Fordfootforward Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 Hi guys, so after owning my focus mk2 for a few years it has always baffled me why the heated front and rear screen buttons seem to have the wrong icons on... (see photo) my rear screen is heated via horizontal wires within the screen and my front is heated by vertical wires within the screen... so why do my buttons contradict this? Is everyone else the same or have mine been jumbled up in the factory? I know it’s not the most thrilling of subjects but it’s always baffled me, no one else i ask seems interested about my poor old focus but you guys seem different 😉 any help would be great! Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comares2001 Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 They're correct thats why the screen one is a windscreen shape 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcaouolte Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 Have you also noticed that your ESP light comes on when you switch the ESP off and that the wording on your power outlet is upside down? 😉 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil21185 Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 Yeah, I can see the logic behind your thinking but that is 'correct'. If it makes you feel better you could swap the button caps over. Might make things fun for the next owner too! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordfootforward Posted November 5, 2019 Author Share Posted November 5, 2019 Thank you for all your replies, I can now sleep easy 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney871 Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 You can't swap the buttons around as the plugs on the back are a different shape and configuration.Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil21185 Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 But you can swap the button caps 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney871 Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 But you can swap the button caps [emoji846]True, [emoji848] you got me on that one. [emoji57]Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil21185 Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 Technically, the icon for the front heater might be a windscreen, but it's upside down too... The whole system is just screwy 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney871 Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 If you check online you'll see that all car manufacturers use the same designs for front & rear demister buttons.Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 I'm pretty sure the original rear demisters were small fan heaters blowing on the screen, hence the arrows from the bottom rather than elements in the screen itself. I might have just made that up though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comares2001 Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 Never heard that one. As far as I remember there were always elements from the beginning and before that in the 1960's you could buy a large self adhesive clear panel with an element in it that you wired in yourself .Got mine in Halfords. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incontro Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 Both of those buttons get pushed maybe two or three times during the whole year for me... Aside from melting ice, they serve very little purpose... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 50 minutes ago, Comares2001 said: Never heard that one. As far as I remember there were always elements from the beginning and before that in the 1960's you could buy a large self adhesive clear panel with an element in it that you wired in yourself .Got mine in Halfords. God, I remember those, after 6 months, the plastic turned yellow and you couldn't see through it LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pragmatix Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 3 hours ago, Phil21185 said: Technically, the icon for the front heater might be a windscreen, but it's upside down too... The whole system is just screwy 🙂 No its not it shows the sweep of the wipers. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordfootforward Posted November 6, 2019 Author Share Posted November 6, 2019 I get it, I really do... but the icon for the front screen could surely be the back screen, when it’s rained or snowed or my car is dirty and I look through my rear view window this is the view I see (because the sweep of the rear view wiper clears exactly that shape) and my front screen I see as being a big rectangle! Anyway that was my interpretation of this... many thanks to all who have posted, I appreciate your time 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 8 hours ago, Fordfootforward said: I get it, I really do... but the icon for the front screen could surely be the back screen, when it’s rained or snowed or my car is dirty and I look through my rear view window this is the view I see (because the sweep of the rear view wiper clears exactly that shape) and my front screen I see as being a big rectangle! Anyway that was my interpretation of this... many thanks to all who have posted, I appreciate your time 👍 I'm afraid you're fighting a losing argument. My first car, a 1977 Datsun 120Y had exactly the same 2 x icons on the switches. The front has always been a 'wiper sweep' logo, and the rear has always been a square. I'm pretty sure every car has adopted that standard (but would love to be shown wrong if incorrect). In the 'olden' days, rear screens never had wipers LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 13 hours ago, Comares2001 said: Never heard that one. As far as I remember there were always elements from the beginning and before that in the 1960's you could buy a large self adhesive clear panel with an element in it that you wired in yourself .Got mine in Halfords. It's definitely a thing in cabriolets where the soft screen means you can't use a heating element. Though it may not have been an 'old car' thing. 13 hours ago, Incontro said: Both of those buttons get pushed maybe two or three times during the whole year for me... Aside from melting ice, they serve very little purpose... Do you not breathe in the car then? I find the windscreen fogs over inside within a couple of minutes of driving on a cold, damp day! I do miss the heated screens of the Fords for that purpose. Though I agree ice alone doesn't occur often enough to justify a heated screen here at least. 