Humidity on front windows, can hardly see!

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Oldadmark

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CX5
Ive had the same problem each morning in our mid-Atlantic (MD) area. I have fog on my front & side windows and cant seem to clear them no matter what settings I use. Im sure its on the outside but wipers dont completely clear. Am I using wrong settings? A/C is on.
 
The glass needs to warm above the dewpoint. Turn on the windshield defroster and direct heat to it. It may take a few minutes but it will clear.
 
I'm in Mid-Atlantic too and have had this problem for 3+ years now. Defrosters set to A/C will not clear window. Defrosters with heat will but who in the hell wants to run the heat when it's 90 deg and 80% humidity. Not me.
 
wlong01 said:
I'm in Mid-Atlantic too and have had this problem for 3+ years now. Defrosters set to A/C will not clear window. Defrosters with heat will but who in the hell wants to run the heat when it's 90 deg and 80% humidity. Not me.
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Oh...so this happens in the summer too when it's 90 degrees out? Geeze.
 
Driving usually helps too because the friction of the air moving over the windshield rapidly warms it up to the ambient air temp. But in the meantime, warm up the engine and direct some heat at the glass.
 
wlong01 said:
Because all the previous cars I've owned defrosted with A/C on and HVAC set to defrost.
Besides it's hot and humid in the morning.
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Sorry...didn't realize we were talking hot weather. I'll bow out since I am in Colorado which has like no humidity LOL.
 
Aquapel basically makes the glass hydrophobic so the water will bead up and run off more easily.
 
ColoradoDriver said:
Oh...so this happens in the summer too when it's 90 degrees out? Geeze.
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That's pretty unusual but I suppose it could happen if the dewpoint is very high. A lot of cars the defroster turns on heat regardless because its a cool surface issue. Who knows...
 
I face the OPs problem maybe 10 times a year in TX. Its annoying that the car is not capable to clearing it out. I have idled for 5-6 minutes with minimal success - cannot drive as i cannot see a lot. Maybe keep a microfiber or something and use that.
 
I've noticed that sometimes dust/pollen on the windshield mixes with the condensation to form a sticky sludge that obscures. Using a little washer spray helps with this.
 
Kaps said:
I face the OPs problem maybe 10 times a year in TX. Its annoying that the car is not capable to clearing it out. I have idled for 5-6 minutes with minimal success - cannot drive as i cannot see a lot. Maybe keep a microfiber or something and use that.
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I'm baffled by this response. I too am in humid TX and have never seen it "not capable". It's very simple - warm the glass.
 
What would be real nice is if we had in glass heating elements. Ive see it on some higher end cars like Jaguar.
 
craigo said:
I'm baffled by this response. I too am in humid TX and have never seen it "not capable". It's very simple - warm the glass.
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How do you warm the glass? Light a fire in the cabin or what? I start defrost heat it up notch it up to max fan speed - 5 minutes later maybe 10% improvement.
TX is not a monolith, within the same city you can be in very different conditions based on tress / etc. I park my car in the open under trees - so in the morning it doesnt get the suns rays at all. Specially colder mornings, the ones where its under 40 F.
 
I had to do this just this morning. A rainy warm morning here in KC. Set the defroster on the 'defrost and feet' mode and set the temp to 72. Fan was on second level from the lowest. No issues with the glass fogging on the outside, which WILL happen if you have the temp set too low. I did get the error message that my camera was fogging, so adjusting the fan up to the next level took care of that issue in a few minutes. I love my car, which now has 22,000 miles on it and I have owned since May of 2017. :)
 
To me the Mazda seems about average at window clearing capabilities. In just the right conditions it will be a struggle. Ive also experienced it here with warm wet snow. And on about every vehicle Ive owned. My ST had beast mode defrost but it was like an oven in the car.
 
Kaps said:
How do you warm the glass? Light a fire in the cabin or what? I start defrost heat it up notch it up to max fan speed - 5 minutes later maybe 10% improvement.
TX is not a monolith, within the same city you can be in very different conditions based on tress / etc. I park my car in the open under trees - so in the morning it doesnt get the suns rays at all. Specially colder mornings, the ones where its under 40 F.
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Set the vent setting to windshield, turn up the temp. You only need to get to the dewpoint so it usually just takes a moment or two. Help it along by turning on wipers and a squirt of wiper fluid. I grew up in Houston so I'm very familiar with clearing moist glass.

Now if the condensation is INSIDE the windshield, then you need to dehumidify the interior a bit by running the AC. But OP is talking about the outside.
 
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