Heated side mirror: ice will not interfere with your view

Car external rear-view mirrors, according to the current standard GOST R 41.46-99 (UNECE Rules No. 46), during daylight hours must have a reflectivity of at least 40% (that is, reflect at least 40% of the light flux incident on them). However, in winter, under the influence of low temperatures and adverse weather conditions, mirrors can freeze and almost completely lose their reflective ability. This interferes with the driver, reduces the safety of the car and the comfort of driving it.

The problem can be solved using a simple remedy - electric heating built into the mirror. Heating defrosts the mirror element and, regardless of the ambient temperature, ensures the required level of its reflection coefficient. The use of heated side mirrors increases the comfort, convenience and safety of the vehicle, and this solution does not cost much.

Side mirror KAMAZ, MAZ main spherical with heating 24V 320x180 JSC MAZ-BELOG

Side mirror KAMAZ, PAZ, GAZ, URAL wide-angle spherical. without heating (additional) 212x161 TIMER

Side mirror KAMAZ, MAZ wide-angle spherical without heating (additional) 250x180 JSC MAZ-BELOG

Main spherical side mirror without heating 180x180mm ALL-round VIEW

Side mirror KAMAZ, PAZ, GAZ main spherical without heating 24V 343x163 with TIMER mount

Side mirror HYUNDAI HD65,72,78 heated OE

Side mirror KAMAZ,MAZ,K-700,702,744 main spherical without heating 443x215 JSC MAZ-BELOG

Side mirror VAZ-2110,2170 set electric drive, heated with u/p black AUTO COMPONENT

Side mirror KAMAZ, PAZ, GAZ main spherical heated 24V 343x163 with TIMER mount

Side mirror KAMAZ, MAZ main spherical without heating 320x180 OJSC MAZ-BELOG

We install heated mirrors. Advantages of using this method

During cold seasons and winter, side mirrors are often covered with ice and condensation.
To maintain good visibility, the driver has to constantly wipe them. Today, some car manufacturers install heated mirrors that include heating elements with an automatic defrost function. This pleasure is much more expensive than installing standard components. Therefore, in order to save your own finances, you can install heated mirrors yourself.

Heaters are not only installed by trained mechanics. Car enthusiasts can also cope with the task if they carefully study the information and follow the instructions.

Installation information.

Before you change the side reflectors, it is worth learning about the methods that you can use.

You can purchase ready-made parts that have a heating function, but you can also create reflectors with your own hands. Since the price of ready-made spare parts may hit your pocket a little. You can choose to purchase spare parts separately and then assemble them into a finished one-piece part. But the cheapest way, of course, is to assemble the tuning device yourself. Here the price will be reduced to a minimum, and work efficiency, on the contrary, will be at its best. Moreover, by carrying out all the installation work yourself, you will be able to optimize the relay and all operating principles as much as possible. You can also consider installing reflectors from a VAZ 2110 to a VAZ 2114, since the standard mounts in this model are ideally suited and positioned for such an operation. In addition, they will be ideally installed on the VAZ 2109.

What you need

To make a heater you only need:

• Nichrome wire;
• Double-sided and regular tape;
• Wires;
• Sealant;
• Soldering iron;
• Multimeter;

Having all this, you can start equipping the mirrors with heating. But first, let's deal with nichrome wire.

A wire with a cross section of 0.4-05 mm and a length of 1-1.3 m is suitable for the heater. For normal functioning of the heating system, the resistance of the piece of wire must be 12 Ohms. This is exactly what a multimeter is for. That is, we took a section of 1.5 meters and measured the resistance. If it exceeds the specified value, cut off 10 cm and measure again. Thus, we select the desired segment.

Exterior mirrors

Model selection

News

• [17.01.2019]
  ATTENTION! From January 1, 2022, due to an increase in the VAT rate, prices for products of NPK Polytech have been changed.
• [10.01.2019]
  Sale of interior and additional mirrors produced by 3R!
• [05.06.2017]
  Since May 2022, the products of NPK Polytech have been labeled with EAN-13 barcodes.

Instructions for installing mirrors: Here you can download the passport and instructions for installing mirrors of NPK "Polytech".

Installation of heated mirrors.

Here are general recommendations for installing heated mirrors that apply to all car models. Detailed installation information is contained in the operating instructions for each specific mirror (see above).

First, you need to turn off the voltage of the vehicle's on-board network (remove the battery terminals). Then, remove the existing mirrors and install heated ones instead, after passing the heating wires inside the door. For ease of operation, you should first remove the inner door trim. Next, the wires are led out of the door under the dashboard of the car. It’s good if the car already has electrical wires entering the door - the heating wires can be routed through it. If there is no input, then you will have to drill two holes: in the body pillar and at the end of the door and lay the wires through them.

