Penny for your thoughts..

[Mad_Hatter]

So I had a GC for Amazon to burn, I decided to give these two products a try. Have you used either? What are your thoughts? I used both of them already. The coolant strip reported the same freeze/boil point as my hydrometer and the pH was in the "good" range.

The copper test for the brake fluid showed I was at 10ppm and the moisture tester (conductivity?) said I was 1% or less. I decided to do a quick and dirty reference check on the moisture tester by taking some virgin DOT3 from an unopened bottle (it's open now but oh well) and added a few drops of water and it pegged the meter.

So...good buy or bad buy?

Test Strips

Moisture Tester

 

[Donald]

The coolant strips for my PSD tell 3 or 4 things about the coolant, not even sure one of them is freeze point. One tells you if you should add a container of the Ford coolant booster (not a snake oil).

The problem with the coolant test strips I have looked at in the past was they gave you 25 in a container and it expired in 2 years.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Originally Posted by Donald
The coolant strips for my PSD tell 3 or 4 things about the coolant, not even sure one of them is freeze point. One tells you if you should add a container of the Ford coolant booster (not a snake oil).

The problem with the coolant test strips I have looked at in the past was they gave you 25 in a container and it expired in 2 years.

Good point. I purchased a 15pk. They're each individually foil wrapped and in a zip lock type pouch, so I don't know if that makes a difference??..I'm going to have to look on the pkg.

Does your test strip container have a desiccant? I don't know if that would even help keep them useable beyond 2yrs.

 

[Lolvoguy]

Totally agree on the test strips. By the time I got to using a fraction of what was in the bottle, they had all expired.

I have the exact same moisture tester too. Mine is a Wurth brand.
It's useful, but the info it provides is honestly no different than what you can determine with a multi meter.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Originally Posted by Lolvoguy

I have the exact same moisture tester too. Mine is a Wurth brand.
It's useful, but the info it provides is honestly no different than what you can determine with a multi meter.

Right - conductivity (ohm's)..but then how do you know what's good or bad value? Is there a chart (reference values) out there that you know of that gives acceptable ohm's (or is it microsiemens?) for brake fluid?

 

[Trav]

Anything over 0.30 volt needs changing. DVM low dc volt scale, neg to neg bat terminal, pos in fluid.
To properly test brake fluid you need a boiler unit, the best are from Bosch also sold by ATE but a less expensive (not cheap by any means) unit like this works well enough.
The boiler test is what the TÃœV uses if you ask for a brake fluid test during your inspection.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sealey-VS0271-Brake-Fluid-Tester/dp/B000RO61AW

The little LED jobs are pretty worthless, a DVM does the job.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

So I measured .25vdc...so it seems I'm getting close to replacement, yes? Which is I think about right because I'm coming up on 2yrs since the system was flushed. I'm thinking I'm good through the winter and do it in the Spring... sound about right?

Now my test strips measured a relatively low Cu ppm. So can I assume that the corrosion inhibitors in the fluid at this moment are still adequate and haven't been depleted? Do you know what relationship, if any, exists between the Cu ppm and the vdc??

Are all DOT3 and 4 fluids created equal? Are some known to have better anti corrosion pkgs than others?

 

[Trav]

You should be good till spring, sorry I don't know what the ppm number correlates to in exact voltage numbers. There are different anti corrosion packages available but you and I will never know who is using what or in what amounts or get past the advertising spin of the high priced fluids.
All Dot 3 and 4 fluids are not created equal, they all meet the minimum spec, some can get quite pricey and have a very high dry boiling point eg Castrol SRF and not necessarily a better anti corrosion package, in fact they may need to be changed more frequently to maintain their high temp stability.

Phoenix systems has a lot of good info on brake fluids.

https://www.brakebleeder.com/brake-fluid-white-paper-on-copper/

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Originally Posted by Trav
You should be good till spring, sorry I don't know what the ppm number correlates to in exact voltage numbers. There are different anti corrosion packages available but you and I will never know who is using what or in what amounts or get past the advertising spin of the high priced fluids.
All Dot 3 and 4 fluids are not created equal, they all meet the minimum spec, some can get quite pricey and have a very high dry boiling point eg Castrol SRF and not necessarily a better anti corrosion package, in fact they may need to be changed more frequently to maintain their high temp stability.

Phoenix systems has a lot of good info on brake fluids.

https://www.brakebleeder.com/brake-fluid-white-paper-on-copper/

Tx for the linkðŸ‘...I know it's getting into the weeds stuff but good to know.

I've looked at their 1 man reverse bleeder.. looks like a slick setup.