Wiper Blade Frustration

[Dutch Star Don]

Ever since new, my coach has never made a clean swipe of the windshield. Living in California, we've only had to use the wipers on two occasions in 3.5 years, so it has never been a big issue. However, I would like them to work correctly.

Mine lay horizontal with the pivoting ends at the left and right outer edge of the windshield. In the photo below, the green area does not wipe cleanly. It doesn't chatter, just won't give a clean wipe.

Here's what I've done to date.....I replaced both 36" wipers with new blades and got the same result. It should be noted that the passenger side with the 36" blades always wiped cleanly. I found that the passenger "blade" was perpendicular to the glass and the driver's side was at a slight angle. I bent the arm to make the driver's side perpendicular, no help. My dealers' service department recommended that I put more of a bend in the arm, adding some pressure to the wiper blade. That made no difference.

I never cared for the fragility of the wiper arms with the 36" blades and changed them two months ago to 32". They swipe a path that's higher than my view out the windshield, so they work well in that aspect. However, I'm still getting a swipe that misses the lower corners, now on both sides.

The wiper arms have large springs that hold the arm against the glass. I guess they could be weak, but this has been an issue since new.

If someone has had the same issue on their Newmar with the same wiper setup, and found a fix, I'm all ears. My next step will be to add some sort of airfoil or wing to the blades to force them against the windshield while moving.

[Ray,IN]

Are your arms pantograph type like a bus or straight arms like pickups? Your pictures show it has a straight automotive arm.
Depending on the amount of curve around the front cap and glass, they might be losing spring tension against that inside portion of glass.
Can you use a fish scale to measure the tension at inside sweep and outside sweep at the attachment point of wiper blade? Attach the scale, then pull until the blade begins to move.


I also found this: https://vehiclefreak.com/how-to-adju...park-position/

[Dutch Star Don]

They're the straight arm type like a truck. The fishing scale may be something to try against another coach and see if my springs are weak.

[Mr. T]

I've had the same issue. If I'm sitting for a while, I do put covers on and then wipe them down with rubber care and that helps a bit.

Thinking more about this, I typically wash the windscreen and cap when I arrive at an RV park. We're getting ready to leave AZ and I'll pick up some Rain-x and start applying it.
We'll see how it goes..

[sramer]

I don't recall if the wipe area was the same but the wipers are poor at best. I tried the RainX and I am not sure what happened but it made a mess and I took it off.

What I did do that made a huge difference was use RejeX on the windshield. Most of the time I don't have to use the wipers in the rain because the water just beads off but when I do use the wipers they do a much better job.

It's a called a surface sealant and it is really slick. It's very easy to apply and I use is on the entire coach, and most of the time I just pressure wash the coach with DI water and it comes clean.

Unfortunately for you Don the back of the bottle says is can't be sold in California, but here is the Amazon link. https://a.co/d/iJyr3EW

[jaydee325]

I'm not real happy with the wipers on my Ventana either. I checked Newgle and found that your DS and my Ventana have the same wipers.

The wipers are supplied by Wiper Technologies which is part of Global Products. The website proved a phone number and I think I'm going to call and see if they have any insights. My guess is they will just say replace blades. You never know though.

833-Wipers1

[Dutch Star Don]

Okay.....I gave Global Industries a try today. Very nice people and transferred me to an engineer. After speaking, he pretty much said, that's just how they are. He said if he saw them in person, he might be able to spot something, but not much you can do with them.

[jaydee325]

I'm not surprised.

Were your previous coaches any better? I seem to remember my first and only other coach (1995 Damon Intruder) didn't have very good wipers either. I guess it's too hard to come up with good wipers over 3 decades!!!

[TWINCAMSAM]

I have been told by a truck mechanic that the worse thing we can do to our whippers is to left them out to the full extended position. Apparently the springs weaken easily. He maintains a fleet of truck for the local power company. I lift mine all the time. I have reduced my blade size to 32” hoping there will be less drag and better performance. My issue is getting whippers mounted correctly on the splined shafts. The passenger is correct but the driver is too high to the point that it hits the windshield lacing on the side. They can’t be removed and repositioned but a few times before they won’t hold.

[StaRVGazer]

Its as if the plane of the windshield isn't flat at the bottom relative to the top while the wipers are swinging on a flat plane without enough flexibility or force to compensate for the drop off.

I wonder if you couldn't shim the wiper mounts to tilt the plane of the wiper slightly inward at the 2 o'clock (left side) and 10 o'clock (right side) positions to close the gap.

A few years ago I started storing my coach with wipers resting in the slit of a length of 3/4" closed-cell foam pipe insulation....basically supporting blade bracket and keeping he weight off the rubber blade. That seemed to extend their performance. Just don't forget to remove the insulation when you hit the road otherwise, when you turn the wipers on in a rainstorm it won't be pretty.

Paul

[jimjenturner]

If it is a single arm wiper you might want to check out a added spring giving wiper arm more down force. Check out a Dorman part https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-926-767

[Mighty_J]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

They're the straight arm type like a truck. The fishing scale may be something to try against another coach and see if my springs are weak.

From what I’ve been reading, you should be looking for about 1 ounce for each inch of wiper. Too much and you’ll get misses at the ends, too little and you’ll get misses in the centre.

Good luck!

[Dutch Star Don]

Originally Posted by TWINCAMSAM

I have been told by a truck mechanic that the worse thing we can do to our whippers is to left them out to the full extended position. Apparently the springs weaken easily. He maintains a fleet of truck for the local power company. I lift mine all the time. I have reduced my blade size to 32” hoping there will be less drag and better performance. My issue is getting whippers mounted correctly on the splined shafts. The passenger is correct but the driver is too high to the point that it hits the windshield lacing on the side. They can’t be removed and repositioned but a few times before they won’t hold.

Your driver's side is easy to adjust. Under the cowl, there is a turnbuckle adjustment, loosen the nuts and twist. The passenger side has a bow in it to go around the AC unit and has to have one arm end removed to adjust.

[jaydee325]

I went ahead and purchased some new blades from Wiper Technologies. They are different from the take-offs in that the metal frame is ventilated while the take-offs are solid. That might help aerodynamically and prevent some "sailing" of the wipers. They were slightly taller (window to mounting bolt) and this does provide a little more arm pressure on the window.

Before I mounted the new blades, I gave the windshield a deep cleaning using an old auto detailers trick and used glass cleaner with 000 steel wool. I'm happy to report that in the rain we encountered on our current trip, we noted much improved performance.