testing coolant for voltage - electrolysis
 

I have completely flushed this used engine several times before connecting to new radiator.

I am concerned that the readings went up in my tests when I was lead to believe by adding antifreeze the additives would help bring the voltage readings down...

What are your thoughts on this? Do I have a problem?



This is my reading with distilled water only.

http://i.imgur.com/dtwvlIjh.jpg



This is my reading after adding 1 gallon of pure antifreeze(not 50/50) to my existing distilled water(removed 1 gallon of water first yes).

http://i.imgur.com/8iKUkBDh.jpg

Re: testing coolant for voltage - electrolysis
 

Having only done this kind of checking on tugboats I'm not sure as what to expect as normal or excessive on a motor vehicle.
Did you check it with the motor running?
With the key on and then off?
If the voltage is affected by the key the go through and pull fuses one by one until you find the culprit. Then you will have to locate the ground
I would also check for AC volts. If it is present then the alternator is the most likely culprit.
I would talk to a semi-truck radiator shop and see what they find acceptable. For the most part electrolysis damage occurs over time periods (Unless you have the only steel boat in a marina full of plastic boats) and a long haul truck would be susceptible to damage.

Good luck.

Re: testing coolant for voltage - electrolysis
 

Oh yeah, let me give you a couple of things I did/followed.

The article I found says anything over .4 volts is too high and means your antifreeze additives are depleted therefore needs to be changed. But then I watched a powernation video 2 min tech and it stated anything under 1.0 volt is acceptable. I really don't know which is legit...

I just really found it odd that the antifreeze made the reading go UP to 1.0 from .7 volts.

I did the reading both engine off(temps up to 190), and engine on(same temp range). The voltages did not change, they were the same running engine or engine off key off.

Here is the article I followed: http://ve-labs.net/electrolysis-101/how-to-test

Re: testing coolant for voltage - electrolysis
 

I know that pure distilled water is less of a conductor of electricity than any less pure water. The lack of ions and other contaminants make it less conducive.
I looked at your link and it is on a site that sells electrolysis control products. I am always suspicious of information presented this way. They may be setting a low bar of acceptable voltage. I would do some further research from more real world sources that may not be profiting from the information presented on their web site.
How are you using the truck? The .4 volt limit may be unsatisfactory for a long haul truck but not necessarily a problem on a truck that only sees 5000 miles a year.
I am quite sure that the limit can be variable depending on usage. I know if I found the voltage you found on one of our tugboats I wouldn't spend much time chasing it down. That low of voltage to would be difficult to isolate on a boat. We would expect the Nalcool and zincs to protect the coolant system.
Electrolysis can also be cause by the water flowing over dissimilar metals. Having iron, steel, aluminum, brass, copper and others in contact with the water can create current flow in the water. This is why most quality aluminum radiators these days have a provision to install a zinc in the coolant. It is a sacrificial component to keep the rest of the components in the system from eroding or corroding.
If you install a zinc for protection then it needs to be checked as per the manufacturer's schedule as once the zinc is eroded the protection is gone.
As always these are my opinions and should be treated as such.

Re: testing coolant for voltage - electrolysis
 

Ok, I will spill my beans.

The Trucking Industry uses an inline filter that will time release SCA's into the coolant to make sure it still has the proper amount of corrosion inhibitors over a given service life.

One year is the service life of Prestone Green. You have to flush it annually, or anally, which ever you prefer.

They make Anodes for this. I believe it is the same company that produces the FLEX FAN for your Radiator.

The pictures make me think the unit is grounding or shorting against the radiator. With an Aluminum Radiator I would believe you may get more or less voltage depending. Would also matter if the Radiator is, or is not Grounded.

I see that dirty brown water in the pic. Some of my personal research shows the corrosion inhibitors are lost immediately when added to distilled water, the ions, salts, ect are devoid in distilled water. I ask at that point WELL what do I use????

My buddy has a small farm and well water with a water softener. Every time he washes his rig he is dosing it with SALT!

Re: testing coolant for voltage - electrolysis
 

The salt is used as an ion exchange and the amount of contaminants in the water he washes his truck with is the same as whatever was in the well water.

Re: testing coolant for voltage - electrolysis
 

Her's a link to a site with a lot of good info. Looks like I'd better get after my truck. My voltmeter reads 1.1 Volts! These guys say it should be below .3 Volts. They also say to use distilled water and that the reading may take some time to go down after flushing and filling with new coolant, as the antifreeze removes the residual contaminants in the engine.

http://ve-labs.net/electrolysis-101/how-to-prevent