To avoid accidental damage to the wires when closing the door, it is useful to install protective rubber bushings from the VAZ-2106 or Oka into the holes. Any other dense rubber bushing will do, as long as it can be securely fastened to the body pillar.

One of the wires is connected to the ground of the car in any convenient place. It is not recommended to connect to ground inside the door, since electrical contact in door hinges and other moving connections is not always reliable. The other wire connects to the power supply. It can be connected in parallel to the heated rear window or through a separate switch. The first method is the simplest. The connection is made by connecting the heated mirror wire to the output wire of the rear window heated relay.

Special clamps that have recently appeared on the market allow you to connect wires without preliminary stripping and subsequent insulation. As a result, the entire connection operation takes a few seconds. However, not all domestic cars are equipped with a heated rear window. In addition, in some cases, for example, when driving in fog, the mirrors may fog up, although the rear window remains clear. Therefore, connecting via a switch is more convenient and versatile. Standard switches from any car model will do. Just make sure that the current limit value through the switch (usually indicated on its body) is greater than the current consumed by the heating system. If the passport for heated mirrors only indicates the power of the heating system, then the amount of current consumed can be easily determined by dividing the power by the voltage of the on-board network. Connecting the heated mirror system with electric drive is carried out in the same way.

The bathroom belongs to the category of wet rooms. High humidity causes some discomfort, not to mention the formation of fungus. When planning renovation work in the bathroom, it is necessary to consider the following points:

1. Ventilation (natural or forced) 2. Room heating (warm floor; heated towel rail; radiator)

An indispensable attribute of the bathroom is a mirror, the surface of which is susceptible to fogging.

There are several ways to solve the problem of mirror fogging.

1. Wipe the surface of the mirror with your hand 2. Before taking a bath or shower, rub various gels (liquid soap, shampoo, special spray) into the surface of the mirror 3. You can install a car wiper on the mirror 4. You can install a fan with a humidity sensor 5. You can organize heating of the mirror using a special heating film.

Methods for connecting the heating film:

1. Combine with turning on the lighting above the mirror. 2. Install a separate switch for heating the mirror. 3. You can organize automatic activation of the mirror heating when the humidity in the room exceeds a preset value. For this, a signal from a fan with a humidity sensor is used (the fan circuitry requires modification)

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Checking the presence of standard heating

The presence of a heated rear view mirror cannot always be detected at first glance. The fact is that there is often no separate button to turn it on, and many car owners wonder how the heated exterior mirrors are turned on. The function is activated automatically when the rear window heating is turned on. To check if the mirror heater is present:

1. Start the engine;
2. Turn on the rear window heating;
3. Spray the mirrors with water or blow on them;
4. Touch it with your hand.

When the heating is running, the water drops dry within 1-2 minutes; when you breathe, the mirror does not fog up, and it is warm to the touch. In the cold season, you can verify the presence of heating by simply observing how long it takes for the mirror to thaw after being parked overnight. If a heating element is located underneath, the defrosting process takes only a few minutes.

Article on the topic: Car tuning: vinyl stickers

Choosing mirrors

We decided to purchase and install heated mirrors ourselves, but the choice is not an easy one, since today a huge number of different models are sold on the markets, which differ in appearance, price and technical characteristics. To help with the choice, we will not describe or list unnecessary details, but rather consider the points that will be important to pay attention to when purchasing.

Visual characteristics

An important characteristic is the reflection coefficient, in other words, reflectivity:

• You can see this value for your car in its passport
• According to the standard, the reflectance coefficient (reflectivity) for a car mirror must be more than 40 percent
• Otherwise, you run a high risk of not seeing what’s going on behind your car and getting into an accident.

The second equally important characteristic is the correctness of the transfer (without distortion) of the shape of objects:

• It is difficult to evaluate this characteristic
• All you have to do is look at your reflection in the sample being tested.
• And if your reflection resembles the reflections in the funhouse mirrors, then you should not purchase such a product

In addition, you should pay attention to the presence of an anti-reflective coating on the mirror element:

• Only high-quality “tinting” will protect your eyes from being blinded by reflected light.
• However, it is worth considering the fact that excessive darkening further reduces reflectivity and can lead to incorrect color rendering

Mechanical characteristics

When purchasing heated side mirrors, you need to pay close attention to the position adjustment present, as well as on what principle it is implemented:

• For example, if you take standard mirrors from a VAZ 2110, they have a lever adjustment mechanism, which has a number of disadvantages
• Therefore, a cable mechanism is more preferable, since it is smoother and has better adjustment accuracy compared to a lever mechanism.
• However, the ultimate dream of every car owner, without any doubt, is electrically controlled elements
• In this case, a joystick is located inside the car, with which you can easily set the location of the side mirrors as you prefer.

