The winner is nitrogen. Your test showed most detectors work if trace gas is backed with nitrogen to a higher psi. Which is probably a good refrigeration practice. 👍👍
@ HVAC Shop Talk They're job is to detect refrigerat not just nitrogen by its self ... no shit it "didn't work" I had a good laugh tho, thanks Nor-Cal 🤘
With so many leak detectors on the market, can you recommend me a good one for R22? I was looking at a Fieldpiece dr82 but someone pointed out its not that reliable for sniffing older freon such as R22. Hmm.
Had to rewatch to make sure. Why do the sensors pick the leak up in different areas of the coil? Plus you know where the leak was and paused the one tester before it signaled.
I have both the H10 and Fieldpiece and the H10 is what I use when the fieldpiece doesn’t detect anything. I detected a faint leak with just 410 in the unit at 60psi when the fieldpiece didn’t
If I would you, I would re-check the heater calibration on the H-10, then try it again. You may find that the sensor in the H-10 has aged a bit, and if so recalibration of the heater will restore lost sensitivity. I'm guessing this is a maintenance feature that the other detectors don't have.
I think the fieldpiece was more consistent than the testo, but barely noticeable. THe h10 is over rated for residential IMO. I DO like it a WHOLE lot for refrigeration work though. I do it all, commercial refrigeration and res HVAC. One oldie that I think you might be surprised about is the older heated diode yellow jacket. It is stunning in R410 work. My goto for that for sure.
@@HVACShopTalk I found some more info since I left my above comment. The manual for the SRL2 says that IR sensors do not lose sensitivity over time, but other types of sensors do. So when buying a used sniffer, the IR models are probably a safer bet.
Great video! I am in HVAC/R school and graduate in December. Do you still have any of these leak detectors that you may want to sale? Love all of your videos. They are very, very informative and your demonstrations and comparisons of all of the diffrent types tools. I think the Fieldpiece SRL8Bwon the competition. God Bless.
Soap and water. You dont need to detect a leak...you tested the unit and know there is a leak. You need to find the leak. On a windy day...your not detecting anything.
If its a big leak even from one spot the gas can spread and trip the leak detectors at a different spot from the actual leak which is why you always confirm and go back to a spot where it was tripped.
...Or a delayed positive. Sometimes you have to hold it over a spot for awhile to really know what the detector thinks of that place on the coil. That being said, if you are getting hits anywhere on the coil, you would probably just replace the whole coil anyway without needing to pinpoint the leak.
Your set up adjustment on the H 10 procedure on the heated diode was too low. And your manual adjustment goes by ear roughly 3 clicks per second that was also adjusted too low. That was very obvious when I heard that clicking. Read the manual on initial start up set up burning and adjustment of the heated diode. And if you wanted to make the H 10 perform even better you manually go in with the screwdriver and turn the temperature of the diode a little bit above recommended. Then after you find your leak adjusted back to the manufacture specification. I’ve been using to H-10 since I was 12 exactly 42 years ago.
ccssk8er123 Yes the manual says 1 to 2 clicks. My last 3 meters all just happened to be closer to the two clicks. But when you place it in auto mode and it goes down to one click per second and you purposely put the probe right over a leak it immediately auto calibrate and lowers it sensitivities so when you go back to check for a leak again it will not pick up the leak or will not pick up the leak so well you literally make yourself unable to find a leak when you stick the sensor into a leak in auto mode. Because it thinks it needs to adjust for background ambient refrigerant. When you know you have a very difficult leak define you go into the diode adjustment mode turn up the heat a little bit more you have to realize this will shorten the life of your $80 diode that you will have to replace so be sure to turn the heat back down after you perform this procedure and find your leak. Now go into the manual mode and adjust your click rate up to 2 to 3 clicks per second. You now have a very sensitive detector for finding extremely small leaks you may even find it to be too sensitive and it cannot zero in on the leak but it will go off very easily around that area. Once you have found the area now you readjust your sensor down to normal operation tozero in on the exact area because it will be less sensitive. This is why in the video when I heard how slow the clicks were on his meter it would barely be able to find the leak. This is a feature that you cannot do with the other meters to make them even more sensitive temporarily. This is something my dad taught me over 40 years ago on this particular meter to find extremely hard leaks other people cannot find With either the same meter or different meters. but I do have to stress you have to remember to turn the heat setting back down on your diode or you were will burn out your diode in a shorter amount of time.
