And, yes, turn on your car's air conditioner, since that system also serves as a dehumidifier. By turning on the A/C, you will effectively dehumidify the air from your defroster before it is warmed.
Keep the air conditioning on. Make sure air recirculation is off. And, finally, if you can manage it, crack your window a bit. This is the fastest way to defrost your windshield—certainly a need for the vast majority of us at Autoweek this time of year.
You can defog your windshield by turning on your AC systems. This also works as a dehumidifier. That is why most cars turn on their AC systems automatically when you switch to defrost setting. If you want warm air inside your car, then the AC will first dehumidify the inside air, and then warm it up by heater.
First, turn the heat on its maximum setting because hot air can hold more moisture. Then, turn the AC on, which will pull the moisture from the air as it passes over the cooling coils.
A popular method of quickly defrosting your car entails putting your heater on its highest setting, keeping the air conditioning on, turning recirculation off, and cracking your window a bit.
It can take up to an 1 hour or 24 hours to unfreeze your air conditioner. It all depends on the extent of the ice buildup. As you're waiting for the unit to thaw, you should keep an eye out for: An overflowing drain pan.
Switch On the Fan
You'll want to turn on the fan-only setting. You must ensure the cool setting stays off, but the fan is on. This forces warm air over the evaporator coils, which may thaw the coils.
The entire system is reversed as the air conditioning is turned on, which causes the refrigerant to heat up and run through the outdoor coil to melt ice. The outdoor fan is stopped to prevent it from cooling the outside coil. The defrost will continue until the temperature of the outside coil reaches about 57 degrees.
Defrost mode is when the outdoor unit gets too cold and sometimes the coil will be covered in ice. The unit cannot operate when there is ice on the coil, and it must defrost the ice before continuing to provide conditioned air. How can you tell if your air conditioner is in defrost mode?
When the system is in the defrost position the a/c compressor comes on and the air is drawn in and sent through the a/c evaporator to remove moisture from the air before it is sent through the heater core.
Turn your thermostat fan setting to “On” so that the fan continues to blow air over the coil. The warm air in the home will naturally defrost the frozen coil. In severe cases, the heat can be turned on to speed up the process.
The Air Conditioning System Assists your Car's Defroster.
During the cooling process, the refrigerant is compressed and sent through the condenser where it releases heat to the outside. The now-cooled refrigerant then flows through an expansion valve, causing it to rapidly expand and cool even further.
You must be surprised to know this, but using a hairdryer can be the most accurate way to defrost your air conditioning unit. You can use a simple hairdryer or a blow dryer and run it after pointing towards the evaporator coils. However, you must ensure that you do not run the hairdryer at a higher temperature.
As previously stated, simply shutting off the AC will not melt the ice fast enough. It can take more than a day before it's nice and toasty. You can speed up this process with some heat directed towards the ice. Hold a blow dryer turned on low setting at least 10 inches from the evaporator coils and heat that ice up.
There are timers built into the computer control of the system that restrict how often defrosting can occur. Generally, a unit must run for a minimum of about 35 minutes after starting up before completing its first defrost. From there, defrosts should occur no more often than approximately every 40 minutes.
If you're finding it takes a longer time than you'd expect, the culprit is often your cabin air filter. This is true for all models of vehicles. In order for the maximum amount of heat to pass from the engine compartment, through your vents, and onto the windshield, the system must be free from obstruction.
The first step to properly defrosting your windshield is getting into your vehicle and turning it on. Then, turning on your heating to the “defrost” setting, and waiting 5 minutes to 15 minutes for your windshield to warm up and begin to defrost.
If defrosting, set the temperature to High (automatic system) or Full Hot (manual system).
Crank up the AC
The first thing you must do is gain some immediate visibility by wiping it with a lint-free cloth. You can then proceed to turn your car's AC to a colder temperature to match the temperature on the outside. This will cause the fog to vanish and is one of the best tips to defog car during rain.
Right mode: Monsoons often come with high humidity in the air. In this condition, you must use Dry Mode (if available in your AC) to control it.