Digital Magnahelic for testing A.I.R. Lines

[idadd4]

Aloha all;

I have the standard Magnahelic, IP and ProFlow meter for testing regulators.

After performing the tests and tabulating the results, I plot the information on a chart, very similar to the one in the book by Pete Wolfinger.

But in today's day and age, I can't imagine there isn't a digital / electronic way of processing these Regulators to provide a more accurate and "legible" chart to provide to the customer.

I have search for digital magnahelic and digital A.I.R. testing, but only come up with one on ScubaServiceTools.com. I see a lot in HVAC and understand it is very similar, although enough of a difference I can't sue them.

Does anyone have any recommendation on a digital or electronic magnahelic and ProFlow?

 

[Mobulai]

The only legible commercial example I can think of that (potentially) can do plots (and I suspect that because I got some used/serviced regs from shops here in Germany that did have some dynamic IP/CE/WoB plots) is from the makers of ANSTI machines (JFD):

https://www.jfdglobal.com/files/9616/6081/9906/Case_studies_ANSTI_CTSF_Tiki_Plongee__20220811_R3.pdf

JFD | Ansti Computerised Surface Test Facility (CSTF)

The Computerised Surface Test Facility (CSTF) comprising a control module and laptop offer a rapid and effective test capability for demand regulators and breathing apparatus.

www.jfdglobal.com

You might wanna join @rsingler petition to Scubalabs to make A.I.R. Equivalence tests against full ANSTI machines as he did for Regulator Geeks 2: Scubapro's Balanced Regs

 

[Johnsonsa93]

Seems like @Mobulai posted the only setup you can buy that would provide you with a plot output. Gave it a google but seems like the price for it isn't posted any where which makes me believe it's decently pricey. If you're just looking for a digital version of a IP gauge and a Digital magnahelic (Manometer) gauge then I can recommend the two I've been using which are from Scuba-Clinc-Tools.com.

I'm sure it would be pretty easy to fit them onto the existing brackets you have for the A.I.R flow meter stand you have. I replaced the inlet to the Digital IP gauge with the one I had on my analog IP gauge as the digital one did not come with the ability to have the spin on adapters for different Air 2 style QD hoses. Additionally I replaced the OP valve on the digital IP gauge with the one that was on my analog gauge as I like the lever that was more convenient for depressurizing / cycling the 1st stage.

The digital magnahelic gauge is a huge step up in finding cracking efforts from eyeballing the analog one. Fair warning though there is a small learning curve to a digital IP gauge as its really nice to see the needle on a analog gauge move when looking for drifting IP's. Took me a few weeks to get really comfortable with it but now I love it.

Not gonna lie though, the one @Mobulai posted looks pretty sweet though... they also have a version that can test setups on the surface as well as at simulated depths of 500msw (or greater upon demand) which is pretty sweet if I had the space / money

 

[Mobulai]

No pricing that I could find as well, assuming full on ANSTI machines cost 250k-1M (depending on customer requirements), I would guess theses can go for 10-50k if they are targeting a service shop or a commercial diving station

I am very much on the hunt for more info about them, but so far that’s all I got (these Brochures and my assumption that the plots I got with a service log came from it or a similar equivalent from a maker like Dräger) — and would for sure be sweet

I am also just starting with an analog Mag and was wondering about digital ones, maybe for travel - a used SP one came up on a classified and made me interested, I prefer something that can register peaks, if it can do a digital log I’d be very excited over the state of solid state sensors in mass production

@Johnsonsa93 what kind of peculiarities should one look out for when learning to read them?

 

[Mobulai]

Another possible candidate is (tho seems to be optimized for firefighting FFMs)

Weiteres Freizeit, Hobby & Nachbarschaft | kleinanzeigen.de

Kleinanzeigen: Weiteres Freizeit, Hobby & Nachbarschaft - Jetzt in Schweinfurt finden oder inserieren! - kleinanzeigen.de

www.kleinanzeigen.de

Sorry it’s only in german, it’s a classified ad so 7k and it’s yours

Edit:
Just found this video
(in Italian that I can below barely understand) about it, it’s certainly for ff ffms and probably can’t do scuba, but interesting enough the background of the plots in there @4:20 & 5:55, they really look like an AIR curve (template)

 

[Johnsonsa93]

@Johnsonsa93 what kind of peculiarities should one look out for when learning to read them?

Its not really peculiarities as much as it is just getting used to not seeing the needle swing. It's one of those moments where you can see why a lot of people don't like transitions from analog to digital things. Seeing the movement of the needle is more intuitive than looking at numbers change.


I've been using it now for a couple months and really prefer it to analog gauge because even small drifts are easier to identify but like I said, at first its less intuitive and obvious watching numbers change than seeing a needle move

 

[Mobulai]

I got sucked down the (what I call now in my head the breathy boi) Dräger Testor rabbit hole, even tho it seems like a deadend as it is for firefighters BA

They seem to be rated at 10 l/min, and the “IP” (labeled 1st stage pressure) is set to be 6-7 bar, but just AIR (surface flowrates) 10lpm can’t really push hard enough at scuba regs
The magnehelic dial goes uo to 28mbar (~1.2 InH20 i think) and the IP dial goes up to 15bar (but its sweet spot its 4-8bar/60-110psi)

I’m very tempted to get an old one (found the older 2100 for cheapish ~200€) and try and see if it can be hacked for “mild” scuba testing — but probably would end up on my mountain of clutter and hoarder to-dos collecting dust

I wonder why drager don’t have something like this for scuba equipment — I get that their firefighter supply chain is much bigger and more revenue generating but they made regs in tge past, and they still make rebreathers dammit , it seems like just an “app” to the same device and won’t cost them much :/

 

[Mobulai]

Regarding OPs original query, I have dug up the plots I mentioned before, one of them seems to come from a “Pressure Guard”, they seem to have 3 products that fit the bill:

AS137 – PressureGuard

The other seems to have the smae exact layout so I think also from a pressure guard device

Here are the plots I got (for a used AL core, and a used BA[150]+Mk10)

 

[idadd4]

Thanks for the answers. This has helped to realize these are WAY to much money for our little shop...

Thanks all - very much.

 

[VsubT]

Late to this thread, but possibly relevant, the Testo 510i digital manometer can display a plot of pressure vs. time on a Bluetooth app for iOS or android. Looks like the free version of the app will display/capture up to 6 probes data as raw numbers or a live graph with logging. Note that the instrument itself does not have a screen. It’s currently $130 on Amazon.

Started looking into this since I already have Testo refrigerant gauges, so I could use the same 510i for duct pressures and possibly cracking pressure for second stages too.

Lance