Do You Miss these Hidden Problems with Your Analog Gauge?

This article is by Doug Lockhart, the lead engineer at Digi-Cool Industries. To browse our selection of powerful digital analyzers visit Digi-Cool.com. You can buy direct from Digi-Cools website--and save.

A great deal of information lies hidden beneath the vibrating needle of a typical pressure gauge. Is the TEV valve modulating properly, or is there liquid flooding back in the system? The pressure gauges in your manifold are coarse, and they cant show the smaller things like sucking small slugs of liquid. Your thermometer tells you the suction line temperature, but youve got to find the right line on your wallet card that tells what pressure for R407C gives 45 dew. But the card only has values for 40 and 50, so you have to take a guess. Or do you say that 76psi you remember for R22 is close enough, since you are doing a drop-in replacement with R407C for it? On top of that, sometimes we have to follow up on iffy work from the previous service. What gas are they running inside the system? How many refrigerants do you keep in your truck? It was this demand for refrigeration mechanics to have more accurate sources of information readings that drove the demand for digital analyzers. Back in 1989, when I first became interested in digital alternatives to analog gauges, it was already apparent that refrigeration systems were advancing faster than the tools we used to service them. Since then digital analyzers have provided deep insight into the hidden fluctuations of complex refrigeration systems. They have done much in my own experience to simplify the everyday problems that techs face in the field.

If you are still on the fence about digital versus analog, here are some common problems that analog gauges miss, as well as some simple ways that digital analyzers make life easier for mechanics. Refrigerant Circuits, Compressor Failures, and Liquid Floodback More problems in today's refrigeration systems are within the refrigerant circuit as a result of exotic refrigerants, oils and resultant toxic brews. Traditional Bourdon tube pressure gauges and wallet cards do not give you the precision necessary to make accurate or timely decisions about what needs fixing. If you use a digital analyzer, youll know that the graph segments naturally show the changes happening to LS and HS pressure, down to 14 psi movements (this is based on Digi-Cools dynamic bar-graph display). These movements are like a heart beat: a system with problems such as a little bit of liquid floodback or a wondering TEV is easy to spot; a healthy one is obvious. Believe it or not, most analog gauges have never seen these important movements! Theres also no need to carry wallet cards and make fatal mistakes calculating saturation temperatures. After you select from the 30+ refrigerants on board most new models, the saturated suction temperature (SST) or due point at the current pressure is shown automatically for the low side. The high side shows your bubble point. This allows quick superheat and subcooling calculations. This eliminates one of the most common problems on the job: human error. For example, if you assumed R22 and R407C have identical SSTs above, you would have less superheat than you think. The actual dew point for R407C at the old system pressure of 76psi is 48, not 45. Advanced analyzers will tell you right on the screen when you set your pressure, so theres no guessing around. You would also know that the pressure you actually want to use is 72psi. Dont think thats a big difference? A/C systems usually get little attention to their subtle problems until they become compressor failures. Consider that the highest failure rate of compressors is with R22! Fluorine in refrigerants, with minute amounts of moisture and air, forms HF acidan acid that eats out glass. Since motor windings are silica based, the motor winding insulation dies. Digital analyzers show you subtleties like liquid floodback from a plugged evaporator coil, high superheat from plugged condensers, or

short charges, whereas they are extremely difficult if not impossible to spot on a conventional gauge set. Since digital analyzers present accurate, constantly updated SSTs, they also reduce charging times by allowing you to charge based on superheat. With readings in Hg, drawing a vacuum on a system for everyday work is simple. However, I recommend a micron vacuum gauge when eliminating moisture or determining the tightness of a system by deep vacuum draw. Common Problems. Easy Solutions. When I designed my first analyzer (in my garage with common household parts), I also knew that small differences could really impact daily headaches on the jobs. For example, a personal mission of mine is to ensure that my own companys analyzers (Digi-Cool) have big, easy-to-read screens. Rather than making ten trips across the room, or trying to guess at the exact reading while a needle bounces around in the dark, you can read the big measurements of the LCD screen. Other features such as single-screen toggling which makes the large amount of data given by digital readers both manageable and efficient can do a lot to improve your mental health out there in the field. Not mention that they also help to eliminate small errors made out of frustration or simply being tired at the end of a long day. HVAC/R work is much different nowadays; there are many more factors and possible problems. Business owners demand us to be more efficient and productive to keep their business as well as earn future projects. We can accomplish this with more accurate, time saving tools that give us superior information quicker. While you pay a little more for the advanced tools, they provide accurate, detailed readings that allow you to clearly see the exact problem. One more consideration. Who would you honestly hire? The guy with the outdated, clunky, vibrating needle that looks like he might have known what he was doing in the 1970s? Or the guy that shows up with an advanced digital tool, able to report to the client that he was able to spot a small fluctuation which he can easily correct before it becomes a large failure. By preventing small problems from becoming costly repairs, you deliver value to your client, establishing yourself as an expertnot just a guy who comes back 3 or 4 times to charge him for fixing the same problem again and again.

If your cellphone looks more advanced than the tools you use to make your living, it might be time to spend a little money updating your professional image. About the Author Doug Lockhart (A.Sc.T) is the lead engineer at Digi-Cool Industries, a refrigeration analyzer company that he founded in 1989. A former HVAC tech, he is best known as the inventor of the dynamic bar-graph display,a patented innovation that led to the start of Digi-Cool. His company Digi-Cool is widely recognized as the creators of the worlds first digital manifold.Their new model, the AK-900 (dubbed the Analog Killer) is Digi-Cools latest assault on analog technology. You can read more articles by Doug at DigiCool.com.