rough date on this shellzone antifreeze/battery tester???

[sauterd]

Hey all,

A co-worker gave me one of these but looking it up on the web doesn't seem to bring me a rough date. Any ideas? 60s? 70s?

Thanks.

 

[Davea Lux]

We used a similar one to this at the gas station where I worked part time circa 1966. Put a drop of coolant or battery acid on the port under the hinge and looked thru the black eyepiece and there was a twin scale that gave degrees of anti freeze protection or percent of battery charge. These worked pretty well although they were not quite as accurate as the traditional hydrometer testers. Had to be careful not to get acid on your fingers holding the unit as the acid would sometimes run out of the port on to your fingers.

Dave

 

[Polara_500]

I always thought the refractometer style was way more accurate than the hydrometer type and everyone just went with the hydrometer since it's way easier to use...

 

[Davea Lux]

I always thought the refractometer style was way more accurate than the hydrometer type and everyone just went with the hydrometer since it's way easier to use...

The hydrometer was usually more accurate for anti freeze because coolant with clouding or minor rust present threw off the readings. That type of coolant should have been changed anyway, but you would be often talking to a wall on that, "All I care about is that it does not freeze".

Dave

 

[Yeahrightgreer]

Should be some kind of copyright date on the box or etching at least somewhere. So take that year - and subtract a year.

 

[The Goose]

We used a similar one to this at the gas station where I worked part time circa 1966. Put a drop of coolant or battery acid on the port under the hinge and looked thru the black eyepiece and there was a twin scale that gave degrees of anti freeze protection or percent of battery charge. These worked pretty well although they were not quite as accurate as the traditional hydrometer testers. Had to be careful not to get acid on your fingers holding the unit as the acid would sometimes run out of the port on to your fingers.

Dave

We use something like that now to check DEF (The worst invention of mankind since the catalytic converter).

 

[Davea Lux]

We use something like that now to check DEF (The worst invention of mankind since the catalytic converter).

The DEF systems on many modern diesel vehicles are a piece of crap that cause no end of problems. Shortly before I retired, the company I worked for bought some new PeterBuilts with the DEF injectors. There was a sensor on the exhaust that was supposed to tell the on board computer when the system needed to have the collected soot burned out and the DEF needed to be injected. An idiot light would come one to tell the driver the system was active. What was supposed happen was that the driver would allow the engine to idle while the system cleaned itself so that it would not overheat. Try that pulling a steep grade some place. One of our trucks overheated the turbo while the system was active and burned out the oil seal. Computer kept pumping more DEF because the sensors were indicating the system was still "dirty" from the oil going into the exhaust. Eventually the exhaust got hot enough to burn holes in it. Turbo, exhaust pipe, catalyst and DEF chamber were all toast. Peterbuilt fixed the dang thing under warranty, the bill for that would have been nearly $10k had the repair not been covered. Did not leave us with a warn fuzzy feeling about keeping any of these trucks after the leases expired. We were also getting a lot of error codes that were DEF/emission related, some of which would render the vehicle either inoperative or put it into "Limp" mode, not something you want in an over the road vehicle.

Dave

 

[Davea Lux]

We use something like that now to check DEF (The worst invention of mankind since the catalytic converter).

Were you guys mixing your own DEF that you needed a tester, or was the tester for the antifreeze additive? The stuff we were using all came ready to use.

Dave

 

[The Goose]

Were you guys mixing your own DEF that you needed a tester, or was the tester for the antifreeze additive? The stuff we were using all came ready to use.

Dave

At caterpillar with DEF we are only concerned about dilution and purity. It tells us if it’s good to use or junk. It’s like beer UV degrades it. This stuff is hard to store and use. You can’t even use the same funnel twice, if you reuse one with crust on it this will destroy the whole system.

That regen light you mention is the cause of many problems. It has to be on there by law ( so you can skip a regen in a fire sensitive area ) but our problem is an operator will see it lite up and push it. If you skip enough regeneration cycles the ceramic filter will plug overfill and crack. If you catch it at the last minute it has to be baked out to the tune of $500 plus depending where you go. It’s like it’s 1977 all over again and that sweet new LTD has been dieseling in the driveway for an hour after you shut it down and parked it. 100% nightmare.

 

[Davea Lux]

At caterpillar with DEF we are only concerned about dilution and purity. It tells us if it’s good to use or junk. It’s like beer UV degrades it. This stuff is hard to store and use. You can’t even use the same funnel twice, if you reuse one with crust on it this will destroy the whole system.

That regen light you mention is the cause of many problems. It has to be on there by law ( so you can skip a regen in a fire sensitive area ) but our problem is an operator will see it lite up and push it. If you skip enough regeneration cycles the ceramic filter will plug overfill and crack. If you catch it at the last minute it has to be baked out to the tune of $500 plus depending where you go. It’s like it’s 1977 all over again and that sweet new LTD has been dieseling in the driveway for an hour after you shut it down and parked it. 100% nightmare.

