Evening star., 1926-11-28
BY WILLIAM ULLMAN.

What anti-freeze are you going to
use In the radiator this Winter?
AS Autumn's first chilling blasts
whistle over the automobile power
plant, the subject of anti-freezes be-
comes the most active in motordom.
It is we'll that 1t does. There is no
item of Winter car care that calls for
more active and deep consideration.
Careless dismissal of the subject by
motor owners during the' whole era
Of the water.cooled engine has re-
suited in millions of dollars of damage
in broken cylinder blocks. radiators,
water pumps and other parts Of the
cars power plant. AS a result, the
question Is not being dismissed so
lightly now and 1t is fortunate for
motordom that 1t is receiving such at
tention.
The motorist who would go deeply
into the advantages and disadvantages
of the various solutions offered to
fight the ravageS of Winter, however,
too frequently has found himself con-
fronted with a barrage of propaganda
that dealt with the virtues and ig-
nored the fallings Of the manifold
forms of anti-freeze that now are
available on the market.
1t is the purpose of this writer to
deal with the findings of the United
States Bureau of Standards relative
to the solutions that are available.
It is. for obvious reasons, not the aim
or the province of the bureaus ex-
perts to make recommendations. They
merely submit their scientific determ-
nations and allow the public to make
its choice on that basis. Ii this
article makes recommendations of a
definite nature relative to certain
substances, 1t should be understood
that they are made on the basis of
the bureaus report, but are rot made
by the bureau itself.
Three Main Requirements.
In approaching the anti-freeze ques-
ton 1t is well to know exactly the
requirements 1t is expected to meet.
In the main there are three. First, of
course. the solution must be adequate
so it shall not injure either engine or
radiator by freezing at the lowest
temperature encountered. Second. 1t
shall cause no damage to the cooling
system through solvent action or cor
rosion. Third, 1t shall circulate free
ly at the lowest operating tempera-
ture.
Oils, salts, sugars and alcohols-
glycerin being treated by chemists
as an alcohol-form the basis of vir.
tually all of the solutions used to pro-
tect radiators.
The alcohols, however, are by far
more widely used and are the best
Naturally they come first in any dis
cussion Of the subject. Without doubt
f~s.t H..
in one form or another.
At present a bitter industrial strife
is being waged by the manufacturers
of glycerin and denatured alcohol
antifreezes. In the maze Of argument
presented In favor. of each, it Is fairly
difficult for the lay mind to reach a
conclusion concerning their relative
worth.
Denatured alcohol is most generally
used. 1t is an excellent anti-freeze.
The chief difficulty in connection with
its use is inconvenience and inability
to determine exactly, and with ease,
whether the solution in the radiator is
adequate protection at all times. OF
course, this may be determined simply
by hydrometer test, but hydrometers
are not always within reach. This
being true, too many motorists are
unwilling to go to a service station to
find one. They prefer to assume that
the radiator is fully protected, put
the car away for the night and return
to 1t in the morning to find 1t frozen.
The motorist who is willing to use
alcohol in spite of it's most annoying
feature should make it a point to
have 1t tested regularly. IT may he
irksome on cold day to waste the
time, but it will pay dividends in the
long run.
Disadvantages Of Alcohol.
Alcohol has a low boiling point. 1t
evaporates rapidly and must be re-
placed constantly. These are it's chief
disadvantages.
In it's favor is the fact that 1t is not
appreciably more corrosive than
water and its viscosity is relatively
low; that is, 1t flows freely.
This simple table indicates the ef-
fective solution by volume for certain
temperatures and the specific gravity
reading that will enable one to deter