Posts Tagged: motoring

It may appear far fetched but wiper blade on all present motorcars can in some circumstances represent a dangerous public health risk and here’s why. It has been stated that as many as thirty percent of cases of Legionnaires disease is caused by wiper blade water in both England and Wales. This is according to a study conducted by the Health Protection Agency which went on to highlight the dangers of wiper blade fluid which provides a warm stagnant environment for the dangerous bacteria to reproduce quickly. The bacteria in question is known to be a causal factor in things like pneumonia and can be easily killed simply by adding a screen wash to the water in the wiper blade washer tank. This link was discovered by in depth statistical analysis of full time drivers who were seen to be much more likely to catch the disease. In two thousand and nine there were about three hundred cases recorded and those most at risk were individuals who spent a lot of time in their vehicle, did not use screen wash and who drew their window a jar. The issue with adding screen wash is that rubber manufactured wiper blade will soon start to break down in the presence of these astringent chemicals.

This is a common problem with rubber based windscreen wipers and is only exagerated by other factors such as ultra violet and pollution in the vacinity. When a rubber created windscreen wipers starts to break apart it will give off some tell tale signs that it needs changing, the first of these is that it will start to make a noise, either a squeak or a judder, this is an tell tale remark that the windscreen wipers shape has been permanently compromised. Once the delicate leading edge is malformed then the windscreen wipers no longer contacts the wind screen effectively and instead jumps over the surface causing motion and hence sound waves, which are then picked up by your auditory nerve. Another sign that the windscreen wipers has been impacted is that it wipes the wind screen poorly and leaves a streaky mark about the length of the wind screen.

This is just another sign of the first condition being that the wipers no longer shapes well to the wind screen and instead hits the glass intermittently. The only response to this problem as using screen cleaner is absolutely crucial to avoid contamination of the water supply by dangerous bacteria is to purchase some new wipers; preferably you should get some made out of a product called silicone. Silicone based wipers do not ablate in the presence of water, ultra violet or an adornment of other chemicals. It is a polymer which is heat resistant and has a particular non stick property. The next time you switch your wipers however you should be aware of the risks of catching a disease and take special precautions. Wear a face mask, give your wipers a good clean, and wash your hands after touching them. If you are using screen fluid you have nothing to worry about but better safe than sorry in this observer’s attitude.

Everyone likes a visit to the beach but what you might not be aware of is how detrimental this type of environment can be to your motorcar and wiper blade. You see despite the plethora of beautiful things to see and do at the coast there are insidious materials which attack the metal and rubber on your motorcar. Another poor thing about the seaside is that sand gets everywhere no matter how conscious you are and just a single grain of sand can essentially ruin your carefully produced cucumber sand wedges. Even seagull poop is very alkaline and will damage the paint job on your beautiful motorcar and birds themselves have been known to attack wiper blade for the mineral in the rubber, so it may be good to take the time to find out about some of the mechanical dangers associated with the sea before you take your next trip. Sand is a real killer to motors and boy is there a lot of it at the beach, when sand mixes with water is forms a quite acidic solution which can attack your wiper blade. You see although quartz itself is a very weak acid it is the absence of base properties to neutralise the carbonic acid discovered naturally in rain water, in this way the sand grows ever more acidic and only very tough plants such as dunes can survive. Another puzzle for your wiper blade is the abrasive action of sand trapped underneath the wiper blade. You see sand is made from quartz which is very little, very sharp and very hard, this stuff when trapped under a wiper blade acts like an abrasive and will erode the leading edge of the wiper blade, but this can also scratch the glass itself so watch out.

Another way sand can cause damage to your motorcar if you ignore the whole windscreen wipers issue is that particles can become trapped in the oil and be sucked into the soft internal structure of the engine block. But there’s not just sand to worry about at the sea you also have a huge amount of ultraviolet light reflected off the pale white sand and this will not just cause problems with your eyes it may also hurt your windscreen wipers. Ultraviolet light breaks down the very chemical structure of organic materials like rubber windscreen wipers and even flesh, it causes molecules to break away from one another and develope dangerous free radicals, these in turn leads to a weakening of the structure at a fundamental level.