The '77-'78 LTD with the 460 engine was famous for the problem you describe. There was a field solution. Smog pump disassembled and vanes ground off. Catalysts removed and internals drilled and re-installed. This reduced engine combustion temps in the exhaust system and lowered back pressure enough to prevent dieseling. Piston tops were getting hot enough to cause dieseling due to the fact that the cylinders were retaining enough hot gases to keep them in the detonating range. Smog pump contributed to this heating by injecting more oxygen very close to the exhaust valves while they were still open. Probably would have been frowned upon by enviornmental nut jobs but this solution did work, but only in areas not subject to smog testing.

Dave

 

[The Goose]

The '77-'78 LTD with the 460 engine was famous for the problem you describe. There was a field solution. Smog pump disassembled and vanes ground off. Catalysts removed and internals drilled and re-installed. This reduced engine combustion temps in the exhaust system and lowered back pressure enough to prevent dieseling. Piston tops were getting hot enough to cause dieseling due to the fact that the cylinders were retaining enough hot gases to keep them in the detonating range. Smog pump contributed to this heating by injecting more oxygen very close to the exhaust valves while they were still open. Probably would have been frowned upon by enviornmental nut jobs but this solution did work, but only in areas not subject to smog testing.

Dave

Dave
Man they all blame us. Much like the poor auto makers in the 70’s Caterpillar is blamed by a lot of our customers for this stuff. You guys have no idea how sick I am of saying don’t blame me blame CARB. Don’t get me wrong, I still feel bad when some Rube Goldberg system costs a contractor an arm and a leg. Have you ever read why we wound up with cats? Margaret Thatcher’s fault. She chose that direction and everything followed. Chrysler figured it out but hadn’t yet perfected lean burn. If they had more time cats would probably never had existed. Shoot our stupid epa made mother install cats and they really didn’t need too at the time. It’s the same diff with DEF. Total stopgap until tech catches up with today. Makes me sick...

Thanks ed

 

[Davea Lux]

I am convinced that the folks who implement things that are supposed to be better for the enviornment are dumber than a box of rocks or have been bought off by special interests. Moonshine blend gasoline is a classic example, most engines use more fuel and develop less power running this crap, yet it is supposed to be a fuel saving measure, go figure.

Dave

 

[The Goose]

Look at that doghouse. The after treatment, particulate filters etc etc take up so much room most new loaders need backup cameras now. The new engines run so hot now we are seeing 30 to 50% less of the life of an older engine. It’s awful times to be a heavy equipment engine. The poor things are sure suffering...

 

[The Goose]

Yep. Gasohol has less BTUs per volume. It’s criminal. You’re paying for a full tank and getting 75%. Total rip-off.

 

[The Goose]

Otto Diesel gave away his patents and designed an engine that could use home made fuel.

He was murdered for his efforts....

 

[70NEWYORKER]

Yep. Gasohol has less BTUs per volume. It’s criminal. You’re paying for a full tank and getting 75%. Total rip-off.

And don't forget the taxes collected on all that wasted fuel....

 

[Mike66Chryslers]

The DEF systems on many modern diesel vehicles are a piece of crap that cause no end of problems. Shortly before I retired, the company I worked for bought some new PeterBuilts with the DEF injectors. There was a sensor on the exhaust that was supposed to tell the on board computer when the system needed to have the collected soot burned out and the DEF needed to be injected. An idiot light would come one to tell the driver the system was active. What was supposed happen was that the driver would allow the engine to idle while the system cleaned itself so that it would not overheat. Try that pulling a steep grade some place. One of our trucks overheated the turbo while the system was active and burned out the oil seal. Computer kept pumping more DEF because the sensors were indicating the system was still "dirty" from the oil going into the exhaust. Eventually the exhaust got hot enough to burn holes in it. Turbo, exhaust pipe, catalyst and DEF chamber were all toast. Peterbuilt fixed the dang thing under warranty, the bill for that would have been nearly $10k had the repair not been covered. Did not leave us with a warn fuzzy feeling about keeping any of these trucks after the leases expired. We were also getting a lot of error codes that were DEF/emission related, some of which would render the vehicle either inoperative or put it into "Limp" mode, not something you want in an over the road vehicle.

Dave

That pretty much sums-up why my '07 Cummins 5.9 will be my last diesel pickup truck, unless they improve the reliability of the diesel emissions systems. On paper the RAM1500 EcoDiesel would be the perfect truck for me, but the stories of expensive emissions-related problems are a deal-breaker.

 

[cantflip]

It’s like it’s 1977 all over again and that sweet new LTD has been dieseling in the driveway for an hour after you shut it down and parked it. 100% nightmare.