Now the weather has turned  the old door mirrors are covered in  water spray etc  .  But the heated mirrors  only operate at a certain temp drop.  Is there a way to have them come on when I want ? 

 

I leave my mirror heating on all the time. From my experience (over 15 years of VAG cars) the heater is a positive temperature sensitive (ptc) plastic. On the coldest days the glass gets very warm and quickly clears any ice. In the summer the heater assumes high resistance and does nothing.

 

I find that it clears water droplets within a few minutes in typical wet weather days in Autumn and Spring.

 

Try leaving yours on. and also check the temperature of the glass a few minutes after switching on the ignition to check it is actually working.

They use a plain resistance without a Positive Temperature Coefficient thermistor, at least there is not one within the mirror assembly.

 

It takes a lot more time & heat to evaporate water droplets than it does to defrost or demist, when I use mine for that on the autoroutes it can take 30 minutes plus and that is with assistance from the wind drying.

3 hours ago, J.R. said:

They use a plain resistance without a Positive Temperature Coefficient thermistor, at least there is not one within the mirror assembly.

 

It takes a lot more time & heat to evaporate water droplets than it does to defrost or demist, when I use mine for that on the autoroutes it can take 30 minutes plus and that is with assistance from the wind drying.

Drive faster! hahaha, just joking 🙂

5 hours ago, J.R. said:

They use a plain resistance without a Positive Temperature Coefficient thermistor, at least there is not one within the mirror assembly.

 

It takes a lot more time & heat to evaporate water droplets than it does to defrost or demist, when I use mine for that on the autoroutes it can take 30 minutes plus and that is with assistance from the wind drying.

ok mate whats that in english  and  can it be by passed  so i can control the mirrors on and off  when i want ?

I don't believe we have met so I do not consider myself your mate.

 

I was correcting the assertion in the preceeding posting that in the summer the system does nothing and also giving the correct terminology for "positive temperature sensitive" (sic)

 

To the best of my knowledge you can use the heating function whenever you desire but with limited power it will defrost or demist quicker than it will evaporate water droplets, no different to your heater on the screen defrost setting.

3 hours ago, scoutabout1 said:

ok mate whats that in english  and  can it be by passed  so i can control the mirrors on and off  when i want ?

What @J.R. wrote was English. What you are doing is showing a lack of basic knowledge of physics, and indeed manners!

On 08/12/2021 at 22:57, KenONeill said:

What @J.R. wrote was English. What you are doing is showing a lack of basic knowledge of physics, and indeed manners!

dont swing ya hand bag at me mate  you guys need to learn how to not be so up tight 

On 08/12/2021 at 12:00, pikpilot said:

I leave my mirror heating on all the time. From my experience (over 15 years of VAG cars) the heater is a positive temperature sensitive (ptc) plastic. On the coldest days the glass gets very warm and quickly clears any ice. In the summer the heater assumes high resistance and does nothing.

 

I find that it clears water droplets within a few minutes in typical wet weather days in Autumn and Spring.

 

Try leaving yours on. and also check the temperature of the glass a few minutes after switching on the ignition to check it is actually working.

ive only owned it about 6 weeks  and  i did  report  the mirrors were not working  when i went to view it ...   they did a lot of work  on it before i picked it up including fit 2 new  doors mirrors...im waiting for the weather to get a bit more frost into it  so i can really see if they are working properly  but  and like you i leave mine on all the time ...  Im comparing it to the mirrors on my 02 Audi A2  TDI ..  they heat up that fast  you can see the steam coming off them  in no time  at all