The winner is nitrogen. Your test showed most detectors work if trace gas is backed with nitrogen to a higher psi. Which is probably a good refrigeration practice. 👍👍
Nor-Cal Refrigeration & H.V.A.C but when I tried it with only nitrogen they didn’t work
HVAC Shop Talk Podcast 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂⚡️⚡️
@@HVACShopTalk i cant tell if that's a joke lol
@ HVAC Shop Talk They're job is to detect refrigerat not just nitrogen by its self ... no shit it "didn't work"
I had a good laugh tho, thanks Nor-Cal 🤘
Add nitrogen 400 psi. U will find it 😀🔥
Any chance you might be re-doing this challenge but more up to date???
You start from high to low when leak detect>ng gases are heavier than the ambient air so you'll pick up a reading below the leak.
SRL8 while using R410a, H10 for R22. Would have liked seeing Accutrack VPE Ultrasonic in the same test.
I run the with the H10 Pro and the SLR8 on my truck. I give all my service techs the Fieldpiece SLR8 as it seems to be a very reliable unit.
So u recommend SLR8?
I think your humor is insanely underrated. You make me laugh so hard . “It even finds leaks when I move it around real fast”
Yup. Needs to move about 1 inch per secon.
I say h10. But that's the only one I trust cause it's adjustable. I have seen the h10 do wonders but I'm liking the fieldpiece.
H10 is the best
With so many leak detectors on the market, can you recommend me a good one for R22? I was looking at a Fieldpiece dr82 but someone pointed out its not that reliable for sniffing older freon such as R22. Hmm.
Had to rewatch to make sure. Why do the sensors pick the leak up in different areas of the coil?
Plus you know where the leak was and paused the one tester before it signaled.
I have both the H10 and Fieldpiece and the H10 is what I use when the fieldpiece doesn’t detect anything. I detected a faint leak with just 410 in the unit at 60psi when the fieldpiece didn’t
I would be interested in seeing what the fieldpiece infrared detector would do in this comparison.
H10 PRO is my guess. If I was to buy one it would be my choice. 2nd NAVAC.
Guys is there any camera for refrigerant leak detection
H10 IMO, and even more so when it's well adjusted.
Try again using JB prowler , Inficon d-tek 3, Accutrak VPE, Inficon Stratus, Fieldpiece DR58 and DR82 as well as winners of last competition.
If I would you, I would re-check the heater calibration on the H-10, then try it again. You may find that the sensor in the H-10 has aged a bit, and if so recalibration of the heater will restore lost sensitivity. I'm guessing this is a maintenance feature that the other detectors don't have.
If you take the auto zero off on the fieldpiece it will go off like crazy even on small leaks
Please do some testing on Elitech!
I think the fieldpiece was more consistent than the testo, but barely noticeable. THe h10 is over rated for residential IMO. I DO like it a WHOLE lot for refrigeration work though. I do it all, commercial refrigeration and res HVAC.
One oldie that I think you might be surprised about is the older heated diode yellow jacket. It is stunning in R410 work. My goto for that for sure.
I hope it's the fieldpiece because I just bought one.
I only own the fieldpiece slr8. It works for me. Cant beat the price either.
No WJL 6000pro ??
I have Testo products are never had an issue, not like that Fieldpiece trash however Fieldpiece makes a better voltmeter
Where is the final video for r134a? Your videos seem like they skip from mid test r134a to the 2nd r410 test.
it would be nice if you gave information about the type of sensor used and the typical lifespan of each sensor type.
I thought I had mentioned the sensors but I guess I forgot
@@HVACShopTalk I found some more info since I left my above comment. The manual for the SRL2 says that IR sensors do not lose sensitivity over time, but other types of sensors do. So when buying a used sniffer, the IR models are probably a safer bet.
