Industrial Vacuum Leak Detection and Pump Testing

Information may not be reliable

A Vacuum Leak Detectors is now central to the home-owner's collection of home-owner tools as they are an economical, reliable and hardly ever biased choice for leakage detection. As with all appliances and tools however, they come with pros and cons. Not only do these instruments have their place in the home-owner's tool box, but they also have their place in a home-owner's garage or shed.

As with all appliances and tools however, there are advantages and disadvantages associated with vacuum leak detectors. The biggest advantage to be found for these instruments is their relative availability. They can be found by most people, even those who would not otherwise consider themselves handy. A second major advantage of these instruments have is their low cost relative to other leak detection tools. As with most low cost items in modern society, the third major advantage and usually the most significant one, are the low prices they charge for testing.

So, just how do they work and why are they used? These instruments work on a fairly simple principle. The key to their operation is in the act of raising the suction pressure by pushing on the tubing while it is in the upright position. Once the tube is raised to this point, the air that passes through it will be compressed and will have a higher temperature than that of the surrounding air. This means that the rate at which heat is conducted away from the body of the person using the tool is greater when these instruments are in use. This is why low cost vacuum leak detectors are always chosen over other, more expensive tools when leak detection is a concern.

A further advantage of these vacuum leak detectors is that they can also detect the presence of carbon monoxide. This can be a particularly useful tool in cases where a person has inhaled some carbon monoxide but their personal shower has not been turned on yet. Breathing in the fumes can cause suffocation if the person is not removed quickly from the bath before the poisonous gases begin to circulate. Both types of this highly volatile gas can also act as a stimulant to cause confusion and even hallucinations in the individual so this too could be a major reason for using them.

How do vacuum leak detectors work to give reliable results? They use a combination of optical fibers and infrared light to detect the presence of gaseous pollutants like carbon monoxide and helium. By shining an infrared light on the tubes, we can tell what the gaps are through the effects of refraction. As this fluorescent light only passes through a very small hole, we are able to determine how much air pressure is present. This pressure is measured in decibels and is proportional to the amount of gas present. High levels of this gas can cause suffocation in less than one tenth of a second.

Most vacuum leak detectors will come with some sort of user manual with some very useful tips. If you are new to these types of testing equipment, I would definitely recommend that you check the manual first. Most manufacturers will provide some sort of resources for troubleshooting or general information about their product. This is a vital part of the consumer package and must be utilized to get some good reliable results.

Using vacuum leak detectors to test the presence of industrial leaks requires a little bit of patience. First of all, it is important to set the device up at an ideal distance from the suspected area. Then, you must wait for the device to complete its set time of scanning the material without emitting any light or noise. You should repeat this procedure several times until you are satisfied that you have found leaks. However, it is worth noting that industrial leak detection does not generally guarantee the presence of actual leaks.

Vacuum leak detectors which are used to detect the presence of airborne pollutants usually come equipped with built-in mass spectrometers. The majority of such devices employ gases like nitrogen or carbon dioxide in conjunction with low voltage light sources. The apparatus is normally mounted on a tripod in order to allow for easy placement and mobility. Portable vacuum detection systems utilizing low emission, high resolution instruments are also available to suit the needs of a variety of industrial applications.