Spraying windscreen of frozen car not advised?

[Vicario]

Last week I thoroughly defrosted my windscreen and a few minutes after driving off I turned on the wipers and inadvertently the sprayer too. These worked fine, but a while later I noticed that the wipers were OK but the sprayer wasn't working. The washer water had the usual additives and wasn't frozen. I found the fuse and it had blown, so it was a 5 minute job to get the sprayer working.
My explanation: there was a bit of iced liquid in one of the lines (along the underside of the bonnet) which had caused the load on the sprayer motor to rise and blow the fuse.
Am I right or is there another explanation? My additive is down to -10 degrees, so it shouldn't have frozen. It's a 2015 Corsa.

 

[foxhole]

Unlikely , washer motors don’t blow just because the line is frozen , can still freeze with antifreeze in it.

 

[carmanmemoranda]

Washer bottles and motors are often exposed to wind chill whilst driving.

 

[norseman]

Even screen wash fluid allegedly down to -10 can still freeze in the jets, because when the car is moving they are subjected to the wind-chill factor & therefore far below that of ambient temperature.

 

[Mottie]

Some Of the cars we’ve had, had heated washer jets. I thought that was to put hot water on the screen but it was probably just to stop them from freezing.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Even screen wash fluid allegedly down to -10 can still freeze in the jets, because when the car is moving they are subjected to the wind-chill factor & therefore far below that of ambient temperature.

Wind chill, doesn't make it colder, it only makes it 'feel' colder. What it might do to water, is make it evaporate quicker, and the evaporation draws more heat from the water, thus cooling it below ambient.

 

[Burnerman]

Washer pumps may blow the fuse if they are frozen or indeed run dry......particularly likely if they have their own fuse i.e not shared with the wipers.
We used to be able to buy fluid good to minus 20deg, now it's down to only -10 which really isn't enough when it's down to -7 overnight..
John

 

[Vicario]

It wasn't dry but yes, a partly frozen pump might be the explanation.

 

[baldykev]

washer jets will freeze even with antifreeze in the washer bottle. Most of the time the jets freeze due to moisture in the air
That is why the good old electric washer jets where invented

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

washer jets will freeze even with antifreeze in the washer bottle. Most of the time the jets freeze due to moisture in the air
That is why the good old electric washer jets where invented

Back in the day, I would modify the washer pipe work, by including a section of copper pipe, run in proximity to the exhaust manifold.

 

[norseman]

Washer pumps may blow the fuse if they are frozen or indeed run dry......particularly likely if they have their own fuse i.e not shared with the wipers.
We used to be able to buy fluid good to minus 20deg, now it's down to only -10 which really isn't enough when it's down to -7 overnight..
John

When I was a chemical tanker driver in the 'eighties (colder winters back then) many journeys entailed motorway driving which, due to the large frontal area of the cab, were notorious for freezing washers. We used to fill the washer tanks with 100% methanol .. never had the jets freeze, but the fluid didn't do the paintwork any favours

 

[Vicario]

The fuse for the pump is 10A so it must be quite powerful. The wipers are on a different fuse. Thanks for all the interesting replies. One thing I did learn from this was how to remove the lid of the fuse box in the engine compartment, which isn't ideally placed as it has cables and wires over/near it. It came with a little plastic gadget for gripping the fuses too, so some engineer somewhere was thinking about the user when he/she designed it.
There's also a fuse box in the glove compartment, which I've never had to access. Mrs V. fills the compartment with various items of makeup and other rubbish so I hope I never have to!

 

[Stivino]

I keep that in my door pocket during the winter, just in case.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I keep that in my door pocket during the winter, just in case.

Does salad cream help?

 

[Stivino]

Does salad cream help?

Only when you put it on lettuce.