Prior to this morning the coldest I can recall in the past 16 years that I did a wash was middle 20's. Today when I finished my first car I called home to get the current temp and it was 15f. One reason I even went out was to see if I could do it. I did manage to get the car done, but some unexpected problems made the experience horrible. Here is how it went.
I arrived and the car was outside and keys were ready. I didn't want to clean it in the driveway as I expected some water to freeze on the ground so I pulled it out to the street. I knew last night that the glass would be a problem and that my glass cleaner would likely freeze. I was out of rubbing alcohol so ran to the store to get a bottle. I started cleaning the inside glass and let the car warm up a little for the owner. I was finishing the glass and realized I hadn't started heating my water. This is were the problems started. I have two 1000w bucket heaters. I use only one most of the time and heat water in a 1 gallon thermos type cooler. I let the water heat while I clean the glass, vacuum & clean the wheels-tires-wells. I run window washer fluid through my hoses and pumps at night so they don't freeze. Normally it takes about a gallon. I was a little short last night when I filled the hose and just ran pump dry for a few seconds until washer fluid was coming out of the nozzle. In hindsight I see this was a huge mistake. When I went to purge the lines the pump was basically dry and extremely cold. Once the cold water hit the pump it started to freeze. At first I thought some ice was blocking the nozzle so I took off the nozzle. I couldn't get the quick disconnect off though. I finally pushed another male connect into the female to get things moving. The water was dripping out. At this point I said screw the pump I'll just get water out of my tank. I couldn't get the cap off the tank with my hands so I grabbed a piece of wood and hit it to get it off. I figured the hose could just pump water back into the tank while I worked. In a few seconds it stopped completely so I unplugged the pump. I didn't have a way to get water out of the tank like a siphon so I took a 32oz bottle and put it in to fill it up. Slow but hey it was working. I had gloves on and had to grab bottle by the top to get it out of the tank opening. It slipped out of my hand sinking in the tank. Arggghhh. I got a smaller bottle and took my glove off and managed to get my 1gallon container full. When it is real cold I like to heat a gallon and make my ONR mix in my 5 gallon bucket and then heat another gallon to refresh my mix as it gets cold. Hrmmm where is my bucket. Argggghhh I left it where I did the last car the day before. This presents a huge problem as I needed a second container. I decided that 1 gallon would get it done and I would heat more if needed. I cleaned the wheels, tires which weren't very dirty with a spray bottle of window washer fluid and ONR. Next I took the very hot water and ONR to wash the body under the window line. No way would I hit the glass with hot water. The car wasn't that dirty and things were going nicely. I finish then did the glass with alcohol. All that was left was the roof with I used the ONR Washer mix. No streaking and I'll wax it next week. I had a few areas that had some ice. I have a small handheld steamer that I carry with me. I went to get it to quickly get rid of the ice. The water in the filter cartridge and small tank were frozen ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH. I couldn't fix that problem. I didn't want to heat up more water to melt the ice so I just held my hand on the ice and melted it. It wasn't much but it sure was cold. I was done and put my stuff away and left to go get my damn bucket. I found it with my wash sponge frozen in a block of ice hehe.
Not something I would do again for a wash. If I had a detail or had to work maybe.
I arrived and the car was outside and keys were ready. I didn't want to clean it in the driveway as I expected some water to freeze on the ground so I pulled it out to the street. I knew last night that the glass would be a problem and that my glass cleaner would likely freeze. I was out of rubbing alcohol so ran to the store to get a bottle. I started cleaning the inside glass and let the car warm up a little for the owner. I was finishing the glass and realized I hadn't started heating my water. This is were the problems started. I have two 1000w bucket heaters. I use only one most of the time and heat water in a 1 gallon thermos type cooler. I let the water heat while I clean the glass, vacuum & clean the wheels-tires-wells. I run window washer fluid through my hoses and pumps at night so they don't freeze. Normally it takes about a gallon. I was a little short last night when I filled the hose and just ran pump dry for a few seconds until washer fluid was coming out of the nozzle. In hindsight I see this was a huge mistake. When I went to purge the lines the pump was basically dry and extremely cold. Once the cold water hit the pump it started to freeze. At first I thought some ice was blocking the nozzle so I took off the nozzle. I couldn't get the quick disconnect off though. I finally pushed another male connect into the female to get things moving. The water was dripping out. At this point I said screw the pump I'll just get water out of my tank. I couldn't get the cap off the tank with my hands so I grabbed a piece of wood and hit it to get it off. I figured the hose could just pump water back into the tank while I worked. In a few seconds it stopped completely so I unplugged the pump. I didn't have a way to get water out of the tank like a siphon so I took a 32oz bottle and put it in to fill it up. Slow but hey it was working. I had gloves on and had to grab bottle by the top to get it out of the tank opening. It slipped out of my hand sinking in the tank. Arggghhh. I got a smaller bottle and took my glove off and managed to get my 1gallon container full. When it is real cold I like to heat a gallon and make my ONR mix in my 5 gallon bucket and then heat another gallon to refresh my mix as it gets cold. Hrmmm where is my bucket. Argggghhh I left it where I did the last car the day before. This presents a huge problem as I needed a second container. I decided that 1 gallon would get it done and I would heat more if needed. I cleaned the wheels, tires which weren't very dirty with a spray bottle of window washer fluid and ONR. Next I took the very hot water and ONR to wash the body under the window line. No way would I hit the glass with hot water. The car wasn't that dirty and things were going nicely. I finish then did the glass with alcohol. All that was left was the roof with I used the ONR Washer mix. No streaking and I'll wax it next week. I had a few areas that had some ice. I have a small handheld steamer that I carry with me. I went to get it to quickly get rid of the ice. The water in the filter cartridge and small tank were frozen ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH. I couldn't fix that problem. I didn't want to heat up more water to melt the ice so I just held my hand on the ice and melted it. It wasn't much but it sure was cold. I was done and put my stuff away and left to go get my damn bucket. I found it with my wash sponge frozen in a block of ice hehe.
Not something I would do again for a wash. If I had a detail or had to work maybe.