Ultra Sonic Pleasantly Suprised

[barbar]

Just purchased a " Sound Stik " of fleabay, new US$150 plus PP.
With the price of refrigerants booming in price (we soon will have carbon tax)
I thought I would look at the alternatives. So after reading comments on this forum, I thought I would tip my toes into ultrasonics. Normally i buy the best tools when commonly used, but I was a little skeptical on the practical use of ultrasonics, so went for a cheapy!

Got the little beast, and thought I would give it a try.

So I set up a flare nut and bonnet my nitrogen bottle, tighten the nut, but not all the way.

Open up the bottle, set the pressure to where i was getting a small bubble "big blue" being produced every 5 seconds (50PSI). Cleaned of the big blue.

Turn on the device, ear piece in. WOW I picked up the leak from at least 10 ft away.
Turned on the radio, still good. turned on the vac pump and some other refrig gear (ZB45 scroll). A little more concentration required, but still was able to pickup at 10 feet.

Zoning in was so easy.

Test again with big blue to make sure that the leak was constant, it was.

Are there any tricks in use in the real world?

[hvacrmedic]

Are there any tricks in use in the real world?

There's a learning curve with ultrasonic detectors. The more you use it the better you'll get at finding leaks with it. Buy some quality headphones to use with it, you'll be glad you did.

[itsiceman]

Are there any tricks in use in the real world?All leaks will be different and you will get different results.
Ultrasonic is not a silver bullet just another tool on the belt IMO
X2 on the good headphones :cheers:

WFIW they say wetting a suspect leak will help "hear" it or leaking while under vacuum could be detected as well from the noise the moisture makes entering the system. Haven't had time to work it either of these ways but have defiantly been on top of known leaks before without a peep. Others you could hear across the room.

[barbar]

Thanks gentlemen!
I agree that is just another tool. (how good it really is, comes down to finding a real leak)
I still like to use my old GAZ flame leak detector, you can see and smell a leak.
I tend to find electronic detectors to be just a bit sensitive, especially in a work shop environment, when who knows what is floating in the air.

[itsiceman]

The biggest reason I got one was for a situation like you're describing .... windy roof was the big one for me.