how to save a little money, and a lot of DOT

[j3gq_imp]

... AND do a great service to the environment in which our children have to live.

Bought a little electronic brake fluid tester at Amazon. I am not the guy who trusts cheap electronics, but this little thing (pen shaped, uses a single AA battery) - when tested for proper calibration - showed very good performance and accuracy. If anybody is interested I can explain how the test works later.
Anyway, once I had gained trust into it, I pulled out an old plastic bottle of DOT4, which I had opened two years ago, used half, closed properly at the time, and stored (don't know why). Now think about this. The instructions in ANY manual say NEVER use such fluid. And guess what, the fluid was no just okay (under 3% of water contents) but is was almost like new. There is NO doubt that it will be just fine.

Now guess how many half empty bottles of DOT4 end up in a land fill each year, on each continent. We can do better than this.

If you wonder whether it's worth it, consider looking at the [url=https://msdspds.castrol.com/ussds/amersdsf.nsf/Files/669C28406EEE404480258611005818CF/%24File/2675153.pdf]safety data sheet for DOT 4.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

The brake fluid tester appears to be a "simple" [looking] device.

Hmmm :huh: .

 

[Houtman_imp]

For quite some time I looked at MANY of them but reading the reports on them I never found a good one for amateur use , only expensive professional ones . It was cheaper for me just to replace the brake fluid every two years with brand new (CLEAR ! ) brake fluid.

 

[Gone in 60]

Very interesting! I typically buy small bottles of brake fluid, so that I'm not left with a large unused quantity of opened fluid after a flush. And, I save the small amounts of unused fluid to top off the old work van or to help out neighbors or other people's cars... people or cars that wouldn't be concerned about new, fresh fluid.

And I'd NEVER put a partially used bottle in a landfill! I do the responsible thing and pour it in a lake or the ocean. Isn't it made from whales or something?

 

[j3gq_imp]

Very interesting! I typically buy small bottles of brake fluid, so that I'm not left with a large unused quantity of opened fluid after a flush. And, I save the small amounts of unused fluid to top off the old work van or to help out neighbors or other people's cars... people or cars that wouldn't be concerned about new, fresh fluid.

And I'd NEVER put a partially used bottle in a landfill! I do the responsible thing and pour it in a lake or the ocean. Isn't it made from whales or something?

Don’t dare to answer, you may NOT be joking.
:bacon:

 

[LongRanger_imp]

LOL! That’s hilarious!

 

[Sparky80_imp]

Looks interesting enough.

I've since switched over to DOT 5.1 on all my bikes.... wonder if it works on that.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Very interesting! I typically buy small bottles of brake fluid, so that I'm not left with a large unused quantity of opened fluid after a flush. And, I save the small amounts of unused fluid to top off the old work van or to help out neighbors or other people's cars... people or cars that wouldn't be concerned about new, fresh fluid.

And I'd NEVER put a partially used bottle in a landfill! I do the responsible thing and pour it in a lake or the ocean. Isn't it made from whales or something?

:rofl:

I am glad everyone knows you are not serious.

But, as for humanity in general? :huh: (I've seen people dump paint down a residential street sewer!)

Yeah, I save unused fluids for a trip to the county waste and processing facility.

 

[peterbaron]

Very interesting! I typically buy small bottles of brake fluid, so that I'm not left with a large unused quantity of opened fluid after a flush. And, I save the small amounts of unused fluid to top off the old work van or to help out neighbors or other people's cars... people or cars that wouldn't be concerned about new, fresh fluid.

And I'd NEVER put a partially used bottle in a landfill! I do the responsible thing and pour it in a lake or the ocean. Isn't it made from whales or something?

:rofl:

I am glad everyone knows you are not serious.

But, as for humanity in general? :huh: (I've seen people dump paint down a residential street sewer!)

Yeah, I save unused fluids for a trip to the county waste and processing facility.

:rofl:

I am glad everyone knows you are not serious.

But, as for humanity in general? :huh: (I've seen people dump paint down a residential street sewer!)

Yeah, I save unused fluids for a trip to the county waste and processing facility.
Yeah,..and it prevents water from freezing

 

[Gone in 60]

j3gq, what would really be interesting is to see a comparison test between a synthetic and a non-synthetic fluid. I wonder if the supposedly less hygroscopic nature of a synthetic fluid would cause it to show less water vapor intrusion.