Any wipers made from rubber is at risk form this injury and repeated trips to highly sunny areas with large amounts of sunlight will hurt the rubber in your wipers. The next trouble is also invisible but no less severe, ozone is an invisible gas which occurs naturally in the atmosphere but due to pollution its volume has grown. This gas is shot in off the coast in large amounts and can also cause problems with rubber wipers and parts. In this observers opinion, if you cant beat them, join them and actually buy wipers produced from sand or silicone, these circumvent all of the problems explored above.

The wiper blade is a bit of the motorcar which is relatively vulnerable to harm from wild creatures such as birds; they feast on its rubber which generates essential nutrients in their diet. If you’ve ever been to a safari park you will also be aquainted with the observation of monkeys stretching wiper blade for fun. One street’s wiper blade in England was so molested by crows they actually employed a professional bird of prey and used a full time scare crow to thwart the attackers. The standard advice if ever your wiper blade come under attack from above is to wrap your wiper blade in a towel or tin foil and cloak them with tape. Soon the would be vandal will get bored and move on to more fertile ground, you could even try soaking your wiper blades in vinegar to alter the flavour.

But animal harm is not the only thing a windscreen wipers has to worry about, the far more pressing concern in the environment, things like ozone, water, ultra violet light and acids will reduce the life of a rubber windscreen wipers. This action is compounded by the alternating hot and cold alternates of of winter and summer; this produces a similar corrosive effect to that seen eroding rocks and granite so it’s no horror that rubber windscreen wipers don’t fare so well. Once that rubber starts to fissure its game over, the windscreen wipers soon becomes a bore, noisy and leaving streaky marks all over the wind screen. People need to use more time in caring for their windscreen wipers if they are to accrue the huge benefits from them.

One way to do this is to wash your wind screen as part of a regular maintenance regime and get all that dirt and grease out from under them, sometimes this alone will do the trick and they will not have to be replaced. Most go the time however the wipers only last around six months and will soon have to be swapped for some new ones. In this regard finding some new ones made from silicone will answer both forms of abuse, animals don’t like the character and the elements can’t hurt it. The silicone is quite stable at temperatures going all the way up to 600 degrees, that’s one of the reasons it’s harnessed on pots and pans and even oven mitts. It also doesn’t acknowledge water, ultra violet light and pollution in the same character as rubber; in fact it hardly reacts at all. Compared to unbranded rubber wipers which only endure for about quarter of a million cycles your standard silicone based wipers will endure for over a million, this is why they are such great value for cash. Also they normally come with a twelve month money back guarantee if you should ever have any problems. Things like avians snacking down on your shiny new wipers won’t be a thought any more if you get to silicone wipers right away, and you’ll also have a very clean wind screen which is also sensible for everyone on the road.

In Europe they are many forms of motor racing, racing from single seat motors, to truck racing series, but one of the newest and most exhilarating is the Andros Trophy. This Trophy is mainly a national French racing series, although it has made it to international status, as there have been three grad prix at Sherbooke in Canada in 2003, 2004 and 2005. If you know your geography you’ll know that Sherbooke is in the Quebec state of Canada, and it is known for its long ice winters with warm summers. This weather makes it ideal for putting on one of the grad prix of the Andros Trophy. If you have not guessed it yet the Andros Trophy is an ice racing series, these grad prix take part on circuits that are made out of the snow and ice; they are frequently created at ski resorts. The series started with four grad prix, but over the years this has risen
to as many as nine; although over the last couple years it has decreased to 7 grad prix. The final event is known as a super final and takes place generally in a stadium where hundreds of tons of ice are brought in to make an ice Oval. This super final is a showpiece event where no points are awarded for places, but it does allow thousands and thousands of people to view the drama of ice racing without having to travel to a remote ski resort.

