Solution to juddering wipers

[Genie47]

OK this going to be a long report but please bear with me.

 

I collected my Aveo in May. The car is great except for the windshield wipers juddering. Mama Lemon, Jif, and all sorts of aggressive stuff doesn't solve the problem. I guess it must be some stuff the dealer put in my wiper wash but I was wrong. It seems like Starsauto has RainX'd the glass.

 

I got fed up and so called up a helpful guy whose contact was given by Protege in this forum. I bought some of the stuff from him and he even polished my windshield with the stuff. The windshield now wets very well. With water cascading down instead of beading up. He revealed to me the stuff he is using contains cerium oxide (CeO). He said he got a hard time finding this stuff.

 

My search on CeO reveals that it is widely used in the glass and gemstone industry where it is used for polishing. CeO works very well on anything that is silicon dioxide based as in glass or quartz. There are many grades of CeO. There is 99.9% pure stuff which is a white powder and there is optical grade which is around 80-90% cerium oxide and the rest made of iron, aluminium and other rare earth oxides.

 

The mechanical action of CeO is very fast as he demonstrated it. He just made a slurry of the CeO powder with water and dabbed the sponge with a 3M green scourer pad on it and just started wiping the windshield with the slurry. The glass was smooth in an instant!

 

Basically if I recall my chemistry correctly, glass polishing is basically glass removal and does show a dependence on chemical properties of the glass. The nature of the liquid present during polishing is crucial and only if active hydroxyl groups (OH-) are present, in alcohols for example but especially in water, does the polishing phenomenon happen.

 

When a glass-typically an alkali silicate-is in contact with water, a complicated series of steps take place: ion exchange, dissolution of glass constituents and possible structural changes. A surface region of the glass is modified and it is this softer hydrated layer that is removed or reformed during glass polishing.

 

The reason why glass beads water is because the surface of the glass has been altered with the silanes present in RainX. It is not a coating! RainX modifies the glass surface chemistry. It does not add a layer of silicone on the glass. This is not wax you are looking into. If it is wax, Mama Lemon or any detergent will remove it.

 

As said above, the nature of the liquid used in polishing is crucial. This theory says that the best additive is ethanol. Reducing surface tension reduces the surface-to-surface drag which eliminates chatter, resulting in a smoother surface. The surface tension of water is 73 dynes/cm and ethanol is 22.3 dynes/cm. I have not tried this yet but will do soon if I got the chance.

 

So anyone here has some contacts with people in the glass industry? People in the crystalware industry should have CeO as well.

Edited August 17, 2004 by Genie47

[Genie47]

This was not the end of the story. Apparently the main driver's side wiper of the Aveo is of pretty poor design. Even with the glass polished, the wiper still juddered a little. I called Vtim and he supplied me with Champion wiper blades. So much better. So your blades do come into the equation. Buy good quality ones......then for the next change buy refills.

[Esky]

My solution to the juddering caused by Rain-X is to apply it at least twice so that it's spread out evenly. If u only apply it once, u could hv missed some spots, thus some spots will be slippery while others aren't, therefore causing the judderings.

 

I think this can be put into the Resource folder.

[Protege]

Bro,

 

I am glad that my fren is able to help you with your problem as he helps me with mine!!! And he charges a very very reasonable price right? Another satisfied cucstomer for him!!

 

Cheers!!

[Saaber]

...so can get off the shelf??

[Genie47]

Unfortunately, no. I have searched the web. This company called Delta supplies selling it. around USD13 for 8oz. The best is to get run-offs from the glass and gem industry. Maybe the spectacle industry might have some. Will check. Pure CeO is very expensive. Optical grade is good enough for us.

[Genie47]

The thing is that I hate RainX. For the slow traffic we have here, RainX for the front windshield is a real pain. All those Comfort and City cabs can use their wipers while the windshield is completely dry. No juddering. Something I want on my windshield as well.

 

There are people who like it but I'm one of them who don't.

[Saaber]

let me know if you lay your hand on some...

[Genie47]

Aiyah so cheap. Can use some of mine. Use very little and very effective.

[Saaber]

so you still have some left?....wanna go for a drink at Bishan, 10pm now?

[Esky]

From the Google ads in between the postings, there's one with Cerium in the title, so I clicked on it and found this page:

 

http://www.metall.com.cn/ceo.htm

 

It's got some info on Cerium Oxide and Cerium polishing powder (CeO2). U can also email them for a price quote if u want.

[Saaber]

thanks...

[Esky]

Hmm... another group guy coming this way??

[Genie47]

Forget it! I believe they sell by 500kg amounts.

[Genie47]

Enough for 5 more applications didn't read it in time. Maybe this Fri.

Edited August 18, 2004 by Genie47

[Saaber]

ok, thanks...

[Jiayong]

how much did it cost u? to buy his products?

[Quikfire]

Hi....

 

I am also bothered by the juddering with rainx... can you kindly provide me with your fren's contact number please. Thanks.