Air leak detector

[Biljol]

I read somewhere on the forms about a air leak detector. I heard they work better than soapy water. Has anyone used one and what brand do you use?

[akeagle]

Its hard to imagine anything significantly better than soapy water.

And to boot it can be very cheaply home made by adding a bit of dishwashing soap to a spare spray bottle you probably have at home.

[kenwyatt]

Look for a post by ZackMan “ Air spring leakage and Hydraulic hose replacement. One is discussed in the thread. Haven’t tried it myself but it gets good press

[CountryB]

Originally Posted by Biljol

I read somewhere on the forms about a air leak detector. I heard they work better than soapy water. Has anyone used one and what brand do you use?

I have one (Steelman) https://www.steelmantools.com/diagno...vibration.html but it is not as nice/easy to use as soapy water method. The problem is that as you move the listening probe around the air fittings every thing you bump against sounds like thunder in your ear. And it's hard to reach many of the fittings laying under the Coach and reaching up to the fittings. i use it as a backup to the soapy water.

With the soapy water method, I just put it in a (pump up lawn sprayer with a long hose to pump spray nozzle) and hit the entire undercarriage. sometimes it takes 20 minutes or more for a small leak to show with the bubbles. The specialty "leak detection soap" works much better than the homemade dish soap method )it stays on the fitting longer and doesn't drip off as fast like dish soap.

[153stars]

Only better for low pressure like inches of water high volume or vacuum, like on an a sealed conveyor system , blow out patch or somewhere you can't use soapy water. It can also point to air leaks in large noisy room if other sounds are not high pitched. One I use at work has leds and adjustable scale from low to extreme sensitivity. We never use the headphones.

[hypoxia]

I have an Amprobe Ultrasonic Leak Detector ULD-420 https://www.amprobe.com/product/uld-420/ which works great. I use soap quite a bit but there are places soap isn't the best such as around electronics or bottom exhausting valves. There are air connections I cannot see but can stick the long nozzle of the ULD-420 there and hear the leak.

What's not to like about adding another tool to the box