Can you use a battery fluid tester to test coolant?
- Thread starter Infomercial
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2022
- Messages
- 13
No completely different. You have to have two different ones, one for antifreeze, one for the battery.
they work on gravity, one will be weighted internally for sulfuric acid, the other for ethylene glycol
Some can.
www.robinair.com
Coolant and Battery Refractometer | Robinair
www.robinair.com
Yes a refractometer will work as long as the scales overlap. But this density tester? Even if it did how would you know the results since the labels are different?
He asks if are they the same except for the sticker, but the sticker is what tells you the result.
He asks if are they the same except for the sticker, but the sticker is what tells you the result.
How accurate are those old battery testers anyway? Isn't measuring specific gravity the same as checking voltage? A battery that shows 13 volts may still be junk if it can't put out much amps.
The specific gravity of the electrolyte is a direct indicator of the charge of the battery.
No what?
If the needle is in the middle you are good
I see. Well then you’re good to go.
Can‘t it be “fully charged” but incapable of putting out enough amps (due to sulfated/perforated plates)? No substitute for a load tester…
If the plates are "sulfated" then that sulfate isn't in the electrolyte any longer and it will show up as lower than normal specific gravity.