Should have used the New robin air lD7
Great video! I am in HVAC/R school and graduate in December. Do you still have any of these leak detectors that you may want to sale? Love all of your videos. They are very, very informative and your demonstrations and comparisons of all of the diffrent types tools. I think the Fieldpiece SRL8Bwon the competition. God Bless.
Not sure you set up the H-10 correct
H10 is best for me
Why didn't you try the Elitech IR-200
I have the test testo, occasionally the heated diode tip comes slightly free and it goes off on everything but otherwise it seems to work well for me.
@Funkyphreak What gas are you using it on? Thinking bout adding it to my Testo collection.🤔
I gaurantee you that the older 39365 YJ would have blown all those out of the water.
Fieldpiece! But you should have taken it down to 60 psi.
I like the testo
Testo, I like testo
But what if the coils ate like 4 inches thick
Let the winner vs. Ultrasonic leak dector.
Why didn´t use one of INFICON?
Inficon was part of a different test video. D Tek Select and Tekmate
Soap and water. You dont need to detect a leak...you tested the unit and know there is a leak. You need to find the leak. On a windy day...your not detecting anything.
this is exactly how i feel. leak detectors have their roll but can become quickly irrelevant depending on the conditions.
whats the point of replacing a leaking evap coil when you may very well have other leaks in the system which is much more probable than most think
Can't do that on a pancake unit
U can't calibrate a leak detector in the same room as the leak
👍
So at 80 psi, non could properly detect leak...thats poor
Lol obviously an h10 fanboy. Lets give the h10 6 tries
Oh yea. You must be one of those DTek groupies.
Either you've got several leaks in different places on this coil or most of the testers are giving you false positives all over the coil.
If its a big leak even from one spot the gas can spread and trip the leak detectors at a different spot from the actual leak which is why you always confirm and go back to a spot where it was tripped.
...Or a delayed positive. Sometimes you have to hold it over a spot for awhile to really know what the detector thinks of that place on the coil. That being said, if you are getting hits anywhere on the coil, you would probably just replace the whole coil anyway without needing to pinpoint the leak.
Testo,
You move the probe too fast…. You should do it much slower…
Your set up adjustment on the H 10 procedure on the heated diode was too low. And your manual adjustment goes by ear roughly 3 clicks per second that was also adjusted too low. That was very obvious when I heard that clicking.
Read the manual on initial start up set up burning and adjustment of the heated diode. And if you wanted to make the H 10 perform even better you manually go in with the screwdriver and turn the temperature of the diode a little bit above recommended. Then after you find your leak adjusted back to the manufacture specification. I’ve been using to H-10 since I was 12 exactly 42 years ago.
t lech there is a light indicator on the device that I followed.
HVAC Shop Talk Podcast the sound ticks. Three per sec
I thought the manual says 1 click per second?
ccssk8er123 Yes the manual says 1 to 2 clicks. My last 3 meters all just happened to be closer to the two clicks.
But when you place it in auto mode and it goes down to one click per second and you purposely put the probe right over a leak it immediately auto calibrate and lowers it sensitivities so when you go back to check for a leak again it will not pick up the leak or will not pick up the leak so well you literally make yourself unable to find a leak when you stick the sensor into a leak in auto mode. Because it thinks it needs to adjust for background ambient refrigerant.
When you know you have a very difficult leak define you go into the diode adjustment mode turn up the heat a little bit more you have to realize this will shorten the life of your $80 diode that you will have to replace so be sure to turn the heat back down after you perform this procedure and find your leak. Now go into the manual mode and adjust your click rate up to 2 to 3 clicks per second. You now have a very sensitive detector for finding extremely small leaks you may even find it to be too sensitive and it cannot zero in on the leak but it will go off very easily around that area. Once you have found the area now you readjust your sensor down to normal operation tozero in on the exact area because it will be less sensitive.
This is why in the video when I heard how slow the clicks were on his meter it would barely be able to find the leak. This is a feature that you cannot do with the other meters to make them even more sensitive temporarily.
This is something my dad taught me over 40 years ago on this particular meter to find extremely hard leaks other people cannot find With either the same meter or different meters. but I do have to stress you have to remember to turn the heat setting back down on your diode or you were will burn out your diode in a shorter amount of time.
@@coldfinger459sub0 exactly