The motors that compete in the Andros Trophy may look like the motors you see on the road today, but under the skin they are far from. The motors chassis is made from tubular steel, giving them a extremely strong lightweight design. They are then covered with a lightweight fibreglass body, giving them the the look of a road motors. These custom-built race cars are fitted with advanced four-wheel-drive systems, coupled with six speed gearboxes and a 600cc motorbike engine, and all this produces a very light and fast race car with lots of grip which is what you want for racing on ice. To allow these race motors to be used on ice, further modifications are required; they are fitted with special tyres which have hundreds of metal spikes in them to give them grip in the ice. All these spikes coupled with a strong motorbike engine throw up large quantities of snow and ice, which can easily obscure the driver’s vision. This is why these motors are fitted with four wiper blades, two for the windshield, the other two wiper blades are fitted to the side windows. This is because the motors go around corners sideways, as in ice racing this is the fastest way. In the beginning of the racing series replacement wiper blades had to be regularly fitted to the motors, as the cold would ruin the rubber replacement wiper blades within a few grad prix. Nowadays the motors are fitted with the latest flat wiper blades made from silicone, and these flat wiper blades are ideal for ice racing as there is no frame for the ice to build up on.

You might ask what sort of driver would be mental enough to want to race on ice, but there are no scarcity of drivers wanting to compete in this racing series. There are some very big names competing, these include triple Formula One world champion Alain Post and Olivier Panis who won the Monaco Grand Prix in 1996. He was also in the running for the Formula One racing series in 1997, until he broke his leg in an incident at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The majority of persons who own and operate their own motor car usually spare little thought for the bits which keep them safe and keep the motorcar ticking over. Things like wiper blades, seat belts, air bags are not really given any conscious thought people just like to get in and get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. The issue with this narrow mind set is that sometimes these crucial components go unmaintained for decades at a time and sometimes this can have baleful side effects. For example the government claim that the vast majority of accidents are the result of bad visibility and the reason for this calamitous failure is often due to something as common as poor wiper blades maintenance. In fact it is advised by most experts that your wiper blades should be replaced quite frequently or at least once every six months if you are to sidestep having the aforementioned visibility troubles. If you happen to be located in a geographical region with poor weather conditions as standard then the problem becomes even more pronounced. There are many ways to tell if your wiper blades needs changing, the first as discussed previously is to guarantee they are replaced on a regular basis. The second is to look at the results, if the wipe is streaky and uneven leaving large patches of wind screen relatively unscaved then this is a good indication that they need replacing. Another can be discovered by listening very carefully to the movements the wiper blades make, if they squeak of judder this is another reason they need replacing soon.

Another way to tell if they need to be swapped out for a new pair of replacement wiper blades is if they jump, scatter or vibrate over the wind screen this can be an sign that the arm mechanism and the teeth which hold the replacement wiper blades in place have become damaged with age and no longer contact the wind screen ably. This is the result of cycling winters and summers where they metal grows and contracts and eventually the joints become broken and no longer fit the way they once did. When this happens it is definitely necessary to canvass changing your replacement wiper blades as soon as possible.

Another possible reason for these poor results discussed above is that the wipers rubber insert itself has become worn and can no longer do its job ably. Such things are especially common with wipers produced from rubber as this atomic particle is especially susceptible to attack from the prevailing environmental climates. In fact there are so many manifold things which affect rubber that listing them would be impossible, the most important ones to keep in mind however are ozone, pollution, water and ultraviolet lights. All of these quantities will trouble the rubbers very chemical structure and before too long it will become unstable and start to decay. The only way to defeat this issue is to take a different strategy by employing wipers made from a superior fabric, namely silicone; this stuff has an great durability to the environment and will even resist changes in heat or cold.