9 hours ago, Fordfootforward said: I get it, I really do... but the icon for the front screen could surely be the back screen, when it’s rained or snowed or my car is dirty and I look through my rear view window this is the view I see (because the sweep of the rear view wiper clears exactly that shape) and my front screen I see as being a big rectangle! Anyway that was my interpretation of this... many thanks to all who have posted, I appreciate your time 👍 Lol, I do agree with you, I often forgot which was which too...more than once I was waiting for the front screen to clear before realising I'd pressed the wrong button... The other annoying thing on Fords is that you can't heat the mirrors on their own, only with the rear screen. Because I park facing North, my rear screen is usually clear...yet I had to waste electric on it to clear the folded mirrors which were fogged over with the front screen... I get why they did it, because the mirrors face the same way normally, but it was annoying. However in the Golf the mirrors are separate (heater is part of adjuster switch) and I forget to turn then off for days at a time because there's no warning light...can't win! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOG Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 First World problems! 🤣 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjt Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 1 hour ago, TomsFocus said: I do agree with you, I often forgot which was which too...more than once I was waiting for the front screen to clear before realising I'd pressed the wrong button Me too. The only way I realised which was which was because the timer switches off the front screen quite quickly. I can remember that in my father's car the front screen was demisted by a bakelite-cased heater with bare wires that attached to the glass with suction cups. That'll give you a clue to my age . . . 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 1 hour ago, mjt said: I can remember that in my father's car the front screen was demisted by a bakelite-cased heater with bare wires that attached to the glass with suction cups. That'll give you a clue to my age . . . What surprised me there is the suction cups...I thought they were a modern invention! Just Googled it and apparently they were patented in 1866... 😮 Were they still just as bad back then? I often find my suction towel holder on the floor... But that's considerably less dangerous than a bare wired heater... Looks like you can still buy them too...might be useful for anyone with a Studio spec model... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Classic-Car-Air-Flow-12v-Screen-De-Froster-British-made-Bakelite-/173891124248 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozz Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 Don't get me started on suction type towel holders... Grrr. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 40 minutes ago, mozz said: Don't get me started on suction type towel holders... Grrr. Finally, an area of expertise for me on this forum! Clean suction cup and smooth surface with some lighter fluid. Then the smallest amount of Vaseline around the edge of the suction cup, warm cup with a hair dryer, then press hard onto surface expelling air and creating a vacuum - it'll last for months! LOL 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incontro Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 3 hours ago, TomsFocus said: Do you not breathe in the car then? I find the windscreen fogs over inside within a couple of minutes of driving on a cold, damp day! I do miss the heated screens of the Fords for that purpose. Though I agree ice alone doesn't occur often enough to justify a heated screen here at least. No, I don't I'm secretly a robot (a millenial one though, it matters)... I just plug myself into the 12V accessory socket in my car to charge myself on long trips 😉 But in all seriousness that's what the AC is for... It clears fogged up windows much quicker, and the heated screens don't even cover the side windows. The one single use I had for the heated screen button apart from ice: my old Focus used to seem to attract mist/tiny rain droplets very easily on it's side mirrors (they were huge!), but pressing the heated rear screen button would clear them up very quickly (within 2-3 minutes), and almost dry the mirror completely. Seemed very powerful! Yet to try the heated mirrors on my Mondeo, I was searching for a dedicated button the other day, but then realised it's probably the same as the heated rear windscreen button! Doh... Probably confusing to lots of people, since there is no mirror icon included on the button like some other car manufacturers do! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 5 minutes ago, Incontro said: No, I don't I'm secretly a robot (a millenial one though, it matters)... I just plug myself into the 12V accessory socket in my car to charge myself on long trips 😉 But in all seriousness that's what the AC is for... It clears fogged up windows much quicker, and the heated screens don't even cover the side windows. The one single use I had for the heated screen button apart from ice: my old Focus used to seem to attract mist/tiny rain droplets very easily on it's side mirrors (they were huge!), but pressing the heated rear screen button would clear them up very quickly (within 2-3 minutes), and almost dry the mirror completely. Seemed very powerful! Yet to try the heated mirrors on my Mondeo, I was searching for a dedicated button the other day, but then realised it's probably the same as the heated rear windscreen button! Doh... Probably confusing to lots of people, since there is no mirror icon included on the button like some other car manufacturers do! Crikey, I would've thought your mpg was bad enough without switching on the AC after a cold start! :tongue:. Seriously though, the AC doesn't come on under a certain temp (possibly 5c?) and I always found it was quicker to use the heated screen...literally seconds would remove fog that only appeared once I'd started driving. The AC takes a minute or two to work. Ain't nobody got time for that! (Millennial joke there ) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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