It is worth recalling a point that applies not only to the choice of mirrors. Rather, this is a general recommendation that everyone needs to remember when purchasing any spare part:

• Immediately pay attention to the quality of the mirror element, carefully inspect all the details of the case
• The parts must have cracks, scratches, chips, or other mechanical damage
• In addition, you should pay attention to the complete set and branded packaging.
• Any self-respecting manufacturer supplies its products exclusively in branded packaging, which usually indicates the address and telephone number, and also contains detailed information about the model
• Therefore, feel free to open the box to make sure there are instructions inside in your native Russian language, as well as an installation diagram
• In addition, an important factor is the presence in this kit of the necessary fasteners, a set of wires and seals
• This will allow you, if you install it yourself, to reduce additional costs, and also significantly reduce the time it takes to complete the work.

Heating efficiency

Another parameter that interests us, for the sake of which all the actions were done:

• Because ultimately you need a mirror that will be able to work effectively under adverse conditions
• We need to evaluate the heating rate and quality of the heating element and how quickly moisture, snow and icing will evaporate from the surface
• You won’t be able to evaluate such phenomena on your own without special sensors and a computer program, so all you have to do is connect and test in real conditions, observe visually and record the time

This concludes, additionally watch the video on this topic, good luck in installing the heating.

Model "Rostov"

For those who want to “round out” the angular shapes of the “four” body, there is a variety of “Rostov” mirrors with mechanical adjustment.
The main difference from stock is the rounded shape of the body and glossy plastic. Otherwise, “Rostov” is not equipped with options, so the price of these mirrors is small - about 2,500 rubles. The overview of the Rostov side mirrors is better than the factory indicators, so this option can be safely considered for purchase. The fastening of the structure does not differ from the factory ones, so it can be built in without any problems.

Kit for connecting heating and electrically adjustable mirrors on VAZ 2110, 2111, 2112.

The kit is designed to connect heating and electrical adjustment to the side mirrors of cars of the tenth family.

Equipment:

• 1 control unit, 1 wiring harness with chips, 2 corners.

Applicability:

• VAZ 2110;
• VAZ 2111;
• VAZ 2112.

It's easy to place an order on our website. Simply add the selected items to your cart, then go to the Cart page, check that the items you ordered are correct, and click the “Checkout” or “Quick Order” button.

The “Quick Order” function allows the buyer not to go through the entire ordering procedure on their own. You fill out the form, and after a short time the store manager will call you back. He will clarify all the conditions of the order, answer questions regarding the quality of the product and its features. It will also tell you about payment and delivery options.

Based on the results of the call, the user either, having received clarifications, places an order independently, completing it with the necessary items, or agrees to the order in the form in which it is now. Receives confirmation by email or mobile phone and waits for delivery.

Placing an order in standard mode

If you are confident in your choice, you can place your order yourself by filling out the entire form step by step.

Filling out the address

Select the name of your region and locality from the list. If you did not find your locality in the list, select “Other location” and enter the name of your locality in the “City” column. Enter the correct index.

The warranty period is 1 year.

Option 1: Russian Post (cash on delivery)

Delivery is carried out by Russian Post in accordance with Post tariffs. Payment is made by the recipient upon receipt of the order. The calculation will be made manually and announced when the manager contacts you.

Delivery cost: 0 RUR

Option 2: Russian Post (prepaid)

Single price for all shipments to all corners of Russia.

Delivery cost: 300 rub.

Option 3: SDEK (transport company)

Delivery is not free. Cost calculation is carried out in each specific case and depends on the distance.

Delivery cost: 0 RUR

Option 4: Pickup

Pickup is possible on weekdays from 9 to 18 at the address Sheinkmana, 7 or on weekends, Latviyskaya, 54. After placing your order, the manager will contact you and specify the time and place of pickup.

Delivery cost: 0 RUR

Option 5: International delivery by mail

For CIS countries and abroad.

Delivery cost: 500 rub.

Option 6: Transport company

Delivery is carried out by TK in accordance with TK tariffs. Payment for delivery is made by the recipient upon receipt of the order. You can choose which shipping company is more convenient for you to receive the cargo, or we will independently select the most convenient option for you. Packing and delivery to TK is free.

