Hello folks and welcome! If you haven’t noticed by now over the past few weeks I have taken the time to go find, research, write, and do a product review on each and every refrigerant leak detector that I could find.
While I did not use these units first hand I want to point out to you that I read through their instruction manuals, I read through all of the existing product reviews, I read through the specifications, I read through the documentation. I went through anything and everything that I could possibly find on these refrigerant leak detectors. My goal here was simple. I wanted to have the largest and most complete article on each of these tools. The question you have to ask is who else in their right mind would go through this? No one that I know of, that’s for sure!
After weeks of doing this I feel that I have a rather large list of product reviews that I have assembled. There are many more still to come but I feel that the list is sufficient enough for the next step. Along with this list has come some knowledge that I would like to share with you. Each and every one of these detectors were different in their own right. Some were better, some were worse, some were innovative, some were standard. The idea that I had in my head and what you will be reading below is a price point comparison table on these detectors. These comparison tables will show you all the different attributes of each detector along with a link to their official product page, their official RefrigerantHQ product review, and a link to either E-Bay or Amazon to purchase.
I will select three detectors from three pricing categories. We will have a low, medium, and high price point. Each detector chosen in these categories are what I have deemed to be the best in class. Yes, I know that there are others out there and there may even be some that I have missed but I can assure you that I have done my research and that if you purchase a medium or high priced product that you will be getting a top quality product that will last you a while and support you on site without issue.
Without further ado, let’s dive in and see what we can learn about the refrigerant detectors on the market today:
High Price
Yes, we are starting with the highest price first. Why? Well folks I feel like I can really brag about these detectors. These are the best of the best. It honestly doesn’t get better than these leak detectors. There are so many features that I can’t list them all.
Each of these brand names you will all recognize as they are synonymous with quality. These are the kinds of detectors that you would see an experienced professional have in his tool bag. The one word of caution here is that these are the high price point so expect to pay anywhere from three-hundred all the way up to five-hundred dollars for these tools. I can assure you though that you are paying for quality and if you are going to be in the industry for a while then I would recommend you purchase quality rather than by price.
Let’s take a look at the comparison table:
| Name: | INFICON D-Tek | Fieldpiece SRL2 (K7) | Bascharach's H-10 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image: |  |  |  |
| Type: | Infrared | Infrared | Heated Diode |
| Refrigerant Detected: | CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs, and HFOs | CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs, and HFOs | CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs, and HFO's. |
| Sensitivity : | 0.100 Ounces Per Year | 0.100 Ounces Per Year | 0.006 Ounces Per Year |
| Settings: | High and Low | High, Medium, and Low | High, Medium, and Low |
| Sensor Life: | 1,000 Hour Sensor Life | Ten Years | Around One Year |
| Probe Length: | Fifteen Inches | Fifteen Inches | Fifty-Four Inches |
| Probe Extension: | No | Yes, Nine Inch Extension | No |
| Rechargeable Battery: | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Battery Life: | Seven Hour Charge | Eight Hour Charge | Three Hour Charge |
| Warm-Up Time: | Sixty Seconds | Thirty Seconds | Two Minutes |
| Warranty: | Two Year Warranty | One Year Warranty | Three Year Warranty |
| Price Point: | Medium | Medium | High |
| Manufacturer's Website: | INFICON's Product Page | FieldPiece's Product Page | Bacharach"s Product Page |
| Buy Now! | Buy Now! | Buy Now! | |
| Product Review: | RefrigerantHQ's Product Review | RefrigerantHQ's Product Review | RefrigerantHQ's Product Review |
Now besides these three great products there is one additional premium leak detector that I want to mention before moving on. That detector folks is the JB Industries LD-5000 Prowler. This detector is superb and has amazing sensitivity levels going as low as 0.050 ounces per year.
Check out my product review of the Prowler.
Medium Price
I have a feeling this is where most of you will end up buying at. These detectors have great quality and allow you to still buy at a decent price. While they may not have all of the bells and whistles as the big boys do above you will definitely notice the difference in your wallet. These detectors will range from around one-hundred dollars upwards to about two-hundred and fifty dollars. As I said before, these are good quality and will serve you well.
