Moonshiners: can “non-freezing” from pervach become an alternative to roadside burda
There is still a problem with road safety in our country: in monstrous accidents, people are maimed and entire families die, but the authorities are trying to solve this problem only by repressive measures. And some adopted laws do contribute to the ninth wave of accidents. Don't believe? And here is a visual confirmation for you, obtained by the AvtoVzglyad portal during an unusual experiment.
After repeatedly repeating stories of poisoning deep-drinking compatriots with various tinctures such as hawthorn and glass washer fluids, the country banned the production of car anti-freeze products based on methyl alcohol, showing concern - let's call a spade a spade - about the marginalized segments of the population who drink everything. that is lit.
Glass washer manufacturers were forced to switch to another raw material - to isopropyl alcohol. Of course, "antifreeze" on isopropylene, as well as on methanol, did not become suitable for consumption. But in order to drink wood alcohol to death (as methanol is called in the common people), it is enough to “bang” 100 ml. liquids, while the lethal dose of isopropylene is 5 times higher.
Thick. That's why it's sad
But unlike methyl, isopropyl alcohol thickens in the cold! Yes, even if in the cold the contents of the windshield washer reservoir do not turn into ice butts, but this “jelly”, alas, is not pumped to the “pisalki” by a feed pump.
And even if the heat from the engine of the car heats up the engine compartment to temperatures when its viability returns to the “non-freeze”, then on the windshield, constantly cooled by air currents, it again turns into a viscous substance, which, being smeared by the “wipers” on the surface, prevents normal review. By the way, with "non-freezing", which are based on methanol (and these are actually all such liquids that are sold in Europe), such metamorphoses do not occur.
It goes without saying that there are no statistics of accidents caused by a glass washer that failed to cope with its duties in the cold. In the protocols, traffic police inspectors usually limit themselves to the wording that, they say, the driver chose the speed without taking into account road or weather conditions. Meanwhile, if you dig a little deeper, it can easily turn out that in the name of saving hundreds of lives of lovers of “thumping denatured alcohol”, thousands of motorists went to the next world.
"Heads" to help
It should be noted that the problem with "non-freezing", in fact, not suitable for its intended use, has lasted far from the first year. And quite a lot of drivers have already switched to windshield washers of their own production. First of all, “hand-made” was taken up by moonshiners, who make winter liquid for glasses from the head fractions obtained during distillation.
The recipe that we found on one automotive forum is quite simple: “pervak” (its average strength is about 75-80 “turns”) is diluted with water in a 1: 1 ratio, and a small amount of dishwashing detergent is added to the resulting mixture. That's all - handmade anti-freeze is ready!
We decided to check whether the liquid from the "heads" of moonshine really surpasses the product from isopropyl alcohol in its properties. In the editorial office, as it turned out, there were a lot of fans to drive “samych” for personal needs at home, and therefore there were no problems with raw materials.
They decided to dilute it not in the proportion that was indicated in the recipe, but according to a special table and using an alcohol meter. In particular, in order for a homemade “non-freeze” to be fluid at -25 Celsius, its strength must be at least 40 degrees. Well, if weather forecasters promise more severe frosts, then the concentration of alcohol should be even higher (for example, so that the craft antifreeze does not turn into ice when the thermometer drops below -40C, the strength of the product should not be less than 56 “turns”).
Pif-PAV, oh-oh-oh
We also found dishwashing liquid to be an extra ingredient. However, empirically, it quickly became clear that without "liquid soap" an oily film is not removed from the windshield, which worsens visibility. Indeed, the detergent contains surface-active substances (surfactants), which, even in small doses, easily destroy the molecular structure of the oil, due to which the glass becomes transparent at the moment. In general, at least 3 grams of dishwashing liquid must be poured into 30 liters of homemade anti-freeze.
During our field tests in the central region, there were no Epiphany frosts, and therefore, to check how the purchased and home-made glass washer can withstand the cold, we used the freezer of a home refrigerator. If you believe the readings of the pyrometer (a gun for measuring temperature), then in the freezer -26C. For a day, we sent two beakers with “anti-freeze” there. Purchased liquid based on isopropyl should work up to -30C (in any case, it says so on the label), and we diluted the homemade "tincture" to a vodka fortress (that is, with a use temperature of up to -25C).
Well, the purchased windshield washer fluid has thickened in the freezer: ice crystals are visible in it and it definitely will not be pumped by the pump and will clog the nozzles for watering the glass. But the home-made “non-freeze”, made on the basis of ethyl alcohol, contrary to expectations (after all, −25 ° C for it is the pour point), has fully retained its performance.
Side effect with flasher
Is there a strong smell of alcohol in the car interior when using home fluid? We won't lie - the smell is present and, moreover, not quite vodka. A sort of mixture of acetone, fusel oil, alcohol and dishwashing liquid. However, the "bouquet" is not very sharp and from other windshield washer fluids bought at gas stations, it stinks much stronger and more unpleasant.
The only side effect of the home “non-freezing” is a meeting with traffic cops. The serviceman, who stopped our car for an ordinary check of documents, sniffed for a long time, asked if we had used something “pronounced” before the trip? ..
We explain that the “anti-freeze” is crafted, just smell it - and splash it on the glass. Nevertheless, in order to dispel all doubts, the inspector took out a breathalyser, gave out a mouthpiece and asked to blow into the device until a characteristic click. The "exhaust" turned out to be clean and we were safely released.
