Inficon Stratus H10 Pro Shootout

[vin lashon]

Guess I've been lucky with mine...replaced a few sensors and batteries. But they do detect well and that's all I care about. Until something better comes along, I'll buy new ones as needed...

I love my ZX too. How does yours do with 410a?

[itsiceman]

Can't be too good if he bought a thousand dollar detector

[itsiceman]

I checked my H10 Pro sensor setting. I stumbled on the replacement sensor instructions and it finally made sense how to check and set to heat. Mine is running hot. The original was probably hot too. I never changed the factory setting or cranked up on it with age.

[Saturatedpsi]

I love my ZX too. How does yours do with 410a?

Not as well as 22 and not as well as the one in the video...but way better than the SRL2, an SRL2 look-a-like or any other detector I've had.

I have confirmed some relatively small (pound± a month±) 410A coil leaks with the ZX and failed to confirm some relatively small coil leaks. The failures could well have been due to procedure rather than the detector...lack of patience on my part.

As already stated, in comparison tests with the Stratus the results have been inconsistent and thus, inconclusive.

[Saturatedpsi]

Can't be too good if he bought a thousand dollar detector

Grasping at straws...

[Saturatedpsi]

I checked my H10 Pro sensor setting. I stumbled on the replacement sensor instructions and it finally made sense how to check and set to heat. Mine is running hot. The original was probably hot too. I never changed the factory setting or cranked up on it with age.

Do you check it with some type of credible leak reference...or the little bottle of R-11 or whatever it is?

[itsiceman]

Do you check it with some type of credible leak reference...or the little bottle of R-11 or whatever it is?

The heater setting instructions and high low indicator LEDs are calibrated to the R11 reference bottle.

[itsiceman]

Not as well as 22 and not as well as the one in the video...but way better than the SRL2, an SRL2 look-a-like or any other detector I've had.

I have confirmed some relatively small (pound± a month±) 410A coil leaks with the ZX and failed to confirm some relatively small coil leaks. The failures could well have been due to procedure rather than the detector...lack of patience on my part.

As already stated, in comparison tests with the Stratus the results have been inconsistent and thus, inconclusive.

That's my old ZX-1
Huh... 8 years ago
I miss that screaming detector.

[Saturatedpsi]

That's my old ZX-1
Huh... 8 years ago
I miss that screaming detector.

I just stumbled onto the vid and saw you handle...

Was that done with the orifice type leak reference gadget?

[itsiceman]

Yes a leak reference.
The same one as MechAcc used here

https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread...Leak-Reference

Looks like the videos are gone though. He had some with a solinoid valve where the Z didn't do so well.

[Saturatedpsi]

Yes a leak reference.
The same one as MechAcc used here

https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread...Leak-Reference

The LS-4...same thing I have. And I saw his videos on another forum.

The paperwork that came with mine says not to expose the device to liquid, so I have never inverted the refrigerant drum. I wonder if that makes a difference with the amount of stuff that discharges?

Neither ZX I have ever detected as strong as your video showed...

[Saturatedpsi]

The paperwork that came with mine says not to expose the device to liquid, so I have never inverted the refrigerant drum. I wonder if that makes a difference with the amount of stuff that discharges?

Never mind...I inverted the drum and there was no change in detection levels.

[Chuck]

So I now have a Stratus leak detector that works great, no more erratic readings thanks to instant response from Inficon.

Checked a store yesterday that has been losing some gas and found a leak using the Stratus. It was 7 doors for frozen meat cases that as soon as I stuck the probe in the door it shot up to 300 ppm. So I continued walking along probing inside each door and in one door I had 550 ppm. In only a matter of seconds I knew where the highest concentration of refrigerant was.

So then put it in defrost to increase pressure and check with the fans off. Now I had 5,000 ppm at one very specific part of the case, probing down into the bottom of the case through the grates. I removed only one section of product and pulled up the cover and found the leak inside the coil, even down to the specific gap in the fins where the gas was coming out.

I would have found the leak with the H10 Pro also, it would have just taken a little longer since the thing was pretty much screaming no matter which door I stuck it in, so I would have probably had to remove more sections of product to narrow it down.

The stratus definitely shines in a contaminated environment like a motor room with leaks on the rack or a glass door lineup, very easy to narrow down the leak area.

I'll keep testing, still haven't had to find a small leak, such as a self contained unit. This is probably where the H10 will outperform but I want to compare it yet. Still a little worried about finding the tiny leaks with the Stratus since it won't alarm on the Bacharach reference bottle.

[vin lashon]

So I now have a Stratus leak detector that works great, no more erratic readings thanks to instant response from Inficon.

Checked a store yesterday that has been losing some gas and found a leak using the Stratus. It was 7 doors for frozen meat cases that as soon as I stuck the probe in the door it shot up to 300 ppm. So I continued walking along probing inside each door and in one door I had 550 ppm. In only a matter of seconds I knew where the highest concentration of refrigerant was.

So then put it in defrost to increase pressure and check with the fans off. Now I had 5,000 ppm at one very specific part of the case, probing down into the bottom of the case through the grates. I removed only one section of product and pulled up the cover and found the leak inside the coil, even down to the specific gap in the fins where the gas was coming out.

I would have found the leak with the H10 Pro also, it would have just taken a little longer since the thing was pretty much screaming no matter which door I stuck it in, so I would have probably had to remove more sections of product to narrow it down.

The stratus definitely shines in a contaminated environment like a motor room with leaks on the rack or a glass door lineup, very easy to narrow down the leak area.

I'll keep testing, still haven't had to find a small leak, such as a self contained unit. This is probably where the H10 will outperform but I want to compare it yet. Still a little worried about finding the tiny leaks with the Stratus since it won't alarm on the Bacharach reference bottle.

Have you tried the YJ bottle?

I'll be interested to know how the stratus works with pinpointing small leaks (no cloud).

[Chuck]

No, I do not have a YJ bottle.

Have you tried the YJ bottle?

I'll be interested to know how the stratus works with pinpointing small leaks (no cloud).

[knave]

Chuck thanks for the report, how did you get to the coil fins with only one section of product out? Maybe through the fan?

[vin lashon]

No, I do not have a YJ bottle.

yellow jacket standard leak reference bottle YJ69836

The Bacharach R-11 bottle didn't work with my SLR8, but the YJ does. When (if) you get the YJ bottle, it'll have an expiration date on it, likely already past. No worries, works great (it's various refrigerants in a "gel"). The YJ tech seemed baffled that they even use the date.

I had URI order the YJ. Ran about $25.

There's also the LS-4 'fitting' that Sat psi mentions. It's made in the UK. Not sure where to get it locally:

https://www.htproducts.co.uk/pages/p...leak/LS-4.html

[Chuck]

Yes, I pulled a fan.

Chuck thanks for the report, how did you get to the coil fins with only one section of product out? Maybe through the fan?

[Gleng]

Do you notice the stratus being a little bit loud in the search mode .Mine was making a louder than normal sound,I called Inficon,they swapped it out for a new one.Other than that, it has been working very good.Founf several small leaks with it already.

[itsiceman]

I imagine R11 is out of the infrared wavelength in which the Stratus is tuned. Since it's not a common refrigerant it was probably better to cut that range out to prevent false alarms but wondering how close 22 might be to 11