WARNING - Don't use RAINX washer fluid!! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

tinypanzer · #1 11-26-2008, 07:45 PM

It seems innocuous enough, but it is a potential calamity.

The other day, I bought a bottle of this stuff cause it was on sale. I didn't bother reading the ingredients. First off, the stuff is FLAMMABLE! It contains denatured alcohol as a solvent for the rainx stuff.

If you add that mixture to a HEATED washer fluid reservoir, you will notice as I did that a good bit of it disappears quite rapidly. I have deduced that the heating in the reservoir has basically boiled off all of the alcohol and left the rest behind.

I don't know what the effects of that crud in my washer system will be, nor do I know how the fluid will behave without its alcohol solvent.

In my mind, having alcohol vapor boiling out of anything under your hood is a potential calamity waiting to happen and that alone is reason enough to avoid this stuff. Not to mention the effects of denatured alcohol on rubber hoses. Who the hell designed this crap??

I can't wait to find out what the long term effects are on the pump, etc....

Anyone else have a run-in with this stuff?

-tp

johnathan1 · #2 11-26-2008, 08:05 PM

Is this the orange liquid? I have heard that it can also stain lighter colored paint.

tinypanzer · #3 11-26-2008, 08:18 PM

Yeah, it's the orange stuff. It can stain paint???

Geez, that sounds like a class action suit waiting to happen.

C280 Sport · #4 11-26-2008, 08:22 PM

I have always used the spray on Rainex. I never used the waher fluid.

ARNOLDLewis · #5 11-26-2008, 09:05 PM

regular rainx water reppelant fogs up your windshield due to the chemicals in it. so add that to washer fluid and thats what u get. the rainx de-icer fluid is incredible though....

babymog · #6 11-26-2008, 09:09 PM

I've been using it for a couple of years, never had a problem.

Back in the '90s, before RainX washer fluid, the blue stuff always boiled out of my '91's washer bottle also. Mostly in the summer, and it got worse when I added Water Wetter to the radiator (no kidding).

I wasn't aware of washer fluid that didn't use alcohol to lower its freezing point, is there another kind? The alcohol-blend has been used for at least 50years.

cphilip · #7 11-26-2008, 09:47 PM

I used the Orange stuff one time and Algae, or something that looked like it, started growing in the tank. Clumps of it. I had to siphon it all out and rinse the tank out a couple times.

tinypanzer · #8 11-26-2008, 10:55 PM

Hmmm, that's interesting. I'm not sure what standard washer fluid uses to lower the freezing point. I assumed it was glycol or similar. I've never seen a flammability warning on the blue stuff, though. Maybe it's just that the rainx stuff has so much more of it in order to act as a solvent.

As far as fogging the window, you're absolutely correct. That's one reason I hate rain-x, but in a Florida downpour, MB wipers just ain't fast enough to do the job by themselves.

Meticulously cleaning the window with Windex helps to reduce the fog ups, but they are annoying. Less annoying than not being able to see the road in a downpour, however.

But that stuff disappeared SO fast. I filled the tank with it, maybe washed my windows one or twice tops, and in two days my low washer fluid light was on. I opened the tank and it was only half full. I can't come up with any other explanation than evaporation. That's reason enough to skip this stuff.

Is regular washer fluid flammable? I've never seen such a warning.

cphilip · #9 11-26-2008, 11:36 PM

Anything over 10% would have to be labeled Flammable. It may be that some of them use less percentage and therefor avoid being labeled flammable. But this might only mean they are 9%. Not that they are devoid of it.

I would not think a Glycol base good for a windshield as it is oily and would simply smear and not evaporate off.

I would think a solvent like an Alcohol would do both nicely. Evaporate and prevent freezing. Plus it does mix with water very well.

pawoSD · #10 11-27-2008, 12:00 AM

I used that stuff for a while in my SD....my issue with it is that it leaves a coating on the glass, that causes the wipers to adhere/skitter across the glass....really annoying when you want to wipe the window when there's not a lot of water on it.

I've since switched back to blue long ago, and will only use that, its cheaper too!

Chas H · #11 11-27-2008, 12:23 AM

Regular old blue washer fluid is flammable because of the alcohol anti-freeze. If it boils off because the washer tank is heated the fluid could freeze. I haven't seen Benz make an issue of it, so I think you've something else going on. Certainly the blue stuff in my washer bottle hasn't boiled off.

OldPokey · #12 11-27-2008, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chas H

Regular old blue washer fluid is flammable because of the alcohol anti-freeze. If it boils off because the washer tank is heated the fluid could freeze. I haven't seen Benz make an issue of it, so I think you've something else going on. Certainly the blue stuff in my washer bottle hasn't boiled off.

Regular old blue stuff contains Isopropyl alcohol. The cheaper washer fluids contain less of it, the better stuff more. Since the alcohol has a lower boiling point than water, I can see where heating the fluid would cause it to evaporate, leaving water, soap and blue dye behind.

Chas H · #13 11-27-2008, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldPokey

Regular old blue stuff contains Isopropyl alcohol. The cheaper washer fluids contain less of it, the better stuff more. Since the alcohol has a lower boiling point than water, I can see where heating the fluid would cause it to evaporate, leaving water, soap and blue dye behind.

Wouldn't it freeze in cold weather after the alcohol boiled off?
Most washer fluid I have seen, maybe all of it, contains methyl alcohol, not isopropyl.

anziani · #14 11-27-2008, 11:50 AM

Rain, what is rain? Here in the desert we worry about water boiling in the reservoir!
Anziani

'95 E420 112K
'87 300E 203K

compu_85 · #15 11-27-2008, 12:00 PM

I noticed the orange rainx fluid I put in my SDL has turned brown. I can't comment on the evaporation because the rubber plugs where the heater coil goes in were bad.

-J