The world of automobile racing is glamorous and rich and is the height of the sport; this is very much evident in the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race and its spin-off championship series the American Le Mans championship series. The motors that compete in these events are very different as there are two distinct classifications of cars, and within these classifications of cars there are several sub-categories, all of which are based on the same track at the same time, for victory in their own class and over all victory. These races vary in length from the shorter ten-hour events to the longer 24-hour races, and in the world of automobile racing, races of this length are known as endurance racing. The money required to compete in even the lower classifications of cars can run in to millions of dollars, and typically these race prepared cars are over £1 dollars. Once you have the vehicle, you need the money to run a team and transport the vehicle and team around the world to compete in all the races that make up the America Le Mans championship series, and the Le Mans 24 hour race in France. In the top formula the generally team will have a budget of tens of millions of dollars to run the vehicle, cover the races and develop the vehicle to have a chance of being successful.

As mentioned before, the championship series is made up of two distinct classifications. These are Le Mans prototype and Grand Tourer or LMP and GT. The subcategories in someone’s prototype classification are LMP1 and LMP2, and in the Grand Tourer class they are GT1, GT2, and GT3. In this article we will just look at the LMP classes of cars.

Le Mans prototype one or LMP1, are custom built race cars with the most powerful engines. There’s a variety of engine types around, from larger naturally aspirated engines to smaller engines that have a supercharger or turbocharger, and they can also be powered by petrol or diesel. Their minimum weight is set at 900 kg and the maximum size of their fuel tank is set in the rules. These cars can be covered or open top, this class is designed for manufacturers to compete in.

Le Mans prototype two or LMP2 are custom built race cars with slightly less powerful engines, they also have a variety of engine types to choose from but they are all designed with less powerful than the ones that LMP1 cars can use, but they can also be powered by petrol or diesel. Their minimum weight is set to 825 kg and their fuel tank size is also set in the rules. These cars can be covered or open top, this class is designed for private teams to compete in.

The thinking behind these two classes is that the LMP1 will be the fastest cars down a straight, but due to their higher power to weight ratio be slower round the corners. This should make for close racing between the two categories, and most circuits the LMP1 cars are the fastest due to their straight-line speed advantage, but in the American Le mans series LMP2 cars have been victorious on some of the twisty circuits.

When the designers choose a cover design, it can be as vital for finishing as the right type of wiper blades, as these races do not stop for bad weather. In the Le mans 24 hour race in France, one year recently it rained for the majority of the 24 hours, this made it necessary for replacement wiper blades to be changed during a race. Due to the rules only a certain number of people can work on the vehicle at any time while it is in the pit lane, so the task of changing wiper blades costs vital seconds. This is why the majority of teams researched into different types of replacement wiper blades after this event. Most the teams switched their wiper blades from classic rubber ones to what is known as a flat wiper blades made from silicone. The flat wiper blades made from silicone lasted 3 to 5 times longer than classic rubber blades, also due to their frameless design they aided in the aerodynamic performance of the vehicle.

Most automobiles provide an everyday means of travelling to where you where you what to go. These everyday automobiles are typically four-door saloons or 4X4 for moving people around, but for transporting goods you might need something substantial, such as a mini van, and then you might need something even substantial like a wagon. These automobiles make up the most of vehicles that you will find on the roads today, and they all have wiper blades that are used to clear water and grime, as well as bugs that can build up on the wind screen. If the water and grime is not removed from an automobiles wind screen, it can make it impossible to drive safely. The majority of these wiper blades are made from rubber, which is the established material to make wiper blades from.

The wiper blades made from rubber work relatively well but when compared to other newer materials that are now used to make replacement wiper blades, they have flaws. The main reason for rubber being used for wiper blades is it is uncostly material to make them from, and as a result, automobile producers fit them to all new cars. This is also the reason people choose replacement wiper blades made of rubber, but this is a false economy because of the flaws in rubber wiper blades.

We have said that rubber replacement wiper blades have their flaws compared to other materials, making them a false economy for people, but what are these better materials and what are the flaws in rubber wiper blades? Rubber wiper blades normally last 1000 wipes, but this number is rarely achieved as grime and other things damage the wiper blade. Some of the things that harm them are cold, UV radiation, ozone, pollution and chemicals. The main cause of damage to rubber wiper blades is the cold, this causes the rubber to harden and then fracture and crack when in use. If water gets into these fracture and crack and then freezes it can cause serious damage to the rubber wiper blades, and this can then cause the wiper blades to split when in use, making it useless at its job. To a lesser extent, UV radiation, ozone, pollution and chemicals harm the rubber wiper blades which slowly cause them to rot and crack, degrading their ability to clear the wind screen of water and grime.

