Unitec 74274 Battery Hydrometer Hydro Volts

Not delicate as other glass cubes testers. Compact. 1 full squeeze of the bulb and the chamber is full, I always fill it twice as I feel it is more accurate. Little pricey, but I think it'll be around for a while.

I think these are made in Germany, but not sure. Ten years ago, I bought one marked with the Hella brand name. It was blue. This one is identical but red and marked with Midnite. I guess the maker sells these to various retail companies for promotional purposes. Right now Midnite has the franchise. It is a very good and precise device. The black squeeze bulb lasted ten years with testing 60 battery cells every 60 days before it developed a small air leak and would no longer draw enough acid into the test chamber to make accurate readings - so that probably somewhat over 10,000 bulb-squeezes. I will buy another one in ten years.

Living off- grid and maintaining a battery bank requires a good hydrometer. I have tried several different models and found this style to be of my liking. I find it easy to use and the numbers are clear and easy to read. It does cost a little more but worth the price. I highly recommend.

This hydrometer is easy to use, but you do have to be careful to squeeze the bulb enough so the meter dials are completely flooded with the battery acid being tested. It is best to release the bulb slowly to allow the vacuum to pull the acid into the meter. If the dials are not completely flooded the reading will not be accurate. I compared it with standard glass tube type hydrometer and found the readings to be comparable. Once the two dials stop moving you can then read the specific gravity of the battery acid. You don’t have worry about temperature compensation as it it automatic. I do recommend flushing the meter with distilled water when done using it. I can’t say I’d recommend it for heavy commercial use, but for the average homeowner, and perhaps for a small business, who needs to check lead acid batteries used for typical sump pump backup applications, campers, boats, and such, I think it’s ideal.

Works a lot faster than the old one drop hydrometer. Left over moisture after rinsing is a concern.

Buy something better. Today I almost had the plastic tube fall inside the battery as it detached from the hydrometer. The Internal dial gets stuck when filled with battery liquid because of friction, so you have to tap it in order to unstuck it and read it "correctly".

I can't figure out why this style hydrometer has not completely replaced the glass tube type hydrometers. Temp compensated automatically, easy to read, no glass float to stick to side of glass tube which can cause reading errors, accuracy appears to match that of a quality glass tube type hydrometer when it is done correctly, well made. It is expensive, and the glass tube types are so cheap, but this is truly a joy to use. I trust the reading from this over the glass tube style hydrometers.

Very accurate but do not leave it out in the sun or the gauge colors will fade. Otherwise, it works very good and very accurate. I stow one in my RV full time now and another in the garage/shop.