How to connect

Usually only two wires come out of the heater element; they can be connected without observing polarity; the connection will always be parallel and polarity does not matter. Since you can and should turn on the heated mirrors together with the rear window heater, you can connect directly to this system. That is, when you turn on the heated rear window, the heated mirrors will also turn on, the relay and button for heated mirrors are not needed in this case.

If you plan to connect separately from the heated rear window, then you need to stock up on a power button, a relay and a 10 A remote fuse (if you use a 10-amp power button, you can do without a relay, since you can connect heated mirrors directly, due to low power consumption).

If you still need to make heated mirrors from scrap materials, then, as mentioned above, the easiest way to do this is from a car light bulb. This method is universal and suitable for absolutely all cars.

First of all, the mirror body itself requires a little modification; it needs to create a heat shield. This can be done using foil by simply gluing the inside of the case. Then place and secure there the socket with the car light bulb, making sure that the lamp does not touch the mirror itself or the body (the lamp heats up quite strongly, and if touched, it can damage the mirror element or melt the mirror body).

You can also make a heated mirror on a car, with two operating modes, a powerful mode aimed at quickly defrosting the mirror and a weak one to protect against fogging. This can be achieved by installing, for example, a two-contact lamp (215). Into the mirror housing, and connecting it accordingly. In this case, 21 Watt will work for rapid defrosting, and 5 Watt will be enough to protect against fogging.

Design of the mirror heating system

Before you begin installation, you need to understand the system design. You can install ready-made heated mirrors on your car. Then it is enough to connect new elements. Or you can do the tuning yourself. The second method is more labor-intensive and takes more time, but is the most attractive in price.

Heating scheme:

• button - usually located on the control panel or on the door on the driver's side, providing starting;
• electrical wiring - required for transmitting current, power;
• heating element - represented by film models, heaters based on wire or printed conductors.
• fuse – required for efficient power supply;

The system is connected to the on-board network via a separate button or connected to the heated rear window. When assembled correctly, the structure ensures rapid heating of the mirrors and removal of moisture from their surface when required.

Problem and solution

Winter is coming. And here, unfortunately, side rearview mirrors cannot always help the car owner. Winter is a particularly difficult time of year for motorists. We will not now list all possible technical problems, starting with starting the engine, but will touch only on purely mechanical problems:

• Let’s just remember how in the morning, leaving the entrance and looking around at the cars parked nearby, it’s not always possible to immediately understand which one is yours
• The reason for the conspiracy is quite banal - overnight snowfall
• So, your first task arises to get a shovel or other improvised means and dig out your iron horse
• After this, we move on to cleaning the body of the VAZ, then the windows of your car
• Problem arises: what to do with the rearview mirrors?
• Ice and snow did not ignore them

However, manual cleaning is extremely problematic due to:

• Firstly, with the design of mirrors, it turns out that their reflective element is recessed into the body, which makes it difficult to use mechanical cleaning means, such as a brush or scraper
• Secondly, any attempt to manually clean the reflective surface will ruin the settings, which will render the side mirrors useless
• Third, if you use too much force, you may scratch or even break them.
• On the VAZ 2112, heated mirror elements can completely solve such problems

Work principles

The heating of the side reflectors is based on any electric heater (low-temperature, of course), electrical wiring, and a button (on the dashboard) to control:

• The electrical wiring for heated mirrors is connected to the car's on-board network at twelve volts.
• Closing the contacts with the power button connects the mirror heating (its heating element) to the network; the electric current passing through the heating element heats up the surface of the mirror, the heated surface begins to melt the formed ice, in addition, the warm surface will stop fogging

Varieties

There are several options for organizing heated exterior rear-view mirrors, which are conventionally divided into electrically dependent and independent of the on-board power supply at 12 V or 24 V.

The implementation of heating depends on the specific material you will use.

The following varieties are distinguished:

• Film heaters. Very easy to use, easy to install and at the same time quite effective. An option for the lazy, if you will;
• Heating from light bulbs. Initially, all motorists who did not have standard heating, but wanted to get it, used light bulbs. Today the technology is outdated, but still relevant;
• Conductor elements. It uses a special board that has heating elements. There is nothing difficult to install, and the range is extensive;
• Wire. A special wire is used as heating. It can also be implemented if you follow some rules.

To provide some clarity, I propose to now consider each option separately.

Based on the information received, you can decide what suits you and which idea is better to abandon.

You can organize homemade heating on any mirror. It all depends on your wishes, skills and financial capabilities.

