The next time you buy a gallon of orange juice, read the label. If it says reconstituted or made from concentrate, you paid for their water. Buy the frozen concentrate in the small can and reconstitute it yourself.
It was ever thus...
The antifreeze you use IS kinda critical on some of the newer stuff. And GM swore by Dexcool while the rest of the world swore AT it (and them) There are several different formulations - at least 2 of them being "organic acid" if I remember the term correctly - and the stuff made for the old cast iron engines is not terribly healthy for the newer all-aluminum engines.
Pure antifreeze will freeze at -14C (about +7F) and 60% will freeze at
-64C (-73F).
Even then, at -64C it will not be solid - but it will definitely be too slushy to circulate.
I moved to the da desert in 74 and after using tap water for a couple years all I got was overheat in the 105 degree typical summer day. That water was very hard.
Greg
I had bought a couple gallons of antifreeze. I had tried flushing my 66 datsun and I knew cold weather coming up. I grab my gallon, look at it, and am reminded your supposed to use demineralized water. I always knew that, but usually use tap water. I say, where in the he'll am I going to find distilled water today. Am I to drive all over the place. I say, he'll no. I drive to advance auto and buy premixed. My datsun is plugged up enough. Going to pay good money for distiled water anyway. Used to find it at most mini marts long ago.
Greg
I imagine distilled water was more in demand when most people used a steam iron on their clothing. ^_^
TDD
Gone completely? Every drug store and most every supermarket here carries it. Ask your wife, I bet she knows about it.
Also, many industrial batteries for lift trucks and the like still need water.
Even WalMart has it. A little over a buck a gallon.
The question I have is not why people who can afford it buy pre-mixed, but why so much more of it is sold than non-mixed, even though I would think most people can't afford it.
Even moreso wrt windshileld washer fluid. It is near impossible to find any of that except gallon containers of pre-mixed. Everyone has water and there is no need at all for ion-free water for the windshield washer.
It seems in both cases, customers have been manipulated by the vendors.
There might be a case for pre-mixed windshield washer fluid: the orifices for spraying the water on the windshield are teeny-tiny indeed. They can be easily clogged by the smallest particle of precipitate from mineral-rich water.
On my old car, I kept a small length of very thin wire in an envelope in the car pocket for reaming out the spray holes. Bother.
The water in the pre-mix anti-freeze is WAY cheaper than the water in half-liter bottles sold by the millions every day. In a way, buying pre-mix is a bargain.
After all, if you won't put tap water in your body, would you put it in your car?
On the other hand, there's a certain satisfaction knowing your radiator is powered by Evian. . .
Well, at $tarbuck$, at least the coffee's made with tap water.
I was at one last night (to meet a blind date). I asked for a cup of Folger's Instant.
"We don't have that," said the coffee jerk somewhat disgustedly.
"How close can you get?"
"How about a cup of Pike Mountan Blend?"
"Whatever. Surprise me," I surrendered.
Tasted like Folger's instant made with two scoops of coffee. And it only cost slightly more than two dollars. Including tax. And tap water.
Ed Pawlowski wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
many "zero maintenance" auto batteries still have caps that can be removed and water added as necessary. I suspect they'll last longer if you do keep them topped off with distilled water. they may hide them under a label or decal,they probably are 3 caps molded into one big rectangle.
All the older antifreeze got corrosive after so long. I would add some anti corrosive additive between changes. I let it go too long once and my car got really ate up with rust. I hope I get it right with my truck which has aluminum engine, but how much worse could it be than a brown rusted steel block.
Greg
Steam irons Vaporizers Nebulizers Humidifiers on home oxygen systems Aquariums Cleaning wounds and surgical dressings Eye wash
Not really needed, but people us it for: Baby formula Drinking Coffee, tea, reconstituting drinks. I prefer filtered for those uses.
I did not say anything about outboard oil in this thread...... I said the generic stuff made for chainsaws. The generic stuff is $3.50 a botle at Walmart while the stuff this dealer is selling is around $8.00 for same size bottle.
Yes I did ask about outboard oil some weeks ago in another topic. That has nothing to do with this thread.
Interesting little tidbit about washer fluid. It is a kind of antifreeze mix too because that's one of the last things you want to freeze up. I believe there is more powerful deicing formula on the market too. I remember one of the network news programs contacting a fellow who was able to increase the gas mileage of a Ford Escort test vehicle by a substantial amount by using a fine water mist sprayed into the carburetor by mounting the nozzle in the top of the air cleaner and using a windshield washer reservoir and pump to supply the water. He used windshield washer fluid instead of plain water because it wouldn't freeze. This was on one of the big three network news programs years ago during one of the fuel crises. ^_^
TDD
A few weeks ago, I installed a network cable for a new printer in a Starbucks and notices a water leak in their elaborate multi filter water supply for their beverage preparations. While I was there their corporate service guy showed up and replaced a big O-ring on one of four filters. Nice guy, ex navy submariner who worked on nuclear reactors if I remember right. I had to tease him about going from nukes to coffee but the pay is higher. Starbucks appears to take a lot of care of the water they use in their product. The filters looked like they filtered out all sorts of stuff even though the water quality in this area is excellent. o_O
TDD
BTDT. A couple times. No damage to the pump. Still had the "summer" mixture in there when it turned cold. Now I always make sure I only put in the "winter" stuff. That's another one you could argue about mixing your own, but I never bothered. I always get the stuff when I spot it for 99 cents or 1.29 or thereabouts. Get 4 or 5 jugs. If you wait until you really need it the price is crazy.
--Vic
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