Let’s take a look at the comparison table:
| Name: | INFICON TEK-Mate | Fieldpiece SRL8 | Robinair TIFXP-1A |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image: |  |  |  |
| Type: | Heated Diode | Heated Diode | Heated Diode |
| Refrigerant Detected: | CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs, and HFOs | CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs, and HFOs | CFCs, HCFCs, and HFCs |
| Sensitivity : | As low as 0.15 Ounces Per Year | As Low as 0.10 Ounces Per Year | As Low as 0.10 Ounces Per Year |
| Settings: | Low and High | Low, Medium, and High | Seven levels of sensitivity adjustment |
| Sensor Life: | One-Hundred Hours | Five Years | Twenty Hours of Use - One Backup in Box |
| Probe Length: | Fifteen Inches | Fourteen Inches | Fourteen Inches |
| Probe Extension: | No | Yes, Nine Inches | No |
| Rechargeable Battery: | No, Two D-cell batteries | Yes, Lithium Ion | No. Two C-cell batteries |
| Battery Life: | Sixteen Hours | Fifteen Hours | Forty Hours |
| Warm-Up Time: | Unknown | Thirty Seconds | Two seconds |
| Mute Button? | No | Yes | Yes |
| Carrying Case? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| American Made? | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
| Warranty: | Two Year | One Year | Three Years |
| Price Point: | Medium | High | Medium |
| Manufacturer's Website: | Official Product Page | Official Product Page | Official Product Page |
| Buy Now! | Buy Now! | Buy Now! | Buy Now! |
| Product Review: | RefrigerantHQ's Product Review | RefrigerantHQ's Product Review | RefrigerantHQ's Product Review |
Low Price
Alright folks we’re on to the bottom of the list. There is only one reason why I am including these detectors in my comparison listing today. That reason is that people purchase these detectors. Like it or not, they are purchased every day. It’s the price point that attracts them and the people who do purchase these detectors are usually the do-it-yourselfer tinkering in his garage and trying to repair his 1997 Subaru’s air conditioning system. They use these detectors one or two times and then toss it on the shelf never to be used again.
I’m going to tell you this right now. If you plan to use these low priced detectors over a period of time or for again and again use then I would tell you to stop what you are doing and scroll back up to the medium priced detectors. Yes, I know you will be paying more but I can assure you that you will save yourself a hell of a lot of time and a lot of frustration if you purchase a medium priced detector.
That’s enough of that though. Let’s take a look at the comparison table:
| Name: | Signstek HLD-100 | Elitech CLCD-100 | HDE Detector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image: |  |  |  |
| Type: | Heated Diode | Heated Diode | Heated Diode |
| Refrigerant Detected: | CFCs, HCFCs, and HFCs | CFCs, HCFCs, and HFCs | CFCs, HCFCs, and HFCs |
| Sensitivity : | As Low As 0.10 Ounces Per Year | As Low As 0.210 Ounces Per Year | As Low As 0.210 Ounces Per Year |
| Settings: | Low and High | Turn-Dial Adjustments | Turn-Dial Adjustments |
| Sensor Life: | Fifty Hours | Unknown | Unknown |
| Probe Length: | Fourteen Inches | Eight Inches | Seventeen Inches |
| Probe Extension: | No | No | No |
| Rechargeable Battery: | No | No, AAA Batteries | No |
| Battery Life: | Unknown, complaints of 'eating' batteries | Twenty Hours | Unknown |
| Warm-Up Time: | Five to Ten Seconds | Five to Ten Seconds | Five to Ten Seconds |
| Mute Button? | Yes | No | No |
| Carrying Case? | No | No | Yes |
| American Made? | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Warranty: | Unknown | One Year | Unknown |
| Price Point: | Low | Low | Low |
| Manufacturer's Website: | Unknown | Official Product Page | Unknown |
| Buy Now! | Buy Now! | Buy Now! | Buy Now! |
| Product Review: | RefrigerantHQ's Product Review | RefrigerantHQ's Product Review | RefrigerantHQ's Product Review |
You may have noticed that on this table there weren’t very many product pages. There was a reason for this. I couldn’t find them. There were nowhere to be found. I searched Google and other sites. I looked on Amazon for links. I looked all around and there is just no trace.
What this means to me is that some of these products are cheap imports. They are imported in-mass from overseas and just dumped here at rock-bottom prices in hopes of unloading them on consumers as fast as they can. I am not a fan of this as your quality and warranty suffers. You know what they say though: You get what you pay for.
Conclusion
Well folks this article along with it’s comparison tables should give you everything that you would ever need to know about buying a refrigerant leak detector but just in case I am going to refer you to one additional article I wrote on how to find a leak. This article goes into how to use a detector and what steps you should take before resorting to the electronic leak detector. Remember, the electronic detector should be your last step. Never underestimate the power of your eyes. You’ll be amazed at the clues you will find if you just take the time to look around. (Oil stains for example.)
I hope that I was able to help you or your company in your buying decision today.