When the temperature goes below freezing...

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OnTheSpotMobile

New member
I do detailing exclusively mobile and winter is approaching. In my area, as winter approaches the temperature is below freezing at night and above freezing all day. This means I get up in the morning and my hose feeding the pressure washer is frozen, and theres ice floating in the water tanks, etc. It's a lot of extra hassle, and I'm wearing a t-shirt while I'm working on those days. Somebody told me that "so and so said they just put anti-freeze in their water for the winter months..." My question is what could I use as an anti freeze in the water? Does anyone on autopia do this? I'm sure you can't just take anti freeze meant for a radiator and wash cars with that in your water lol. Are there any automotive surface-friendly products I could use as anti freeze?
 
Is your equipment garaged? do you have access to an electrical outlet? I have been running a portable electrical heater inside my van during the cold winter months. It gets well below freezing (single digits and teens last year at night). I never had a problem with the lines freezing at night or during the day for that matter. I would just plug it in when I knew the temp would drop below freezing. Hope this helps!
 
I have no garage and the wash equipment and tanks are set up in the box of the truck. I have thought about heaters before but even if I could get ahold of some tank heaters I'd still have frozen lines...
 
I know a few guys that put an elec heater in there van at night, just pulg it in and let it warm everything inside the van. I can tell you this tho, dont leave water in your PW! I did that when I first got started, warter froze and busted the pump...
 
OnTheSpotMobile said:
I have no garage and the wash equipment and tanks are set up in the box of the truck. I have thought about heaters before but even if I could get ahold of some tank heaters I'd still have frozen lines...
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Oil pan heaters for your tanks, and heat tape for your water lines. I've used these items quite often since where I live, it can dip down to -60 degrees F in the winter.
 
OnTheSpotMobile said:
Interesting idea WAS, where can you get oil pan heaters? Candian tire? Or princess auto?
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I just realized that you live in Canada, lol. Yes, C-Tire will have them, at least they do in Whitehorse and they did in Calgary when I used to live there. I wouldn't get anything above 70 watts (I recommend 35 watts), as you risk melting your tanks if they're made of plastic. On the other hand, if they're metal, go for a 200 watt one. C-Tire also carries heat tape for your water lines.
 
Thanks WAS, yes I'm over here on the opposite end of the country with the same problems lol. I stopped in at ctire today and I found two models of oil pan heaters, the smallest was 125 watts and the larger one was 200 watts I believe. I wasn't expecting $125 for it though.Then there was the 200 watt magnetic one. I use two 60 gallon plastic drums to store my water. The little heater element is only like 3 inches long by 2 inches wide, it looks harmless enough. Do you think it actually gets hot enough to melt the plastic drum? Maybe I could find a steel plate to cut to the right size and place under the drum, and attach the oil drum heater to the steel. I found heating cord in the plumbing section right beside the copper piping and that will be perfect for the hose. They also sell battery warmers, which will be perfect for keeping the pressure washer pump warm. I'll have to get it set up soon because at night we're about 3 degrees above freezing right now!
 
OnTheSpotMobile said:
Thanks WAS, yes I'm over here on the opposite end of the country with the same problems lol. I stopped in at ctire today and I found two models of oil pan heaters, the smallest was 125 watts and the larger one was 200 watts I believe. I wasn't expecting $125 for it though.Then there was the 200 watt magnetic one. I use two 60 gallon plastic drums to store my water. The little heater element is only like 3 inches long by 2 inches wide, it looks harmless enough. Do you think it actually gets hot enough to melt the plastic drum? Maybe I could find a steel plate to cut to the right size and place under the drum, and attach the oil drum heater to the steel. I found heating cord in the plumbing section right beside the copper piping and that will be perfect for the hose. They also sell battery warmers, which will be perfect for keeping the pressure washer pump warm. I'll have to get it set up soon because at night we're about 3 degrees above freezing right now!
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Hmmmmmmm, 125 watts eh ? You should be OK. Do your plastic drums have thick sidewalls ? I'd stick one on, wait an hour or so, then go check it, just in case. I completely forgot that the surrounding air is going to be below freezing. Any calculations done for wattage to heat transfer is always at 0 degrees (when you google those heaters and such). You should be fine. Don't bother with the magnetic one, I used to have that one for my car, complete POS.
 
The drums are quite thick, and very strong as I discovered when I drilled out the bottoms to take fittings. I will be trying this out soon so I'll come back and post my result.
 
ONR + warm (not hot) water works for me on cold mornings. Clearkote's Carnauba Moose works fine in cold conditions too. Easy on and off.
 
Scottwax said:
ONR + warm (not hot) water works for me on cold mornings. Clearkote's Carnauba Moose works fine in cold conditions too. Easy on and off.
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I don't think you could strictly use ONR in the OP's living area though...
 
Yeah but guys, we're talking about a city that's going to dip down to around 15 degrees F, and that has snow, and uses salt on their roads... I don't think ONR is an option here.
 
WAS said:
Yeah but guys, we're talking about a city that's going to dip down to around 15 degrees F, and that has snow, and uses salt on their roads... I don't think ONR is an option here.
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If you can wash in a garage, you can use ONR with hot water to wash a car, I did mine that way last winter, with outside temps below zero.
 
I would just like to follow this thread up by saying that I never did install the heater. Most of my work at the end of the year was interior reconditioning for a dealership and once it got cold enough to freeze my water lines it was also cold enough to freeze the water left in the carpet and seats by the extractor! Needless to say that shut me down. Sorry for the late reply but I've been away from detailing completely since then and am getting ready to open up shop again this spring.



EDIT: Thanks for the suggestions everyone I do plan on bringing ONR into my business this spring, and in the future when I do get into a shop the heaters will come in handy!
 
OnTheSpotMobile said:
I would just like to follow this thread up by saying that I never did install the heater. Most of my work at the end of the year was interior reconditioning for a dealership and once it got cold enough to freeze my water lines it was also cold enough to freeze the water left in the carpet and seats by the extractor! Needless to say that shut me down. Sorry for the late reply but I've been away from detailing completely since then and am getting ready to open up shop again this spring.



EDIT: Thanks for the suggestions everyone I do plan on bringing ONR into my business this spring, and in the future when I do get into a shop the heaters will come in handy!
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ONR really is valuable in cold weather. I just moved to an area cold enough to get snow, and ONR and hot water got me through the winter with minimal marring. I did spray the car down with a QD blend of ONR with hot water before washing, which seemed to help dissolve some of the solids before tackling it with a wash mitt.



That said, all of this was done in a nice big heated garage. I can't imagine the logistics of doing this outside in freezing cold weather.
 
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