$21.99 Refractometer for Battery, Anti-freeze, and DEF

Granted it's only Salt, but I use mine a few times a week and have never splashed it anywhere nor dripped on anything in 15 years. The sample is under a flapper 6"+ away from my face with no reason to get any closer and nothing to splash or drip. To each their own.. I'd have no issues whatsoever using this on acid.

SCVJeff wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
If I drew battery acid and placed it in the meter, and then washed it off, there is a 100 percent chance that I would have ruined clothing or worse.

Explain?
You realize that a Refractometer takes ONE DROP on the glass? Any other device will have significantly more runoff than that. A simple faucet rinse eliminates all of it

Testing with a hydrometer does not require moving the acid from the battery port, but it may drip a bit upon removal. Using an eye dropper, acid may drip from the outside or inside till it gets to a meter. The eye dropper needs to be cleaned without any acid getting on anything. The meter needs to be held up to the eye with acid in place and cleaned without any acid getting on anything important.

Yes, I use a refractometer to check relatively safe coolant concentrations, but would never bring acid near my face.

Lynnmor wrote:
If I drew battery acid and placed it in the meter, and then washed it off, there is a 100 percent chance that I would have ruined clothing or worse.

Explain?
You realize that a Refractometer takes ONE DROP on the glass? Any other device will have significantly more runoff than that. A simple faucet rinse eliminates all of it

LIKE2BUILD wrote:

The_real_wild1 wrote:
Makes sure you clean it with water after using it. Especially with def.

Exactly. DEF will leave crystalline deposits so flushing with water is a must after measuring a sample.

Get DISTILLED water from a store. You can usually get it for 99 cents/gallon. Do not use Deionized (DI) water because it is highly polarized from the ion exchange process and can attack some metals. Distilled water has been boiled to remove salts and metal ions and the steam condensed over chilled coils. It is a much better water to use for flushing devices like this refractometer, topping off batteries, or diluting full strength engine coolant.

KJ

I agree that DI water can be corrosive. But read the label on your distilled water jug. Is it really distilled, or is it processed through reverse osmosis? At least around here all the distilled water I see in the store is actually RO water. But it works the same...

We always have a jug of distilled (RO) water in the house because it doesn't cause the iron to scale up. When I need a shot for a battery top off I just head to the laundry room. And when I've bought some for a coolant change the leftovers go in the house to use in the iron too.

Why not just carry a couple 2.5 gallons jugs with you? They are a lot cheaper then adding a tank. Heat won't hurt the def within reason.

Been there, tried that, no workee. We need the 15 gal as we do a lot of traveling up, while up and back down. So that means 6 cartons and that takes up space I need for a lot of other stuff. In addition, the 2 1/2 jugs are thin and when you add the ups and downs over the Rockies, and other mountain ranges, the chances of a leak are quite high. I used three 5 gal plastic jugs but space in my basement is scarce when you account for the 14' inflatable, boat motor and trailer, gas cans, fishing gear, shrimp traps, shrimp pot puller, canning gear and 12 cases of bottles, fishing poles, freezer....well, you get the idea. Buying it as you need it can get quite expensive.

brulaz wrote:
So how do you guys calibrate these things for, say, battery sp.gr. ?

They do have to be calibrated every once and a while, right?

I have only had one go out of calibration. It was a shop refractometer so it gets abused. Always good to check.

pigman1 wrote:

otrfun wrote:

pigman1 wrote:
First class. I have one that measures battery specific gravity and antifreeze freeze point but the DEF feature is a worthwhile addition. Thanks.

If your refractometer can measure a battery's specific gravity (and the freeze point of antifreeze), I'm guessing it should be able to measure DEF, too. The refractometer only measures the concentration percentage of soluble solids dissolved in the water. The concentration percentage of usable urea is within the concentration percentage range of battery acid's specific gravity.

According to my refractometer (with a urea scale), a sample of DEF will read approx. 1.31 on the battery specific gravity scale if the urea concentration is 32.5 percent (ideal). Approx. 1.33 if the urea is high at 34 percent, and approx. 1.29 if the urea is low at 31 percent. I believe the urea concentration percentage tolerance for Cummins is +/- 1.5 percent or 31 - 34 percent.

Thanks a ton for that info.

I was going to copy the Amazon blowup picture of the reading glass and use that as an estimating tool for the DEF. I'm curious because I installed an additional DEF 15 gal tank at the very rear of the rig and engine, just under the rear fiberglass cap. We use it when going to Alaska (bulk DEF is hard to impossible to find in Canada and Alaska) and the fill on it is set up so I can fill from the driver side instead of the OEM passenger side fill. The DEF does get quite warm behind the engine, but we've had no problems with it so far in over 40,000 miles. Be nice to know if I'm changing the concentration though.

Thanks again for the post and the follow up.

Why not just carry a couple 2.5 gallons jugs with you? They are a lot cheaper then adding a tank. Heat won't hurt the def within reason.

If I drew battery acid and placed it in the meter, and then washed it off, there is a 100 percent chance that I would have ruined clothing or worse.

So how do you guys calibrate these things for, say, battery sp.gr. ?

They do have to be calibrated every once and a while, right?

otrfun wrote:

pigman1 wrote:
First class. I have one that measures battery specific gravity and antifreeze freeze point but the DEF feature is a worthwhile addition. Thanks.

If your refractometer can measure a battery's specific gravity (and the freeze point of antifreeze), I'm guessing it should be able to measure DEF, too. The refractometer only measures the concentration percentage of soluble solids dissolved in the water. The concentration percentage of usable urea is within the concentration percentage range of battery acid's specific gravity.

According to my refractometer (with a urea scale), a sample of DEF will read approx. 1.31 on the battery specific gravity scale if the urea concentration is 32.5 percent (ideal). Approx. 1.33 if the urea is high at 34 percent, and approx. 1.29 if the urea is low at 31 percent. I believe the urea concentration percentage tolerance for Cummins is +/- 1.5 percent or 31 - 34 percent.

Thanks a ton for that info.

I was going to copy the Amazon blowup picture of the reading glass and use that as an estimating tool for the DEF. I'm curious because I installed an additional DEF 15 gal tank at the very rear of the rig and engine, just under the rear fiberglass cap. We use it when going to Alaska (bulk DEF is hard to impossible to find in Canada and Alaska) and the fill on it is set up so I can fill from the driver side instead of the OEM passenger side fill. The DEF does get quite warm behind the engine, but we've had no problems with it so far in over 40,000 miles. Be nice to know if I'm changing the concentration though.

Thanks again for the post and the follow up.