Fast door heater for a frozen auto door

hello-

I have a 99 Ranger pickup which would otherwise be completely
irrelevant to this ng, but something I battle each winter in Wisconsin
is that the driver's side door tends to freeze shut. I can usually get
the passenger side door open and crawl across but it's a bit of a
hassle, esp. since it is a manual transmission.

I've gone all over the door looking for water leaks but can't find any.
It's freezing in a couple of small spots where the rubber stoppers
contact the door, and it must be condensation or the act of opening the
door that gets it just a little wet when I open it. Not a lot of ice,
but just enough to make me worry about someday pulling the doorhandle
off trying to open it.

So i came up with some lame-brained idea of running a small length of
wiring in the door sill with some small, localized "heat sources" in
the areas where it freezes. A hall-effects sensor (or even magnetic
reed switch) in the rear window can be used to turn the heat on if I
put a magnet (small rare-earth type, fastened to my keychain) up to it
on the outside. I can power the whole thing with the 12V accessory
jack in the dash. In theory it sounds like it'd work....

However, what should I use for the heat sources? A small bit of
nichrome wire? If Nichrome, where do I get it (old cigarette lighters
or toasters from the junk yard?) and what should I wrap it with?
Should I use tiny light bulbs (there's room for the 12V grain-of-wheat
and pea-sized HO Railroad bulbs)?

Any other suggestions/improvements would be great, even if you don't
think it will work or think this is a bad idea.

Thanks for any and all!

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Fast door heater for a frozen auto door
    ... is that the driver's side door tends to freeze shut. ... A hall-effects sensor (or even magnetic reed switch) in the rear window can be used to turn the heat on if I put a magnet up to it on the outside. ... what should I use for the heat sources? ...
    (sci.electronics.basics)
  • Re: Fast door heater for a frozen auto door
    ... >is that the driver's side door tends to freeze shut. ... what should I use for the heat sources? ... >Should I use tiny light bulbs (there's room for the 12V grain-of-wheat ...
    (sci.electronics.basics)
  • Re: OT Fahrenheit
    ... The lower temperature may to deal with all the mobile heat sources ... all I need to do is close the door and the room heats up ...
    (rec.food.cooking)
  • Re: OT: Exploding pens
    ... Some dips in the dorm filled an envelope with shaving cream, stuck the open end under our door and stomped on the rest of it. ... It turned out to be some guys on the other end of our floor. ... I flipped off the lights, and while the bulbs were cooling, we spread out, smearing the NI3 on the back of the cutout where you pull drawers open, on the back of doorknobs, on the back of closet sliding doors, light switches, anything we could think of. ... Then, I smeared some on the light bulbs, and we left. ...
    (rec.crafts.metalworking)
  • WTB: Coin Door parts
    ... The inside coin mechs mounting plate for an early WPC or Data East coin ... This is the stuff that holds the light bulbs, coind switch, and ... coin mechs to the door. ...
    (rec.games.pinball)