ReplySo what do YOU think killed em? The rain? That guys unit? Why was the couple so upset?
I shouldn't have read your post Im sorry.The suspence is killing.
Why you going Testo now?
Professional Member
SMAN 3 ... Deaded at Age 3 weeks!
Sad night for me last night.
On a late night service call with my SMAN 3 connected to the condenser getting SC and SH when I had to run to the truck. As I'm walking back from the truck, the H/O calls me and I head inside to see what the concern was. Well, after I calm the guy and his wife down and tell them to sit back and let me work a little, I head back outside and discover that it has started to rain. I run to the rear of the house to protect my gauges and when I get to them I notice that they're reading over 400 psig ON BOTH lines!
Disconnect them and put them in the truck. Later as I'm packing up to leave, I turn them on to see if everything is okay and discover that they're reading pressure without being attached to a line! They even read pressure without the hoses attached!!! Attempted to calibrate them and now the high side just reads OL while the low side is still fluctuating.
I just hope that my local supply house allows me to return them and get the Testos.
Professional Member*
So what do YOU think killed em? The rain? That guys unit? Why was the couple so upset?
I shouldn't have read your post Im sorry.The suspence is killing.
Why you going Testo now?
Professional Member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBWamNXAxIA
Let's see Testo and Fieldpiece top that.
Professional Member
It had to be the rain IMO.Originally Posted by #1CDNTECH
Going to Testo now because, working in S. FL, there's no way I can avoid my tools getting wet at some point. A couple of techs that I work with have Testos and I know for a fact that they've been caught in a downpour and there were no ill effects to their gauges.
Professional Member*
That was Awesome. No one uses Digital Gauges where I live and I mean No one.They all say " Your ganna bang them up and thier gonna be out of calabration and useless" I wanna get a set of digi-cool and prove them wrong. I called the 1800-# didn't get no one ( maybe time diffrence) cause I wanted to hear kinda from the from the horses mouth myself. They are Canadian Made EH They can't be that bad of a gauge.
To the Poster I would have you looked into Digi-cool? I have done alot of reading and haven't found anyone bashing Digi-cool.The pin conector
Sweet jesus just seen that rain was what got ya. I am glad to hear this when I was a Rookie digital gauge looker I saw the Sman3 as an awesome option cause of the micron gauge .I was almost sucked in. I did some research and am at digi-cool now.
Professional Member
Good stuff!
Too bad the don't make them anymore.
Regular Guest
all the talk about Sman3 dying then getting fixed is spooking me.
sure mfg does a good job of fixing em.. but what about after warranty is gone?
found out the hard way about my Tif digital gauges not that reliable.
you can tell from the dust they don't get used much.
sticking to my fluid filled gauges for a bit longer...
Professional Member
You have incorrect information.
They discontinued the 1250.
They still make the 1600, 1200 and AK-900.
ALL are just as tough as the one shown in that video.
Professional Member
I thought it was a great thing when I read all of the good reviews on here. But, 3 weeks - C'mon Man! I don't think that I even want them fixed, I just need to move on.all the talk about Sman3 dying then getting fixed is spooking me.
sure mfg does a good job of fixing em.. but what about after warranty is gone?
found out the hard way about my Tif digital gauges not that reliable.
you can tell from the dust they don't get used much.
sticking to my fluid filled gauges for a bit longer...
UPDATE: The damned things won't even turn on now!
Professional Member
Thanks.
I'll have to look into getting a set to replace the SMAN!
Professional Member*
You won't have to worry about a little rain, or a torrential downpour, with Digi-Cool.Thanks.
I'll have to look into getting a set to replace the SMAN!
As for your soggy Sman, take the batteries out and give them some time to dry.
You can also try sealing them up in a large zip lock bag with some rice for a couple of days.
Professional Member
Testo hosed theirs down didnt hold it under water but do you hammer nails with a level,its a precision testing device.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du8P-...yer_detailpage
Professional Member
I'm done with the sman first set dumped after one month. They did a warranty with it now my second set has to go back after four months. Low side and high side won't read same pressure so it can't be calibrated. They are going to warranty it but order a set of digit cools. With all the reviews I have read and people that have personal experiences that people I know have that's the route I'm going.
Professional Member
NO. I use my DRSA to hammer nails with. It's tougher....
Yes, it is a precision measuring instrument, but it MUST be capable of sustaining the rigors of day to day use or it is essentially useless.
