We are replacing an old geo unit and are trying to figure out what the existing antifreeze is in the closed loop field. Does anyone have ideas on how to determine the type of fluid? Thanks for your assistance.
Specific gravity reading using a hydrometer. >1 it is glycol <1 it is ethanol or methanol You can smell and feel the difference as well (if you know what you're doing).
When we determine if the antifreeze is an alcohol or a glycol, is there a way to determine the specific composition? Methanol versus ethanol or ethylene glycol (EG) versus propylene glycol (PG)? Can we use PG to top off a EG based fluid? We are basically replacing the fluid lost from the indoor piping due to some reconfiguration.
Our CGC codes (not necessarily followed) require the source pump to be labelled with the antifreeze type, %, and FP (I believe). Other than that, no, there isn't a field way to tell. Though I can "smell" the difference. And mixing alcohols doesn't seem to be improper, I don't know about glycols. edit. And we colour code our solutions with some dye. Just to make things simple for us. Maybe the industry as a whole should consider this.
I like the labeling concept. We will start that with our systems. From looking at the SG values for mixed antifreeze types, a hydrometer that could read between 0.97 and 1.04 would be ideal. Do you have any recommendations on where to purchase? I appreciate your time.
We have a refractometer for glycol and an alcohol hydrometer for the alcohols (go to your wine making store).
