Heated windscreen visibility problem (light refracted by the heating element)

[mark922]

Hi,
I've just bought a brand new QQ with heated windscreen. During the day I can see the wires through the windscreen, this is annoying but I can live with it.
The real problem shows up during the night. The lights form the oncoming vehicles and the brake lights from the vehicles in front of me create a refraction pattern in the windscreen wire mesh (the headlights and the brake lights appears as stars, as crosses of light all over the screen) - this is very annoying and also dangerous. The light hits the heating wires and spreads all over the windscreen obstructing visibility.

In my opinion is 100 times better to manually clean the windscreen two or three times a year when it's cold and the rest 363 days drive with a crystal clear windscreen than to have heated windscreen and drive all year with that annoying wire mesh in front of my eyes.

Can you please confirm if you encounter the same problem and how can this be fixed?

[Noddy1875]

Yes you can see the wires and yes, they do seem to refract the light especially at night.

Only solution, get a non heated windscreen fitted.

[mark922]

Is my windscreen defective from the factory or all heated windscreen are the same?
Driving during the night is difficult and causes tiredness . I can't believe that everybody drives in the same conditions all year round just to have the windscreen defrosted two or three times a year. In my opinion, this is not an upgrade but a bad thing, a downgrade. The old car had just a regular screen, and driving was so pleasant. I miss it.

I found a picture on the internet that presents the optical distortion. Please look at the white light in the upper centre of the image.
In the image the light is only diagonally refracted, but in my case it refracts as an X pattern and not only one light, but almost all the lights, including the brake lights. The wire mesh also becomes visible at night.

[Pandjh]

I think the issue is more that you 'noticed it' and now cannot stop seeing it.

I haven't noticed it and as such it's never caused me a problem.

[DaveBerlin]

Mark, we have had a Tekna QQ J11A (5 years) & now have a Tekna + QQ J11B and I must admit I have really never noticed this Screen effect it that it impairs my vision (I could be blind ).
After having a Webasto Heating System Installed in our Juke and then transferred to the QQ the best and simplest option was the Heated Screen. If you live in colder countries (Berlin can or used to be very cold for a Brit) this Screen is a Big Bonus with Snow & Ice and it functions very quickly.
Have you questioned your Dealer on this problem as it “could” be Faulty or a Guarantee issue, you never know as I have seen very few comments on this problem, might be worth a try. To get a New Std Screen Installed would be a Major Cost Factor so you might unfortunately have to live with it. I would think that this Screen is a Nissan Std World Wide but from possibly various Manufacturers - Best of Luck on your Problem

I have attached a write up I found which really covers my point :

“We’ve all been there. The coffee’s gone cold, you’re running late for work, and you step out of the front door to discover your car is looking like an extra from Frozen. The cold might not bother Queen Elsa, but right now, a frozen windscreen is the last thing you need. The de-icer is never where you left it, the ice scraper has gone walkabout, a credit card isn’t a good substitute for the scraper, and driving away with a frozen screen is both dangerous and illegal. What you need is a heated windscreen. You don’t even need the temperatures to drop below zero to benefit from a heated windscreen. In just a few seconds, the ultra-thin filaments inside the glass heat up to de-mist, de-fog and de-ice the windscreen and defrost the wipers. Once you’ve owned a car with a heated windscreen, you’ll wonder how you ever coped without one.”

[MikeGC]

I too have noticed this but don't find it distracting.
It might (or might not) be that I've been wearing spectacles for 50+ years - there's always something in my eye line
The heated front screen (on the odd occasion I need it) is brilliant, I've had a heated screen on both QQ I've owned and can't imagine not having one in the next car.

[Geordieman]

It has only bothered me when driving into full sunshine.

[calnorth]

For what its worth some might like to know that a smartphone hoping to detect GPS signals on the dash board ...won't much, thus disrupting its Nav App. The heater elements make a fairly effective Faraday screen.

[johnels79]

I do find that if you concentrate on the lines it certainly takes it worse. Im my case I wear reading glasses and find it is much worse if I forget to take them off and try and look out of the windscreen, the magnification is outstanding )))
Honestly though, I have noticed a change since my 2015 Qashqai, the lines do appear to be more problematic in sunlight or night. I thought it was just be, but perhaps they have changed something in the glass.

[Deleted User 10757]

Same with Ford's too - you will get used to it