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Heated Wiper Blades for Winter driving... - Waterloo - 02-27-2016
I had some cool stuff posted up here as have many others, so here is a product that I have used, and still use that may help someone.
Heated Wiper Blades!
http://www.everblades.com
There are allot of them out there, but this is the Gold Standard, manufactured here in Michigan. Heated Anco blades along with the frame. Yes, the blade and the framework are heated. These tie into your electrical system with supplied wiring and a lighted switch. These things are the BOMB!
When it starts to snow, or if it is raining and the temp is right at the freeze point, just hit the power switch and be amazed at what happens. In a minute they are working, they heat to a temp of 100+ degrees. No more icing of the wiper frame or blade! There is a heating element running right through the center of the wiper blade itself, and the frame is heated with its own heating element that keeps the frames ice and snow free so that they operate as intended.
When the season changes, just take the blades off, they use quick connects on the wiring at the wiper arms so that swapping out to a summer blade is easy peasy! I filled the quick connects with dialectic grease to hinder any corrosion inside the quick connects. No issues when I installed them this winter, plugged them in and they worked.
I am on my second season with this product and love them, especially on the ProStar which is terrible for icing up in the winter. The install is rather straight forward, it took me a couple of hours in the driveway between beers...
The blade kit comes with everything you need to install, wiring and a lighted toggle switch that mounts in your dash. I did have to use some of my own wire, 14 ga to lengthen what was supplied due to the layout of my cab, grounding spot and entry through the firewall. But, that was no big deal, as I always have plenty of wire on hand. The blades themselves are a premium Anco Blade and frame. The wiper frame is what you would expect in regards to installing, nothing weird. They snap right on to the wiper arms.
The install was pretty straight forward, ground to the body, I used the factory ground post on the ProStar body on the driver side under the hood, the post is on the firewall. I tapped into the fuse block using the push connector that I purchased at the dealership. These are the metal crimp on connectors that push directly into the fuse block from below on the passenger side where all of the other fuses are located. Use a 12 volt tester, find a spot in the block that feeds off of the ignition, so that when you turn the truck off, the power to the wiper blades goes off like it does with the radio. Find that hole, connect the connector to the wire, and push your wire in to the hole until it clicks. It can only go in one way, just so you know. You may have to inspect one of the other connection to see how these go in. A magnifying glass helps... Install ten amp fuse and you should have power.
Or, use one of those add a fuse things from the auto parts store. I would not tap into your wiring to power these blades, they need their own dedicated connection at the fuse block as they do draw a little power. A ten amp fuse is what I believe they recommend. Just tap directly into the fuse block and use a solid ground to the body and you should not have any issues.
In the ProStar, I drilled a hole in the firewall on the passenger side just below and to the side of the AC expansion valve. There is plenty of room on that side to run all sorts of wiring, as there are few obstructions in that area under the dash. Just take it slow. I used a step drill http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FZ2UOY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
I have used this step drill more than a few times. I drilled a pilot hole and took it slow so as not to overheat the drill. Some recommend cutting oil to keep it cool, but if you take your time you should not overheat the drill to the point of failure. Mine is still going strong after several uses on the truck.
Run the wiring from each blade through the hole, drill hole in dash for switch using the step drill, install and you are ready to go!
I hope this helps!