I was wondering what most are using for a UV light and a dye injector setup for autos. Ive seen the UV LED setups, are they bright enough for a decent search?
Thanks
As long as time is not an issue, the small penlights sold at the parts stores work okay if used at night.
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Just another brick in the wall
Had a little mule I fed him castor oil and every time he jumped the fence he fertilized the soil
I have a set (penlight with glasses) from the auto parts stores, and they work ok if you can block the direct sunlight. Park it under a tree or in a garage. And they are a lot cheaper than a sniffer.
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Send me e-mail
Understood on the LED UV lights. How about the caulking gun type dye injector systems, are those worth a darn? All Ive used is cartridge type via suction line in residential A/C units. Thanks
I use a CFL type blacklight, off the shelf @ Home Depot. Just put it in your droplight like a regular bulb. They put out plenty of UV, and work well for leak checking.
B.
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"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."
~ Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi, An Autobiography, M. K. Gandhi, page 446.
I will stick with my less than one ounce per year sensitivity electronic leak detector. I don't need UV light to search for oil leaks.
I'm too old to change. Can get just oil leaks, or just refrigerant leaks, or both, all depends upon the nature of that leak. Dyes approximate only oil type of leaks. Ha, also too old to be shot down.
good point, Nick- so one can have an ac refrigerant leak without the oil seeping through? I didnt know that. I figured, one goes with the other(?)
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beware of the arrival
Only thing I understand with snifers- at least the ones that go down to 100ppm HC- you can pick up vapors from a leaky gas line/old engine/carburetor as well. They pick up HC's, and gas is an HC.
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beware of the arrival
Edited: Tue December 11, 2012 at 6:19 PM by pippo
If you have only a flammable gas sniffer you can put a small amount of HC (e.g. propane) in an otherwise empty system for static leak tests. It's a very sensitive technique but expect false alarms from other HC typically found under the hood.
Edited: Tue December 11, 2012 at 8:53 PM by mk378
OK, now more news- you say there are flammable gas sniffers and non flammable gas sniffers? How do they work? I woulda thought they work on HC, no matter which kind(so say, gasoline and R134a, r12, propane). R134a is flammable, but at higher temps, so kinda a fine point here. They would be triggered as well as say, non flammables like say if you had chloroform around (LOL), or DCM, etc. HC is HC, right?
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beware of the arrival
Edited: Wed December 12, 2012 at 5:55 PM by pippo
In dark spaces they are good as long as good quality dye is present.
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coldstar
I buy the 1/4 ounce bottles- mix 2 or 3 in with my gallon jug of refrigerant oils- that way- every car that I add oil to gets the dye automatically- I never use oil that doesn't have the dye in it ahead of time. Works great- that way if a car ever comes back- I can easily check it out- also beware- exposed dye stains will disappear after about a month- if there is not a constant leak- I have tested this- accidently spilled some oil on the wide's white van fender- no cleaner known to man would erase that stain after it dried- yet in 3 weeks it was gone! Sunlight seems to help destroy the stains.
I find that a very little bit of dye goes a long way- heck 2 quarter ounce bottles will turn a gallon jug of oil totally green- so I use about 10% of the recommended amount by the dye manufacturers....
Leak detectors are fine- but only work if car is leaking while you are checking it!! I have found numerous situations where the leak is like a fart- leaks every 2 or 3 hours or so---Just plant a leak detector near a suspected leak- let it set all day- while your working on something else-- and hear it go off every 30 minutes or so- then get quiet- then go off an hour later...The dye shows where and if a leak every happened- the leak detector says it is leaking while your checking and assumes a continous leak!!!
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The number one A/C diagnostic tool there is- is to know how much refrigerant is in the system- this can only be done by recovering and weighing the refrigerant!!
Just a thought.... 65% of A/C failures in my 3200 car diagnostic database (GM vehicles) are due to loss of refrigerant due to a leak......
Edited: Mon January 28, 2013 at 11:36 AM by GM Tech
Most people would choose the LED lights for cars or also house decoration. So do I. After all, the LED car lights are getting more and more available and affordable in the cars and motors and would make your cars look greater.
Edited: Fri June 14, 2013 at 5:11 AM by sunpialia
I used the small can with dye & 134a and " squirted " it into the system . Bought the penlite and yellow glasses . So far it has helped .
God bless
Wyr
Blacklight from HD
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