There are materials that when used to create replacement wiper blades are very resistant to this type of attack, and the best of these is extruded pure silicon resin, as this is resistant to UV radiation, ozone, pollution and chemicals and it is also much more resistant to the cold. Generally, they can work in temperatures as low as -60° and as high as 200° C. Also, silicon is harder wearing than rubber and with all these factors together, you can get a wiper blade that life is opterational life is 3 to 5 times longer than a traditional rubber wiper blade. Silicon wiper blades are a little more costly than rubber wiper blades, but coupled with the fact that they last longer, you soon make the money back by having to buy wiper blades less often. It is recommended by most rubber blade manufacturers to replace your wiper blades twice a year, whereas quality replacement wiper blades made of silicon comes with a one year guarantee.

Some of the other enhancements in wiper blades over the years have been the invention of flat wiper blades. flat wiper blades are frameless wiper blades, and as a result of their frameless design, the wiper blade gives an constant pressure along the blade, allowing for a smooth streak free operation. flat wiper blades also look stylish and sleek due to their frameless design; they also have advantages in aerodynamic efficiency making them useful in maximising economy of automobiles.

A large number of crashes on the carriage way are caused by having poor visibility in fact the number in some cases is approximated to be around as high as twenty percent. It goes without saying that in order to driver safely from A to B it is vital to have a shiny wind screen and to be able to observe the other road users and the road itself. The only real action to this problem is to purchase some replacement wiper blades and get in the garage and physically clean your wind screen with a mop and bucket. The best place to buy wiper blades in terms of value for money and in terms of ease is online. The huge global market place can offer some real bargains as competition forces stockists to decrease their prices. Not only are they pretty ok value but they offer a superb range of models and styles which simply cannot be matched by your local garage forecourt or super market. They also stock every possible type for every possible type of make and model of your car so you won’t go home empty handed like you may have to do in standard bricks and mortar stores. This comprises wiper blades for saloons, people carriers, 4 by 4s, hatchbacks, estates, sports cars, manuals, automatics, petrol and diesel. Some spots even have an online lookup facility which makes finding the correct wiper blades a real cinch. All you need do is write in your vehicle registration number and the web site will find all the best wiper blades for you. The latest and greatest incarnation of the common wiper blades design is called the flat wiper blades.

These represent a new generation of wipers design and evolution, they are more efficient, more reliable, as the pressure from the wipers is pushed to the wind screen more even handed which makes for a quiet and slick mode of action unlike the common types which are in fact quiet noisy in comparison. When to replace your wipers is an important question to consider, typically you will need to swap them every twelve months to ensure good results. It’s necessary as mentioned previously to alter your wipers frequently in order to keep your safety on the roads.

If they make odd noises or vibrate across the wind screen this is an indication they need replacing sooner rather than later. Inspect the leading point of the windscreen wipers by running your finger over its surface, if it feels rough and deeply cracked it is in dire need of replacing. If your windscreen wipers leave streaky breaks and wipe your wind screen unevenly this is another sure fire way of finding when your windscreen wipers need replacing. Once you have gotten a pair online it’s very easy to fit them yourself, you should change both passenger and driver side windscreen wipers at the same time and remember to replace the rear windscreen wipers as well. The initial step is to make sure you have a washed wind screen before changing the windscreen wipers. This will ensure the dirt and grease wont impact your new replacement wiper blades and adversely affect your performance.

In order to comprehend the future you must first comprehend the past and in doing so you will have achieved an awareness of the backdrop context in which the wiper blades was designed and continues to evolve. The reader by now perhaps has some awareness of what a wiper blades actually is and what duty it performs in the world. Turn your mind back to the last time you got into your car and cranked on the ignition. Those things moving backwards and forwards by the windscreen are your wiper blades and their job is to keep the wind screen cleansed and free from muck and water. These days this basic design can be seen anywhere from cars all the way to planes and hover craft. In fact anywhere you find wind screens you will find wiper blades they are even utilised by professional window cleaners these days and do a nice job cleaning large sheet windows.

