Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:26:05 -0600
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: Keeping things from freezing shut
In-Reply-To: <b34812450912101122t72bda860udacf0a2a391277a@mail.gmail.com>
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Interesting!
Re: the cell phone explosion. It was just starting to happen. A friend
down on the Kenai was into it and was putting up his own towers as a
business when the US FCC decided the airwaves were the exclusive purview
of the Government and could be sold to the highest bidders. Frequency
blocks were created and sold off to the enormous corporate interests
with all the money, and the little guys like my friend took it in the
shorts. He lost his frequencies and that ended his growth as a small
business covering from Anchorage to Seward to Homer with cell phone
service.
Re: Freezing locks, windows, doors and wipers. My worst experiences with
that was in Fairbanks. From freeze up to break up - lots of freeze
problems. Fewer if parking outside. But, if it snowed, and you warmed
the inside of your car really well, after parking everything that melted
in the warm up would freeze, and you were back to square one. Same down
on the Kenai, just not so bad. I think living in the cold makes the
frozen locks, etc, just a fact of life which we just dealt with. Kinda
like Alaska winter - always expect snow. It's inevitable.
BTW, silicone does help with seals, but I'm a strong advocate of
removing the water in the first place. We did it with our gasoline using
Heet to absorb the water in the gasoline to keep the ice crystals out of
the gas, why not do the same with the water in the door locks and door
seals. Alcohol works.
And if you just gotta - don't mix silicone and graphite!! Yeeech! what a
mess.
John Rodgers
Clayartist and Moldmaker
88'GL VW Bus Driver
Chelsea, AL
Http://www.moldhaus.com
Mark Tuovinen wrote:
> John the half smart ones carry a strap and tie the door shut so they can
> drink their coffee and text friends during the drive. You left
> Alaska before the explosion of coffee stands and cell phones, back when
> drivers had free hands. My wifes 2003 Passat 4motion Wagon lives in our two
> car garage and has never had problems with frozen locks, doors, or windows.
> My daily driver Syncro(`87 Sunroof model) lives outside, no room in a two
> car garage for a second vehicle and does occasionally suffer from frozen
> door syndrome. This usually occurs during warming spells when the roads get
> slushy and it sprays onto the lower edge of the doors. The slider is the
> worst as it gets blasted by the front tire and between the large contact
> area and way the door opens can be challenging to get open once frozen. I
> suspect a decent set of mudflaps would help this. Silicone does help keep
> the door seals from freezing to the body.
>
> Mark in AK
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 2:19 PM, John Rodgers <inua@charter.net> wrote:
>
>
>> Don't use graphite, silicone and all that stuff they sell you in your
>> locks and places. It gunks them up and they don't work well or at all.
>>
>> To remove water to prevent freezing - spray/wash/drown the area with
>> alcohol. Alcohol itself is an anti-freeze, and it will absorb the water,
>> and prevent it from freezing as well. Thento remove the water saturated
>> alcohol - just let it evaporate - or speed evaporation by a few minutes
>> hit with hot air from a heat gun - not to hot - it will evaporate
>> quickly - taking the water with it. I prefer using regular denatured
>> alcohol. Be judicious about the application however - some types of
>> surfaces do not like alcohol.- might soften in contact, but for most
>> applications it's safe enough. It's a trick I learned living 30 years in
>> Alaska. The period of freeze-up in the fall, and the beginning of spring
>> thaw was when freezing doors, locks, wiper blades freezing down, etc,
>> were most aggravating.
>>
>> One more thing - Alaskans for the most part leave their vehicles outside
>> in winter. The constant going in and out of garages makes for a daily
>> freeze-thaw cycle and by the time you get out of the garage in the
>> morning when the locks and doors work in the warm garage air - and park
>> outside for the day - the vehicle is totally frozen by time to go home.
>> Windows won't work, door locks won't work - heck, you can't even get
>> your door to catch, much less lock - so chechakos (Alaskan sourdough
>> term for newbies, greenhorns, and tinhorns) will ride home holding the
>> door closed with one hand, and a blast of frigid air blowing in around
>> the unclosed door. Such unpleasantness is un-necessary.
>>
>> Airlines de-ice with hot glycol, you can get ANTI icing just using
>> denatured alcohol from the hardware store - or in a pinch - the alcohol
>> from your medicine cabinet at home.
>>
>> John Rodgers
>> Clayartist and Moldmaker
>> 88'GL VW Bus Driver
>> Chelsea, AL
>> Http://www.moldhaus.com <http://www.moldhaus.com/>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Mark A Kippert wrote:
>>
>>
>>> It was 46 degrees F when I woke up in Indy this morning and it had
>>> rained all night. The weatherman indicated that it would drop down to
>>> low 20s by evening. This is sure to freeze my doors shut like the old
>>> man's Oldsmobile ("That son of a b**** would freeze up in the middle
>>> of summer on the equator!").
>>>
>>> Last year the van froze up under similar conditions. Couldn't unlock
>>> the doors and when I finally got a key to turn they were frozen shut.
>>> So this morning I applied a liberal coat of Armor All to all the door
>>> seals and shot some lube into all the keyholes. We'll see how
>>> effective this is when I leave work this evening.
>>>
>>> Mark K
>>> 1986 GL/2WD/4SPD
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
>
>
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