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The heart jumps into the mouth when the brakes suddenly fail while driving at high speed. coming out of this situation unharmed takes a miracle. brake fluid testing is necessary to prevent such experiences. How does this work, what is the margin of error associated with the testers, and how necessary is this?
So, do brake fluid testers work? yes, they do. Over time, different methods of testing the brake fluid has being invented. a concerted effort is put into this both in terms of methods and tools as a result of the significance of the brake fluid in the brake system.
It is hard for some to believe the brake fluid will need changing at some point because they blame the pads and other brake parts whenever they experience signs such as a squealing noise or smoke smell coming from the brakes.
It will therefore come as a surprise to this group when they learn that the brake fluid does expire. This is a natural process that cannot be helped, irrespective of your maintenance practices or the quality of the brake fluid. It is only a matter of time.
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What is the error margin of brake fluid testers?
Not all the tools or methods of testing the brake fluid out there have the same degree of trust. the parameters these tools or methods analyze or measure determine how reliable it is. The error margin of most tools and methods however is insignificant as such reading remains relevant n informing about the current state of the brake fluid.
As for the brake testers, they access the conductivity or boiling point of the fluid. The latter is said to be and tester which accesses this and is recommended over those which are simply used to measure resistance.
Rather than dismissing completely the need to have your brake fluid checked every once in a while, take a chance on the readily available testers which are affordable and user-friendly. Within seconds of placing the two prongs of the device in the brake fluid, the current condition of the fluid is depicted by the colored LED lights
Similar to traffic lights, most electronic brake fluid testers are designed with three colors of light. These are green, yellow, and red. These lights have the same meaning as the traffic lights. For the sake of those who constantly run through the traffic lights ignoring what each light stands for, let us reiterate the meaning of these lights.
Once the prongs are placed in the brake fluid, one of three possibilities is to be expected. Either the fluid is in good condition, on the verge of becoming bad, or is bad beyond a usable state and needs to be changed immediately.
Similar to the body, the brake fluid, engine oil, and other fluid in the car have the same purpose as the blood. This comparison is not out of place as most car owners take their cars as their most priced babies. This however will not be for long for those who are careless about the brake fluid.
How necessary is brake fluid testing?
There are certain properties expected of good brake fluid, some qualities are easily accessed with the naked eye while others require special devices such as the brake fluid tester. when something becomes wrong with your brake, the easily replaceable brake pads are the first to be suspected of the brake sign. this may not always be the case.
Note that problems with the brake pad or any other part of the brake system may present with similar symptoms of squealing noise, burning smell, and inefficient brakes. Among the differential diagnosis for these signs is bad brake fluid. the only way to find out for certain which of the differential diagnosis is responsible, you must do a complete diagnosis of the brake system including the brake fluid.
Studies have shown that a large percentage of car owners and drivers drive about in cars with bad brake fluid. These numbers are a result of the neglect suffered by brake fluid amongst car owners who generally do not give any relevance to checking the brake fluid the same way as the car engine oil.
Most service centers also contribute to this issue. After servicing the car, the engine oil is considered the only necessary oil to be checked and if necessary changed.
without suggesting to the car owner, who on most occasions no little or nothing about the, the mechanic becomes the sole reason for the poor maintenance practices suffered by the brake oil.
even if someone were to tell you the brake fluid does not deserve any attention as they do not go bad, you will doubt this information and most likely disagree. this is because part of the car has this property. the brake fluid is used every single time pressure is applied to the brake pedal with the foot. they are crucial determinants of the stopping power of the car.
as such, they deteriorate with time, needing to be changed. it is therefore important to have them monitored in order not to be taken unawares. when the brakes fail suddenly without any warning signs, even the expert driver is thrown into a state of panic as he battles to reduce the damage. the adrenaline rush may cause you to act promptly to arrest the situation or freeze and watch the car crash into other cars or stationary objects.
starting with the visible features, the brake fluid is one clear amber color. when this changes, most time, it depicts the presence of contaminants in the fluid. the reservoir tank is the most accessible place to make this observation.
aside from color, other properties of the brake fluid are its viscosity, boiling temperature, presence of anti-corrosives, and other additives that the components of the brake system. the necessity of a brake fluid tester is based on the fact that these properties tend to change with usage.
the component of a brake system, particularly the brake pad are designed for specific car models are types of car in terms of car size, load specification, and type of driving. for example, there are those suitable only for off-road driving, racing, and other demanding conditions.
when a lightweight regular vehicle is overloaded or driven in slop or rough off-road terrain, the car engine and brakes are made to work more. the amount of heat generated there increased considerably. This heat, if high enough, beyond the boiling point of the brake fluid could lead to the conversion of the brake fluid into a gaseous compressible state which cannot perform the function of the brake fluid.
the time or miles for which your brake can be used before needing to be replaced is not constant. the is a general recommendation of about 15,000 miles or a period of about 1 to 2 years, what is most appetite however is to adhere to what the manufacturers of your brake fluid have to say. this is because these companies do a post marketing surveillance and carry out research to determine how long their designed products can last for.
it is not difficult to understand how air gets into the brake fluid. think of the system as a closed system with some microscopic holes not visible to the naked eye. the pouring process and the holes let air into the fluid. the bleeding process has to do with the removal of this air while the removal of the fluid when found to be bad or contaminated is called flushing and is not limited to the fluid in the reservoir alone.
do not sit back waiting for the 1 or two years expiration date set by the manufacturers of the brake fluid. this is because of instances where the fluid requires replacement even before thises time.
it is important to note the manufacturer’s recommendation in terms of the date or mileage at which the brake fluid should be replaced. however, note that the water content or the level of contaminants such as copper rise before this time and render the brake fluid bad.
how fast this process happens depends on practices such as over overloading the car, the environmental condition such as places with high humidity, use of cheap, poor-quality brake fluid among other conditions.
What are the other methods of brake fluid testing?
the refractive index of the brake fluid which is the degree of change of direction of light rays when passed through the brake fluid has been accessed using a glass prism and shown to be a good parameter in determining the need to have the fluid changed. the angle of refraction of light passed through the fluid is affected by the water content as well as other contaminants.
aside from the refractive index, the resistance or conductivity can be tested using conductivity testers. the margin error with such testers is considerably high. their reading however holds some degree of significance and gives a good idea about the health of the brake fluid.
the use of strips is still relevant today. they tell how much water the brake fluid contains. this is an indirect measure of how much the boiling point of the brake fluid has been decreased. The alkalinity of the brake fluid decreases as its acidity increases following the depletion of anti-corrosive agents in the brake fluid.
Either of these can be tested to tell whet corrosion has set in or not. the level of copper deposit in the fluid can also provide the same information as copper is the most affected by the loss of the anti-corrosives.
Do Brake Fluid Testers Work – Conclusion
it is not enough to change the car engine oil, the brake fluid must equally be monitored by intermittently checking the reservoir for a color change and with a tester graduated to detect the boiling point or conductivity of the fluid.
