Icy? More like assy

[Mriswith]

Could be worse, I suppose...

[Aragarthiel]

Here you go. Lock de-icer.

[raw1989]

^ yah but since SC wanted to pitch a fit he needs to come prepared if he needs propane that badly

[csquared]

Warm WD40 goes a long way. Prevents the re-icing.

[Alpha Strike]

This. I knew one rocket scientist who had thick ice all over her car windshield. Her solution? Pour BOILING water on it. It did remove the ice as the windshield completely shattered under it...

I've heard that pouring hot water on a windshield is normally self-defeating, but why did the boiling water shatter the windshield? Is it the rapid change in temperature or something else?

[Dave1982]

Simple physics. As (most) materials get cold, they shrink slightly, and they expand when they get hot. There are exceptions but glass is not one of them.

A sudden, large temperature change - such as pouring on water that's probably 200+ degrees hotter than the glass - will cause a rapid expansion of the material. But since the heat isn't applied evenly across the entire windshield, the areas that got the hot water will expand before the rest of the windshield and ....*shatter*

[eltf177]

Simple physics. As (most) materials get cold, they shrink slightly, and they expand when they get hot. There are exceptions but glass is not one of them.

It's this and the fact that you're heating up a fragile material VERY quickly and to an extreme temperature. Lukewarm water would probably be OK but very hot or boiling water is just asking for trouble...

Just remember kids, glass is a liquid...

[Ironclad Alibi]

Also a windshield is tempered glass, which complicates the problem of sudden temperature changes.

[QASlave]

Dunk the lock in isopropyl alcohol. Doesn't freeze until about -128 degrees and also displaces water.

[Nunavut Pants]

Just remember kids, glass is a liquid...

No, it's an amorphic solid. The "glass is a liquid" is a myth.