Interior Windshield Frost and Power button frozen

I did a quick search, and I might have missed it, but it's also possible I am the first person to report this problem.

I am not using the word "frozen" as a metaphor to indicate that it was inactive. I mean that it literally froze. This happened on two separate days, but hasn't happened since.

My theory as to why this happened was that there was a lot of moisture in the car - because I didn't wipe the snow off my skis before storing them inside the car - and that some of this moisture managed to get inside the power button. This theory also explains why there was significant frost on the inside of the windshield.

When I tried to start the car, the button would not move. I tried pressing the button repeatedly, and eventually the button moved - with a crunching sound - and the hybrid system turned on, and I was able to drive. After a 3-mile drive to my destination, however, the button froze up again, and I could not turn it off. I drove back home, but, by then, apparently, the cabin had warmed up enough that the button worked as normal.

On the second day, the button only froze up once, then, after a while, thawed. And the problem hasn't happened since.

Has anyone experienced this problem?
Although the problem only happened on those two days, I'm wondering whether there might be long-term damage.

 

How do I remove the power button and swap in the spare?

 

The simplest approach might be to get a portable, battery-operated hair dryer.

The button-freezing problem seems to be - so far - very rare. But I might also be able to use the portable hair dryer to defrost the inside of the windshield, which is a much more common problem. Windshield ice scrapers are curved for the outside, not the inside, of the windshield, and - assuming that the power button isn't frozen - it takes a while (although not as long as you might think) for the front-defrost feature to kick in.

 

I did a little research on this - and, when I say "a little", it was probably a good couple of hours - and it turns out that there is no such thing as a portable, battery-operated hair dryer.

Nonetheless, after "a little more" research, I came up with a 2-part scheme:

1. A small (roughly 5-inch cube) 200-watt "space heater" (I think they market it as a "desktop" space heater, and, oddly, there seems to be a market for such a thing) with a 6-foot cord, and
2. A not-small battery pack, rated for up to 330 watts, storage supposedly 299 watt-hours, with an AC outlet.

I justified this scheme on the basis that there are power outages here a couple of times a year, and I could use the battery pack to keep the Wi-Fi going.

Getting back to the Prius (remember, this all started with a question about my Prius ...), I'm less concerned about the very-infrequent frozen power button than I am about interior frost, which happens fairly often. I am optimistic that I can apply the small "space heater" to thaw the frost more effectively than the car defroster does. Because I can hold the space heater higher up on the windshield. And hopefully the hot air from the space heater will be warmer than the warmed air from the defroster. With any luck, it might even help with the frozen power button, if that ever happens again.

The battery pack isn't due for delivery until next week, by which time the weather may have warmed up too much (double-digits above zero Fahrenheit) to produce interior frost. Isn't that just like the weather, never cooperating? But, in the meantime, the "desktop space heater" should be arriving tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll get several minutes of enjoyment out of that.

Lew

 

Getting back to the power button specifically, a friend of mine came up with the idea of using one of those air-activated plastic bag hand warmers that people put inside their mittens. I could easily keep one of those in the glove compartment.

 

Getting back to my overall grand scheme for ... well, probably next winter ... I did receive the little 200 watt "desktop space heater" today. I am optimistic that it will work well as a handheld windshield defroster, but I probably won't be able to test it until next winter.

The hot air from the space heater is warmer than what comes out of the car's defroster, and I can target it at anywhere on the windshield. (I specifically chose a heater that does NOT have the safety feature where it shuts off if you tip it over. So I can point the heat at any angle.) I would just want to be careful that it doesn't defrost the ice too fast, because I would not want it to drip into the heater - that can't be good.

What I won't know until I test it with real frost is how long it will take me, moving the heater around, to clear up enough of the windshield so that it is safe to drive. Undoubtedly, I would start the car first (unless, of course, the power button is frozen, in which case I'd defrost that first), so that the car defroster could also help out, together with the head start from the "handheld defroster."

As for the power button, I think the 2 1/2" diameter heat vent would work as well as anything else to defrost it.

Lew

 

Yesterday I received the battery pack, and, as luck would have it, it was cold enough last night to create a thin layer of frost on the interior of the windshield. I forced myself out of bed before dawn, and headed outdoors at the coldest time of day. (Well, I did wait until after sunrise to help facilitate the photo essay.) It was about +8° F = -13° C, which was technically out of the operating range of the battery pack (-10° to 40° C). So I packed it in an insulated picnic basket, which was just large enough to conveniently also carry the little handheld "desktop space heater":

I put the picnic basket on the passenger seat:

From which, the 6-foot cord on the "desktop space heater" could easily reach the whole windshield:

It took me a while to get the hang of it. It really only worked if I held the "space heater" right up against the glass. And, in less than 10 minutes, I had cleared a safe visibility patch:

The next time I have the need to defrost the windshield interior - quite possibly the day after tomorrow - I will also start up the car and use the car's defroster, in tandem with my elaborate self-devised scheme.

 

I'd like to change the title of this thread to include "Interior Windshield Frost" as well as "Frozen Power Button", but, unfortunately, I can't find a way to do that.

 

The missing piece is an ice scraper that is properly curved (convex) for the interior side of the windshield.

This looks interesting:

Lookwoild Car Windshield Ice Scraper Tool Cone Shaped Outdoor Round Funnel Remover Snow - Walmart.com

 

That's because I used the word "moisture" instead of "humidity". This was in my initial post.

However, I think my initial theory - that the moisture came from my not-quite-cleaned-off skis - is probably not correct, or, at least, is insufficient.

I think the real problem is in - and underneath - the floormats.

 

Unfortunately - and this came up with the previous suggestion for using a hair dryer for thawing purposes - I don't have access to AC power: neither a long enough extension cord (to my 2nd floor apartment) nor (update as of the day before yesterday) a battery pack capable of more than 330 watts.