I do try to keep my open bottles sealed.. I put a piece of duct tape over the opening and seal it up as best I can, then screw the lid back on. But, I will only use used fluid on older cars or my work van, not on my bikes, due to the scary warnings in the manuals that you mention.

Joking aside, I also like to use leftover fluid as a paint stripper. It tends not to eat most plastics, so it's good for little projects around the house and garage.

 

[Houtman_imp]

Very interesting! I typically buy small bottles of brake fluid, so that I'm not left with a large unused quantity of opened fluid after a flush. And, I save the small amounts of unused fluid to top off the old work van or to help out neighbors or other people's cars... people or cars that wouldn't be concerned about new, fresh fluid.

And I'd NEVER put a partially used bottle in a landfill! I do the responsible thing and pour it in a lake or the ocean. Isn't it made from whales or something?

:rofl:

I am glad everyone knows you are not serious.

But, as for humanity in general? :huh: (I've seen people dump paint down a residential street sewer!)

Yeah, I save unused fluids for a trip to the county waste and processing facility.

:rofl:

I am glad everyone knows you are not serious.

But, as for humanity in general? :huh: (I've seen people dump paint down a residential street sewer!)

Yeah, I save unused fluids for a trip to the county waste and processing facility.
Is that not the way they paint the inside of sewer pipes ? As long as the paint is water soluble it should all be ok .......

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Very interesting! I typically buy small bottles of brake fluid, so that I'm not left with a large unused quantity of opened fluid after a flush. And, I save the small amounts of unused fluid to top off the old work van or to help out neighbors or other people's cars... people or cars that wouldn't be concerned about new, fresh fluid.

And I'd NEVER put a partially used bottle in a landfill! I do the responsible thing and pour it in a lake or the ocean. Isn't it made from whales or something?

:rofl:

I am glad everyone knows you are not serious.

But, as for humanity in general? :huh: (I've seen people dump paint down a residential street sewer!)

Yeah, I save unused fluids for a trip to the county waste and processing facility.

:rofl:

I am glad everyone knows you are not serious.

But, as for humanity in general? :huh: (I've seen people dump paint down a residential street sewer!)

Yeah, I save unused fluids for a trip to the county waste and processing facility.
Is that not the way they paint the inside of sewer pipes ? As long as the paint is water soluble it should all be ok .......

:-/

 

[j3gq_imp]

Very interesting! I typically buy small bottles of brake fluid, so that I'm not left with a large unused quantity of opened fluid after a flush. And, I save the small amounts of unused fluid to top off the old work van or to help out neighbors or other people's cars... people or cars that wouldn't be concerned about new, fresh fluid.

And I'd NEVER put a partially used bottle in a landfill! I do the responsible thing and pour it in a lake or the ocean. Isn't it made from whales or something?

:rofl:

I am glad everyone knows you are not serious.

But, as for humanity in general? :huh: (I've seen people dump paint down a residential street sewer!)

Yeah, I save unused fluids for a trip to the county waste and processing facility.

To your last line, now you know how to avoid the extra trip.
To the first, ... when I was a kid, snow plenty, cars unreliable, and tourism in many places unknown, the people living high in the mountains dumped EVERYTHING in the local brook in fall and winter, knowing that snow would cover it, and the next snow melt would take it away. My assumption, today that is still what all of China, and half of India do anyway.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Very interesting! I typically buy small bottles of brake fluid, so that I'm not left with a large unused quantity of opened fluid after a flush. And, I save the small amounts of unused fluid to top off the old work van or to help out neighbors or other people's cars... people or cars that wouldn't be concerned about new, fresh fluid.

And I'd NEVER put a partially used bottle in a landfill! I do the responsible thing and pour it in a lake or the ocean. Isn't it made from whales or something?

:rofl:

I am glad everyone knows you are not serious.

But, as for humanity in general? :huh: (I've seen people dump paint down a residential street sewer!)

Yeah, I save unused fluids for a trip to the county waste and processing facility.

To your last line, now you know how to avoid the extra trip.
To the first, ... when I was a kid, snow plenty, cars unreliable, and tourism in many places unknown, the people living high in the mountains dumped EVERYTHING in the local brook in fall and winter, knowing that snow would cover it, and the next snow melt would take it away. My assumption, today that is still what all of China, and half of India do anyway.

Yes, the world remains quite inequitable and it affects many from doing the "right thing".

 

[Houtman_imp]

Old (or new ) brake fluid mixed with acetone makes a GREAT penetrating fluid as it gets into very narrow area's .