Smells like putrid drains. I think I must have topped up with some rain water from a barrel, or something. The bottle looks to be a pain to remove (BMW Mini), and I was hoping for a simpler solution. Any ideas?
Thanks, Rob
Empty it by using a long bit of tube poked into the bottle and use it as a siphon, fill with boiling water and drain again. Fill with 50-50 screen wash.
Thanks - didn't fancy the tube siphon (risk of swallowing!) - wouldn't emptying with the pump be just as effective? On which, I saw a piece of tube in Halfords with a brass collared end, claiming to siphon if wiggled. How/does that work (at £8)?
I had thought of adding a cap of bleach to cold water, then pumping that through. But hadn't thought of boiling water so if the bleach is daft, I'll give that a try.
Rob
You don't need to suck to start a syphon. Immerse the tube in a bucket of water, place a finger over one end, lift the tube out full of water, and put the open end in the container.
The pump won't be rated for continuous use, so you risk damaging it. If the contamination contains solids (likely) you risk blocking the pump.
The bleach may damage the plastics; it's not nice stuff to have around paintwork either!
If you want to try that, I suggest Milton sterilising fluid.
Chris
Personally, I'd not risk bleach getting onto the paintwork.
A jiggle siphon is an interesting gadget, you immerse the end with the valve and lift and lower rapidly, the liquid moves slowly up the pipe till it gets to the high point and then the siphoning starts. As to sucking to start the siphon, if you use clear tube you can see the liquid or as Chris says just fill the whole tube, put a finger over one end and the other into the grungy water and lower the end with the finger to below the washer bottle, remove finger and the siphoning should start.
A basic disinfectant would be safer than bleach, but screen wash on its own should be fine.
Since water is still going through I'd use a windscreen antifreeze and pour some neat into the bottle. It does contain an anti-bacterial as well as the antifreeze and I've not had any bacterial since I started using it in the summer as well as in winter but at a lower concentration. The pumps aren't designed for continuous use and you run the risk of burning it out if you pump the whole bottle through. That's why I'd put the antifreeze in but use the washers frequently.
I'd not risk boiling water in a washer bottle incase something deforms due to the heat but if Mrcheerful does it I'd expect it to be ok.
The Halfords tube will have a valve at the end and moving it up and down forces water up on the downstroke and the valve closes to keep it there. It will start syphoning after a few goes.
Once you get it emptied bung some screenwash in and it won't come back. The concentration to use should be on the bottle, at least it is on the CarPlan stuff I use.
the boiling water takes the stuff off that is stuck to the inside of the pipe to the tank, I have never had any problems after using it, but I suppose there could be some circumstance where it will be a problem, in general though there will always be some old water in there to cool it down a bit.
Not all wash systems can cope with boiling water. The pumps are not rated for use above ambient and may contain components that will soften above
60C. The vinyl tube used will stretch and may become disconnected if warmed above 45C.Milton is bleach with added salt. It's not going to be any better than dilute bleach for paintwork and probably worse for corrosion.
Bleach is probably good enough, provided that it is diluted before use.
if one is scared of bleach there are disinfectants that are milder, but they are relatively expensive. Dettol spray disinfectant is good for getting rid of mould from Aircon for example but it costs about 100x as much as bleach. I wouldn't reccomend Dettol for wash bottles.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.