The wiper blade itself is accustomedly made from rubber and fixes itself to the glass using its tremendous flexibility. The wiper blade is fixed to an arm made usually of metal which is attached to an electric motor; the electric motor is driven by power generated from the engine. An electro magnet under the bonnet is used to convert the electrical power into kinetic motion and this in turn power the motion of the wiper blade through time and space. It’s a normal system but also one which is highly effective and like all elegant solutions this one has stood the rigors of time. There are many variations of this one simple theme yet they all have the same core setup, these days there are even automated wiper blade which sense the quantity of rainfall and adjust their speed according to circumstances.

Some replacement wiper blades have several different speed settings which the driver can use on their own and use to tailor the quantity of motion with the quantity of rain actually falling from the sky. If you are looking for nice quality replacement wiper blades at great prices today the best place to buy them is online. You don’t want to be cheated by being locked into franchise models which the garage insists you buy from them for massively inflated marked up prices. You can literally save hundreds of pound every year if you simply take some time to look online for some replacement wiper blades competitive offers. In fact don’t take my word for it go and look up some now and you will see for yourself what a nice range and value you will find in the online world. I get nearly all my things online these days, books, films, video games, fishing rods replacement wiper blades, anything; they all turn up cheaper online. This is the capability of the internet it brings together all the sellers into one giant market place where the intense competition drives the prices right down. It truly is a buyers market at the moment so get out there and start surfing the web looking for some shiny windscreen wipers today. If you want to save even more poundage get some made out of silicone, these will last forever.

If you are fortunate enough to own your own vehicle the odds are by now you will have not replaced the wiper blades a single time. For shame, the wiper blades are not just a fashion accessory the wiper blades are there to save lives and help you abstain from certain destruction in a fiery head on collision. So when getting a new set of wiper blades it vital to appreciate their vitality and invest your money wisely. The primary thing you can do is find out what size wiper blades your car fits. This can be accomplished by checking the owner’s manual for the ok size or by looking at the wiper blades itself. Often times the driver’s side wiper blades is slightly larger than the passenger side wiper blades so this is something you should look out for when getting your new wiper blades online.

The following thing you should find out is the type of wiper blade you require, wiper blade come in all sorts of strange styles, all shapes and sizes. You can find the traditional wiper blade or you can go for something more exotic like the new flat wiper blade technology which is soon become de rigor. The next step you need to perform is to determine exactly how much you desire to pay and what level of performance you require. The wiper blade level of performance is not always determined by the price, sometimes the most dear is not always the best performer and conversely the cheapest is not always the worst. To get a fair indication you must divide the number of strokes the wiper blade will last for by its price. This will give you a much more accurate representation of their true value; you can accustomedly find this info on the side of the packet and will tell you exactly how many strokes of the wind screen the wiper blade will be ok for until its demise. The cheapest wiper blade manufactured from rubber are the worst value, the next step up the premium branded wiper blade made from a cut above quality rubber are slightly better, but the primary wiper blade in terms of bottom line for money and in terms of longevity are the wiper blade made from silicone.

Most rubber windscreen wipers will only last for around two hundred thousand cycles but this pales in comparison with the ab ovo silicone windscreen wipers discipline which will last for a million cycles. In addition to this nice long life span the new silicone windscreen wipers will accustomedly come with a twelve month guarantee which is nice to have although I think you’ll find it quite unnecessary as these things are practically ageless. The silicone in the windscreen wipers length will not react to anything; it is normal under both extremes of temperature, hot and cold. It will not freeze nor melt in the summer and winter conversely. Another great feature of these windscreen wipers is that they will not decompose under the influence of ultra violet light, water, ozone or other chemicals. These things are more un reactive than gold and its all down to their perculiar chemical structure.