Brake Fluid Testers

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I had my car's 13 year old brake fluid tested with strips at a Quick Lube place...and they told me it was still "good." In any event, I ended up changing it myself a few months later. I don't know how test strips can tell how much water or oxidation is present in the brake fluid.
 
I'm curious about this, too. I have a similar tester that indicates my fluid is still good after 5.5 years and 83,000 miles. The fluid in the MC still looks straw colored. The tester measures moisture content in the fluid through conductivity.
 
Ok here’s what I think. Since there’s no cycling of fluid in the reservoir, the quality of fluid in the lines, abs actuators and calipers are undetermined.

Yet, on modern cars, pistons calipers are designed to not conduct heat generated when braking to the fluid, therefore claiming that no replacement is necessary during the normal life of the vehicle.

I had results confirming this on some cars, but on a car where I got brake vapor lock the test clearly showed a lowered boiling point of 120 degrees centigrade
 
I guess there's an underlying assumptions here then: Moisture is the only reason to change brake fluid, is that true?

Flushing the brakes and testing the old fluid that comes out of the calipers also seems to be another data point to verify.
 
I have one of those cheap pens. I tested new brake fluid and it tested good. I took a small sample and added some water and it tested bad. I tested the reservoir in a 2003 tundra and it showed good. It looked terrible though.
 
I've also had the same question about the similar brake fluid tester that I own.

My plan is to mix up a test solution - 20 ml of fresh brake fluid with 1 ml of water for a 5% moisture solution, and see what results I get with the tester. Perhaps this might be something I can to this afternoon.
 
I'm surprised to hear the mixed reviews of the testers, because I never had reason to doubt the concept of testing resistance as a way to extrapolate H2O content.
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It's more then H2O content, it's also oxidation and seal material wearing and clouding the brake fluid,
eventually this material precipitates and sticks to cylinder bores and cuts into seals when pistons are
pushed back to allow new pads to fit. Seen it!

Replace on a 2 or 3 year cycle is a safe bet compared to replacing an ABS unit when it malfunctions and stores
a pesky code! At that point you have 'regular' brakes!

For that reason, I don't use a brake fluid tester.
 
The test strips test for copper because : as your brake lines corrode.... more copper ends up in the fluid.

The test pens test for water.
 
It’s a good idea to change it a every few years due to crud more than moisture. Remove 1/3 of the fluid from resivior, fill back up and remove another 1/3 then vacuum bleed. Keeps the pistons and lines in good shape internally.
 
As far as water content is concerned I would say a reservoir test is representative. The hydroscopic nature of brake fluid will ensure any moisture diffuses throughout the whole system. As already mentioned there are other reasons to change brake fluid. I would want a test to show when the corrosion inhibitors had been used up but I suspect a reservoir test for that might not be representative of the whole system.
 
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