Benefits of Digital Refractometer Over Traditional Analog Refractometer for Glycol Testing.

What is the difference between the traditional analog Brix refractometer and the electronic digital handheld for Glycol testing? What are the benefits to having one over the other?

This is a good question. Brix is a measure of sucrose content in a sucrose water solution. There is not a direct linear relationship between Brix and glycol concentration. However, there may be a conversion chart available from your glycol supplier or you can make your own (we do not have conversion charts). Our analog Brix refractometer has a precision of +/- 0.2% Brix. The analog refractometer scale is subjective, meaning that two or more people looking at the scale are likely to report different readings depending how they view the scale. You also need to bring the glycol near your face to take a reading. Brix refractometers are temperature compensated for sucrose not glycol. Lastly, since you need to use a conversion table to manually calculate glycol freeze point, you introduce the possibility of making an error. A Palm Abbe digital refractometer with a scale for glycol would be a much better choice. First, the reading is digital which removes subjectivity from the measurement. Second, you can read directly in the unit of measure you desire, concentration or freeze point. This eliminates conversion errors. Since you place your sample in a well, you do not need to bring the refractometer near your face to read it. Also, a digital refractometer with a glycol scale will have temperature compensation specific to glycol. Lastly, the Palm Abbe digital refractometer has at least twice the accuracy of an analog Brix refractometer.