Condensation!!!

[kezefc]

Hi all, during this cold weather I have been getting really bad condensation on the inside of my windscreen. The car takes quite a while to warm up so the heater doesn't clear it and if I wipe it I end up with water dripping off the windscreen.
Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem or if they know of if being a common fault, Like the window seals. Cheers, Kez.

 

[Tell]

It's a bit common, you can get something to spray on it which helps to keep the condensation down.... some years since I've used that. The blowers don't work too well in the Altea, it takes ageis to clear, afrard I drive off dicing around with a possible accident at night after I've parked up on the basis that the 500 yard climb up a hill might might warm the engine up. So far so good, and haven't hit anything... I know you should, but I know where I've been parking my car when commuting recently there wouldn't be much trafic till I hit the main road and by that stage...

Basically, it's windows down and blower on and hope for the best. The treatment of the glass does work as well.

 

[PhilOfCas]

Use the climate/aircon, the dry air is more effective at clearing the screen, good luck.

 

[Tell]

I do, do that. Keep the aircon on in the winter, but that keeps the mist down, that doesn't remove the dripping condensation that you find on the front glass some days, which is like you have had a shower in there and thrown a bucket of water at the screen.

The front blower should remove it quickly, it doesn't. It is a common fault discussed here periodically. Common is so much as the air vents and blower are ineffective.

 

[PhilOfCas]

fair enough Tell, i did think i might be trying to teach granny to suck eggs !!

 

[adt]

I have not suffered from condensation as you have kez. But likewise I find the heater very slow to warm up - seems the Spanish heater design is already ahead of the pace of global warming! Nevertheless, worth getting it checked out as cars these days should not experinece dripping water off windscreens. Does the car need the radiator topping up at all? Is there an water in the carpets that increase the water vapour inside the car which condenses on the inside of the glass?

 

[kezefc]

Hi all, thanks for all your replies. I haven't checked the radiator to be honest but the car is only 6 months old, and I haven't really noticed any moisture on any of the mats or carpets. But after receiving your replies my problem got worse!

I left for work tonight about 8.45 and found that I hand a film of ice on the inside of my windscreen, unbelievable! It was minus 2 outside.

Going to ring SEAT tomorrow and see what advice they can give me, they will no doubt try and bluff me off with excuses about the weather and nature.

Cheers, All.

 

[Tell]

I think you are just on a big wait for it to heat up and blow dry.... you can get little heater thingey you plug in which I've toyed in thinking about, but at the minute I'm out of my commutes with the cold start. I don't think your dealer will have much of a solution. The guys who don't get this problem here will either be garaging theirs over night and so don't get the build up of moisture in the car. I was only taking mine on a 10 minute drive in the morning, parking up and returning at night. The night time returns were not good and you could say that if the aircon was going to dry it out, in 10 minutes of little heater activity not a lot would have happened. I know it doesn't, since the CC kicks in, in the last two minutes before I get to the tube or back home...

 

[agynjo]

Typically diesel cars take a lot longer to warm up than petrol equivalents because they have iron blocks as opposed to aluminium (for petrol). We have two diesels at home - the Altea and a new Astra - and both take forever to warm up. The Cooper S was blowing warm air out by the end of the road....

If you look on the forum pages for the new Leon, you'll see a lot of equally unhappy people complaining about misting windscreens. Seems like a common design "feature", so it's unlikely the dealer will be able to do much. I think I read somewhere that the moisture was coming from the heater vents....

 

[Tell]

I drove a ZX turbo diesel prior to the Altea for ten years and it didn't have the windscreen ventilation problem since the blows did clear the windows, even put some air on them. The Altea doesn't do much to the windscreen. I reckon the Citreon engine heated up more quickly as well. As for condensation it is more of a problem.

The condensation does kick in, and more so once started. I do get left thinking is that off my body.

It's just a design thing of the Altea where cold weather windscreen cleaning with the blow isn't something they were bothered with, in my view.

 

[markirel]

Common problem, the condensation on mine is terrible and now I keep a cloth in the car and a pack of screen wipes. For all the pleasure and good features in the Altea I can live with this minor design flaw.

I had in mind that the aircon cuts out for self preservation below something like 4°C, but agree that it is good to use it periodically (when the temperature permits) to take away any excess mositure.

 

[huxlee]

had ther same problem, i was getting moisture in the car from a leaking air con drain hose ,which caused condensation on windscreen.

 

[Tell]

I don't think that's my problem, always been like it, just ineffectual fan for clearing stuff off.

I'll fumble around on the passenger side and see if the carpets wet. Think that's the side.

 

[MSV User]

The condensation wouldn't have anything to do with the notorious poor windscreen seal?

Ade

 

[Tell]

Don't think so, mine seals OK. It could be that on the short drives that I was doing the aircon wasn't fully drying it out, the heater wasn't warming up, so you got a daily build up of your own moisture in the car. Duff fan and air vent and you never get rid of it. Dew point and all of that and it dumps itself on the glass.