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Here are answers to a few FAQ's

What are some of the common causes and effects of poor coolant? There are a wide variety of causes, effects and solutions of problems that might occur with your antifreeze coolant system. Indeed, there are more than we can list here. Please review the Coolant Cause-Effect Chart (Coming soon).

Why do I need to measure the freeze point of the antifreeze in my car? A 50/50 blend of Antifreeze and water will provide freeze protection to -34 degrees and boil over protection to 257 degrees Fahrenheit. In colder areas of the US protection against block freezing is well known. With the higher efficiency and operating temperatures of vehicles, providing adequate boil over protection to prevent the loss of coolant and potential overheating and engine seizure is a must. Please review the Coolant Chart for Maintaining 50% Antifreeze (Coming soon).

What results would I expect if I used the test strip in an Ethylene Propylene Glycol mixture? The results will be less than 1 color block conservative. Ethylene Glycol provides slightly higher freeze protection at like concentrations, and therefore contributes to a lower freeze point protection. Differences of less than 1 color block will result.

What results would I expect if I used the test strip in an Ethylene Glycol mixture? The results will be less than 1 color block conservative. Ethylene Glycol provides slightly higher freeze protection at like concentrations, and therefore contributes to a lower freeze point protection. Differences of 1 color block will result.

Does Antifreeze do anything other than provide protection from freezing and boil over? Antifreeze coolant has several uses. Foremost is its ability to help remove heat from an engine. Antifreeze and water have been used extensively since the 1950's as a heat transfer fluid due to its low cost plentiful supply, and easy and safe handling.

What ways are there to measure freeze point? In order of expense and difficulty of use, the lowest to highest are: - Test strips - Hydrometer - Refractometer

Can I use Antifreeze by itself? Antifreeze by itself has an insufficient boil over and freeze protection ability. It's the mixing with water that provides the freeze and boil over protection. Note that you must not execeed a mixture of more than 70% antifreeze to 30% water.

Can I use water by itself? Water by itself is very corrosive and will not provide the freeze and boil over protection a combustion engine requires.  Again, it is the combining of water and anti-freeze that creates the protection.

What is corrosion? Water by itself is corrosive to metals. The most familiar corrosion is rust, it develops as metals come in contact with air and water. Corrosion occurs with the other metals in a cooling system, copper, iron, aluminum etc. A good antifreeze coolant has an inhibitor package to protect against corrosion.

How do I know if my antifreeze is protecting the engine against corrosion? The easiest way to test antifreeze for corrosion protection is with test strips. Our strip system tests more than just freeze point, you can determine if the antifreeze coolant is corrosive and/or has life left to protect the engine.

How does a test strip work? Immersion momentarily into a water and antifreeze solution, of a chemically treated pad on the end of an inert plastic strip, begins the activation process. The strip caries a pH indicator, a reserve alkalinity indicator, a buffering agent and a color reagent pad especially correlated to various concentrations and freeze points of antifreeze solutions.

How accurate are the test strips? In a blind field test of over 200 people using antifreeze and water dilutions of 25, 33, 40, 45, 50 and 60%, approximately 90% of the readings by the test strip as interpreted by the people in varying levels of light were within 10 degrees of the refractometer readings.

Does the test strip work in hot Antifreeze? In comparative tests in hot Antifreeze (70º to 90º C) it was determined that the color development is faster, and therefore the reading will be one color block darker than the reading of the cooler Antifreeze.

What temperature should the Anti-freeze be in order to get the best readings? The Antifreeze should be less than 120º Fahrenheit. Colder antifreeze does not have an affect on the rate or final color development. Antifreeze of 120ºF is cool enough to be handled, and the radiator cap is readily and safely removable from the radiator at that temperature.

Can I test the Anti-freeze in the overflow bottle? It depends on the level in the overflow tank. Generally if there is sufficient liquid in the overflow bottle it is representative of the antifreeze coolant mixture in the vehicle. However if you just added additional 100% antifreeze to the overflow container, or if the level is very low, it would not be indicative of the mixture in the cooling system.

Is the technology covered by a patent? Yes! The method is based on technology used in medical analysis of urine. It was originally developed years ago, to assist people with diabetes to determine what treatment they needed.  That technology was later improved regarding the test strip's sensitivity, accuracy, and readability in Ethylene Glycol, Propylene Glycol, and OAT type coolants, to assist maintenance professionals and consumers determine what treatment Heavy or Light Duty coolant systems need.

What is the shelf life of the test strips? Test strips in the bottle packages are guaranteed to work 2 years from date of manufacture.

How can I tell if the test strip is still good? The pad will be a brown color versus the white to light yellow that a fresh pad will have.

What do I do with the used test strip? Test strips are to be disposed with normal paper waste. They are not hazardous or toxic.

Do test strips really work? Yes. Test strips were developed for medical diagnostic and laboratory use over 30 years ago. Since that time they have replaced liquid tests and supplemented instrument tests.

Who invented antifreeze? Ethylene glycol was first prepared in 1859 by Charles Adolphe Wurtz, a French chemist.

Why was glycol first researched? They originally thought it might be an additive for nitroglycerin explosives, to prevent freezing.

When was ethylene glycol first produced in the US? McElroy obtained a series of patents on ethylene glycol manufacture beginning in 1915. The Commercial Research Company developed the process to produce ethylene glycol to a semi commercial scale in 1917 and continued operation in Flushing, LI until 1920. While the use in antifreeze was foreseen at that time, the chief use was in the manufacturing of explosives. Dr Curme Jr. at the Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh, Pa developed in 1920 a commercial method to synthesize ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol and others for the Pres-O-Lite Company. The first commercial plant in the US was in South Charleston, Va. in 1925. US Patent 1,213,308 was issued to Hibbert for the use of ethylene glycol for lowering the freeze point of water in automobile cooling systems. Following the first manufacture of glycol in a large commercial scale in 1925, uninhibited glycol distributed. Three years later research revealed that untreated ethylene glycol could become corrosive to the cooling system metals changes were made. From this time on, the major participants in the antifreeze coolant market place adapted the corrosion package to meet the changing engine and cooling requirements.

How important is the quality of water used with antifreeze coolant? Water is half of the equation. Due to the variability of water around the country water with the maximum parts per million specifications are recommended:   Chlorides 40   Sulfates 100 Total Disolved Solids (TDS) 340 Total Hardness 170

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As a general precaution, replace all test strips more than one year old, or at the beginning of a new testing season.