers by the German company Alca: what's interesting?

The rocker arms, like all frame frames, are stamped and connected to each other with metal bushings. Stable contact with the surface is ensured by pressing force concentrated at six contact points. The entire steel geometry is covered with a rubber cover.

Many tests in the ranking of the best car wipers place German products in the top three. High quality of work in harsh winter conditions is ensured by using a certain concentration of rubber in the contact rubber. In profile, the cleaning knife has a pronounced triangular shape, which guarantees high rigidity when moving across glass.

For your information. Alca's premium products are represented by the Heyner brand. The price of the latter's products is slightly higher due to the use of innovative technologies in the form of a graphite coating, which protects the contacting part of the wiper from exposure to ultraviolet rays. The quality of sliding on glass and its cleaning are indirectly improved.

Finding out which wiper design is good for high speeds

From the name of frameless brushes it is easy to guess that there are no movable rocker arms here. Their function is performed by a rigid plate cast into a plastic case. It tightly presses the protruding rubber band, as a result of which the glass is cleaned evenly and without streaks.

The features of this class are as follows:

no windage effect up to 130 km/h;
ideal operation only if the curvature of the glass fully matches the profile of the elastic metal insert;
pleasant aesthetic appearance;
cheap models lose their pliability when frost sets in.

Often the essence of the conversation about which wipers are best to choose for winter comes down to the recommendation to install frameless wipers. This option is undoubtedly ideal for summer.

In the cold season, the structure, although it does not freeze, does not work well due to the low ductility of the replaceable rubber band. The species in question can be recommended for regions with mild winters, where sub-zero temperatures reach a small value.

Important to remember:

the selection of a frameless product must be made taking into account the configuration of the vehicle windshield;
Despite its effectiveness at high speeds, do not forget about the phenomenon of aquaplaning (which can occur at speeds of about 90 km/h).

Types of windshield wipers and their quality

New technologies are increasingly being used in mechanical engineering. For example, the windows of new car models are equipped with a special nano-coating, which, upon reaching a certain speed, spontaneously clears itself of water and other contaminants.

However, despite such innovations, car windshield wipers are still responsible for getting rid of water, dirt and snow. From the very name “windshield wipers” their purpose is clear. First of all, this is a device with a mechanical operating principle.

There are several types of brushes:

Frame;
Frameless;
Hybrid;
Winter.

This is not to say that any of these types of windshield wipers are worse. Since each type has its own disadvantages and advantages. But in order to make a quality purchase of wipers, you need to know what qualities windshield wiper blades should have.

The general requirements for wipers are as follows:

High-quality work when moving the machine at low and high speeds;
Uniform pressure to the glass;
Wear resistance and frost resistance.

Below we will look at each type of wiper in more detail.

Frame brushes

Many drivers consider frame brushes to be a classic and a thing of the past. Since they began to install them on cars in the middle of the last century. Over all these years, their design has remained virtually unchanged, and is not much different from modern frame windshield wipers. Only the number of rocker arms has increased, affecting the uniformity of pressing of the brush to the glass.

These wipers consist of a frame and a rubber part. The rubber band is actually responsible for cleaning. The durability of an elastic band directly depends on its quality. And the rocker arm, on which the brush is attached, is responsible for the tightness of contact with the glass.

The advantages of this type of brushes include the following features:

First of all, their low cost; they are relatively inexpensive;
If the rubber part wears out, you can only replace it, of course, if the frame is in acceptable condition;
Suitable for use on almost any windshield;
Cover the maximum working surface of the glass.

The disadvantages of frame windshield wipers are as follows:

Frameless wipers

Frameless brushes consist of an evodium plate in a plastic frame with a rubber band. They have a stylish design and are in demand due to their durability. This is ensured by the absence of metal in the product.

The advantages also include the following operating features:

The one-piece design demonstrated excellent performance at any speed;
Does not make unnecessary noise when driving;
Uniform pressure of the tape ensures cleaning of glass with any bend;
Suitable for use in both summer and winter.

In addition to the positive qualities, there are also disadvantages of frameless wipers, they are as follows:

Their high cost;
There is a possibility of purchasing a fake;
Impossibility of replacing worn tape. Therefore, you will subsequently have to buy a new windshield wiper.

When selecting frameless windshield wipers, you should remember that this type of wipers is selected for a specific car model with a certain curvature of the windshield.

Hybrid wipers

Hybrid windshield wipers are, in fact, the result of combining a framed and frameless type. Moreover, it combines the predominantly positive properties of both types:

Aerodynamics;
Uniform pressure to the glass;
Wear resistance.

Thus, the developers have created a universal windshield wiper suitable for any time of year. But in addition to advantages, any product also has disadvantages:

High cost of frameless wipers.
In heavy snowfall, snow may stick to the brushes;
Selected for each car individually.

Winter windshield wipers

The spare parts market offers new models of wipers designed specifically for the winter period. Essentially, these are the same frame windshield wipers, but hidden in a special case that protects against icing and freezing.

Indeed, the cleaning quality of winter brushes is high. Just a few movements and the glass is cleared of snow or even ice. But that's where the advantages of this design end.

The disadvantages of winter windshield wiper blades for cars are as follows:

Rapid wear of the tape (it is enough for no more than 1-2 winters);
Even at low speeds, noise is heard;
Low efficiency when driving over 90 km/h;
Suitable for winter use only.

Hybrid option: what is it?

This class of windshield wipers was created in response to market needs for improved frame appearance. The main feature is the preservation of all the advantages of the adaptive geometric design and the elimination of one disadvantage - the inability to clean efficiently at high speed.

Therefore, very often when answering the question of which summer wipers are good, you can hear exactly the name of this classification group. The product is strongly not recommended for use during the cold season .

Exclusive solutions

When wondering what kind of wipers are best for winter, you may hear - heated ones . Fundamentally new solutions in the field of efficient glass cleaning in winter are provided by Burner . The goal of the engineers of this division was simple - to adapt the frameless version to winter. We coped with the task by installing an elastic heating element in the wiper housing. It heats the plate, which transfers heat to the canvas. This process effectively resists the formation of ice and maintains the flexibility of the structure at any temperature.

The existing variety of wiper designs will allow you to choose the most effective configuration for winter conditions. Changing the rubber blade will help significantly extend the life of the windshield wiper.

A short video review of all types of wipers from the Avtoprofi team:

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