Ever been caught out on a rooftop when a storm blows up? Don't have a lot of time to unhook your gauges and get them out of the rain, do ya?
Professional Member*
Hmmm. Reminds me of the rep for CPS using a leak detector to drive a nail into a 2X4 to show how tuff his leak detector was. I bought one. Great nailing device, but a crappy leak detector, and oh yeah, it needed a longer handle on it to drive nails.
One way to outthink people is to make them think you think. They'll think you're not really thinking what you're trying to get them to think you think...........
Professional Member*
just had to cover my partner's Sman's on a roof the other day.....looked over at my analogues, and thought, "eh, they're not gonna get hurt!!"LOL!!
that digicool submersion is impressive. getting rained on, and being completely submerged are 2 diff. things. hhhmmmmm.......
Professional Member
If your looking to go digital thats great. Unfortunately, you found out the hard way DRSA's are not created equal. I have had the 1250's for about 3 years now. I put a battery in occasionally and go to work. Rain, subzero temperature, 100*+ roofs. they work. If it was up to me I would by one gauge and that would be Digi-Cool. Hell, Ask my buddy. He bought the Testo 550 When I bought my 1250's because of the price. "he said they should be good enough for him" Well they weren't! HE now owns the 1250's and couldn't be happier. Donated the Testos to a technical school..
Im going to pick up a set of AK900's this week. I find myself pulling more then one gauge out of the truck nowadays. Yesterday my analogs that I were using were 10 psi off on the suction.. I'm done with analog. There is a better product out there.
Gotta have the right tool for the job!
Where is all the stuff MADE IN THE USA?
"Thats what we do Troy. Incredible, Invisible, Imbelivable things. We are an Unseen, Unknown, Unvincible fraternity of craftsman.."
Professional Member
My analogs work great in the rain..
Professional Member*
Alreegator,Sad night for me last night.
On a late night service call with my SMAN 3 connected to the condenser getting SC and SH when I had to run to the truck. As I'm walking back from the truck, the H/O calls me and I head inside to see what the concern was. Well, after I calm the guy and his wife down and tell them to sit back and let me work a little, I head back outside and discover that it has started to rain. I run to the rear of the house to protect my gauges and when I get to them I notice that they're reading over 400 psig ON BOTH lines!
Disconnect them and put them in the truck. Later as I'm packing up to leave, I turn them on to see if everything is okay and discover that they're reading pressure without being attached to a line! They even read pressure without the hoses attached!!! Attempted to calibrate them and now the high side just reads OL while the low side is still fluctuating.
I just hope that my local supply house allows me to return them and get the Testos.
We had a guy forget his gauges on the top of a R/T on Friday in South Florida...it rained all day Saturday and Sunday damned near all day. When he went to the first service call Monday....he realized.....no manifold....sheeit.....remembered the last service call Friday, went back, grabbed the gauges off the top of the R/T and dumped the water off the faceplate and hit power.....that was 3 years ago....he's still using the same gauges....
We have double labyrinth molded gasket on the clamshell and gaskets/o-rings on the temp sensor faceplate plug which is IP68 (underwater rated) as is the unit when it's plugged in and the back has a shrouded goretex vent to allow the battery hydrogen to escape without water ingress......
Just to bore you on all the blah, blah, blah....but it's a TOOL not a girly toy and it's gotta be dependable for me too....I'm in coveralls everyday doing the same stuff as you guys......and I'm on the 'Wet Coast' of Canada.....it rains damned near everyday out here.....and for the guy, #1CDNTECH from TO, yes we're 3 hours behind you but if I'm in the office at 5 am before my mtn bike ride, and Brenda's cell goes off I'll answer it......
You also ain't the #1 tech.....that'd be Garth Denison ... d'you know him...? He's a GOD in this industry ...
"The quality you deserve is not expensive---it's priceless"
Professional Member*
Bought the 1200 in 2007 then converted it to a 1250 a year or two later. I also bought the AK900 shortly after this past Thanksgiving and I find the KA900 every bit as tough and accurate a my 1250.
I use both in the hot sun, rainy roofs, inside -18*F freezers just as I used my analogues in the past, without any protection or cover. Since 2007 I never experienced any failure of my Digi-Cool's. This is not to mention the many drops and falls, some that I know even analogues would not be undamaged. Digi-Cool's are not only a precision test instrument but also a proven tough field instrument.
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