Judging by publications on Drive2, homemade heating systems are most often found:

• for VAZ 2110;
• Daewoo Nexia;
• Daewoo Lanos;
• VAZ classic;
• Lada Kalina;
• Renault Logan;
• on Gazelle trucks;
• VAZ 2109;
• Renault Sandero;
• Chevrolet Aveo, etc.

If you want something similar for yourself, I suggest you get acquainted with short excursions into the issues of creating heating using one method or another.

Using light bulbs

This is the oldest method among all existing ones. But there is absolutely nothing surprising about the fact that incandescent lamps are used for heating.

In fact, such light bulbs are heating devices. They spend about 90% of electricity on heat, and only 10% goes to light emissions. To create a heating system, it is best to take a pair of low-power 10-watt light bulbs, or 1 double-filament light bulb, which will allow each spiral to be connected separately. Usually their size fits perfectly into the mirror body. It is only important to place the lamp so that it does not touch the internal surfaces of the mirror and the body itself.

The process of installing the heater itself is quite labor-intensive. But many cope on their own.

If you are interested in the details of the process, it can be divided into several stages. Think carefully before using lamps. However, the method is outdated and there are a number of alternative solutions.

But I will still describe the process step by step. It looks something like this:

• the mirror housing is removed;
• the body is disassembled;
• the front wall is treated with heat-resistant material;
• a layer of foil is applied on top of the insulation to reflect heat;
• the light bulb is fixed with wires using a socket or clamps;
• everything is carefully isolated;
• connect to power;
• display button;
• assemble everything in reverse order;
• check functionality;
• start heating.

Usually there is a separate button to activate heating. When using 2 10-watt lamps, the mirror can warm up and get rid of ice in about 2-5 minutes.

But such lamps require a lot of energy and cannot be left on for a long time.

Printed circuit boards

This option is simpler and more effective than lamp heaters. They are not difficult to find on the market or order through Aliexpress.

In fact, here we are talking about 2 layers of polymer material, between which there are conductors made of nichrome or other material. Such products can be model-based, designed for mirrors of specific cars, or universal. If necessary, they are trimmed and adapted to any mirror.

The installation itself looks like this:

• the mirror housing is removed and disassembled;
• the inner side is degreased;
• then the board is glued with Moment type glue;
• wires are connected to the side terminals on the heater;
• they are soldered and insulated;
• the wires are led to the car wiring;
• a control button is displayed on the panel;
• To improve efficiency, it is worth treating the inside of the body with thermal insulation and foil.

It is better to take such products as a kit, as is the case with Defogger DC12.

With your permission, I will not consider installing wire heaters. It is based on tungsten filaments, which provide high temperatures and require an extremely careful approach to organizing heating. There are too many risks when trying to assemble it yourself.

Procedure

Now you can begin installing the heater. First, remove the holder with the mirror from the case. On most cars, it is enough to pry it with a screwdriver or something flat from below and pull it towards you.

Based on the characteristics of the holder, we choose the method of fastening the wire. If the inner surface of the holder is smooth (as in the photo), then stick double-sided tape on it.

Then we lay a piece of wire on this surface. This can be done arbitrarily, for example, in a zigzag or something else. The main thing is to place it so that the thread covers as much of the surface of the holder as possible. In this case, the wire should not intersect anywhere. Scotch tape will hold the nichrome thread well.

If the inner surface of the holder has any protrusions or fastening elements, then it will not be possible to stick the tape. In this case, a soldering iron will help to secure the wire. Everything is simple here - we apply a nichrome thread to the surface and press it with a heated soldering iron. The plastic will begin to melt and the wire will sink into it. Once cooled, the plastic will become hard and it will hold the thread

But here it is important not to overdo it with heating the plastic, so as not to “push” it to the mirror. It is enough just to “drown” the wire in it a little and that’s it.

In this way, we fasten the wire along the accessible surface of the holder without touching the fasteners.

When laying the wire, its ends should be placed towards the side of the holder that is closer to the door, and so that they do not touch each other. To these ends we solder terminals for connecting to the wiring or simply the ends of prepared wires. Then the resulting connections need to be insulated.

All that remains is to provide insulation. If the wire was secured with tape, then to insulate it you can simply stick several more layers of regular adhesive tape on top. This will provide thermal insulation and prevent the wire from peeling off and shorting.

As for the holder where the wire is secured with a soldering iron, you can simply fill the entire surface where the thread passes with sealant and wait until it dries. In this case, the fastening elements will not be affected, which will ensure ease of fastening, and the wire itself will be insulated.

Before installing the holder in place, we pull the wiring through the mirror body into the door, the wiring for powering the heaters. Only after this we assemble the mirror.