I have been waiting to see the bucket tester. What is it's status??
Been awfully quiet here lately!!!
I ordered some stuff today....asked Bill about the new tester. He said possibly it may be ready to ship in June and that it's going through software
tweeking.
hap
It is progressing well and it's very cool. We are expecting to ship units late May or early June. We will start calling people on a list we have
from trade shows and phone conversations within the next several weeks, (when we have an exact final price and clearer picture of exact delivery
dates).
The "Leakalyzer" incorporates a sensing capsule that is attached to a base that rests on the pool deck. The capsule is positioned in the pool water
and has a hose that extends to the bottom of the pool. A handheld control unit attaches to the capsule and provides touchpad controls as well as a
graphical LCD readout.
The unit will allow for identification of water loss equivalent to 1/8"per day within 10 minutes. It will show a graph of the water loss over time
in comparison to a straight line representing an evaporation rate you key in. The device will also give a calculation of inches or gallons of water
loss per hour or per day. You will be able to store the results from 3 separate tests.
We anticipate that those agreeing to purchase the first units will also receive a coupon that would provide a steep discount to be applied to the
purchase of any improved unit produced in the future.
Sounds like witchcraft to me.
Just kidding.
Can't wait.
I have a volume calculator built into my phone and use it often to impress customers with gallons per day data. Personally I would prefer a Leakalyzer
without the wizz bang evaporation index, touchpad, graphing, memory, and gallons per day. All I need is a button to press and wait the predetermined
amount of time for a display to show gain or loss in inches, metric or whatever..... the phone has a converter for that too.
hap
Here's a link to a lab demonstration of the Leakalyzer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzeJls7KaYk
It's pretty amazing if I do say so myself. I confirmed that my pool is leak free this morning. Although I had always suspected this I was not
really sure until doing the Leakalyzer test.
I will be posting more videos of set-up and actual pool tests shortly.
We are making some final software fixes this week and should be ready to ship the first units the week of the 16th.
Those receiving this first batch will receive full support and upgrades at no charge. Give us a call for pricing and to be sure you are on the
list.
Lance
Hi Lance,
I'm confused after watching your youtube video. Why is the demonstration setup for a 800 square foot pool on a 20 square foot body of water? Will the
leakalizer test a 20 square foot body of water? I often test smaller bodys of water.
The unit looks good as long as it works better than the focus on the video camera.
Rob
The unit has pre set surface area setting that go from 50 to 3000 square feet. The surface area entry is only important for calculating gallons of
water loss, inches will be accurate regardless of surface area. So the unit can be used on any sized pool to quickly determine inches of water loss.
Gallons can be accurately calculated from this reading automatically for vesslels as small as 50 sq feet and up to 3000. Smaller or larger than that
hap, and you're going to have to use your phone
.
Sorry about the quality of the video. I thought it was at least worth getting something up ther to show everyone that we did actually have something.
Thanks Lance, I have more questions But I will spare everyone the bandwidth
until you post more video.
I thought the video quality was on par for youtube and look forward to seeing more.
Weve been having rain around here for about a week. Still working on getting a good day for pool videos and pictures.
I called for a price, Bill said he does not know the price.
hap
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I was told it will be around $2000
Bruce
poolrepairdiver.com
There are a couple new videos up. Unfortunatley they are of about the same quality as the first. One shows the set-up another shows a test on a very
calm day with a covered pool. I do have good results from an uncoverd pool on windy days but no good video yet.
Leakalyzer Set-up
Leakalyzer Pool Demo 1
Lance, I can see the graph in the video, it's pretty faint but my laptop screen is showing it. I must say that was very impressive to see the spike
after you removed only a quart of water from that pool.
You indicated that you are open to suggestions. I think the trend and graph lines should go in the same direction as the water loss or gain. If the
pool looses water the line should go down not up.
You may have better luck recording the video using a tripod and zooming your camcorder lens into the hand held screen from several feet away.
Is the hand held screen viewable in bright sun?
hap
I agree that the trending and graph should match the downward drop of leaking pool's water level - just a little more straight forward.
$2000.00??? YIKES 
The old bucket test is sounding much better all the time!!!
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I think the Leakalizer is gong to be a big time saver for me. If I finish one extra job per week I'll be ahead in just a few weeks.
The XLT30 and hydrophone have saved me enough time to pay for it in less than 8 weeks. I drove to Flagstaff today. Almost gave up after four hours of
searching, dropped the mic in the water and bingo. The tiniest of a tiny seam crack in a U3 skimmer singing loud. Couldn't hear the
leak but I did hear the water dripping off the bottom of the skimmer.
As a side note to this job, I knew I had a structure leak. The needle on my homemade bucket tester would not stop falling after i plugged all 17 pipe
openings on this spa. Didn't expect a structure leak after seeing several through the deck patches.
hap
| Quote: | |
| Originally posted by 4Leakman $2000.00??? YIKES The old bucket test is sounding much better all the time!!!
|
You are going to make up $2000.00 in a few weeks? Most folks know that their pool is leaking. How much can you charge them to verify that?? I think
that they are more concerned on getting the leak to stop, in my opinion.
I have had a hydrophone for many years but I cab count on one hand how many times I have used it. I deal mostly with vinyl pools and I will say that
the Leaktracker is a spectacular device! Finds liner openings that I would never see while diving.
| Quote: | |||
| Originally posted by hap I think the Leakalizer is gong to be a big time saver for me. If I finish one extra job per week I'll be ahead in just a few weeks. The XLT30 and hydrophone have saved me enough time to pay for it in less than 8 weeks. I drove to Flagstaff today. Almost gave up after four hours of searching, dropped the mic in the water and bingo. The tiniest of a tiny seam crack in a U3 skimmer singing loud. Couldn't hear the leak but I did hear the water dripping off the bottom of the skimmer. As a side note to this job, I knew I had a structure leak. The needle on my homemade bucket tester would not stop falling after i plugged all 17 pipe openings on this spa. Didn't expect a structure leak after seeing several through the deck patches. hap
|
I wish I had it now. I'll use it in June to verify the pool is not leaking. We are evaporating one quarter to three quarters of an inch per day now.
People freak and want me to test without doing
their own bucket test. They would rather pay me to do my thing. To verify that a pool is leaking is probably the last thing I will use the Leakalizer
for. I use my own home made .001" bucket tester for a wide array of tests. Some examples are, which infloor station is leaking before I get my little
toe wet, shared system-pool or spa, pump on- pump off, water features, negative edge, plug a suspect line and see if the pool stops loosing water
without sawing pipes or pressuring up. It's common for me to walk into a back yard and see a huge pool equipment area with 8+ separate pumps all
lined up in a row. The money people have in North Scottsdale and Paradise Valley is amazing. So I turn on all 8 pumps and do Lance's 5 minute test.
Next turn off half the pumps and do 5 minutes again. You get the idea, in 20 minutes I can determine a 2-4 hour task.
Vinyl lined pools are very rare here, I have not seen one in 12 years. That's interesting that you do not find the hydrophone as useful as I do.
I've only had it 2 months and have found about 16 leaks with it, maybe more it's great.
hap
it will detect a one eigth inch loss of water per day. Will it detect larger volumes says one inch or more a day loss? That small amount i cant justify in purchasing the unit. if it can only measure an eighth inch loss in the five or ten minutes, how can i justify charging when it doesnt really truly report a significant loss justifying electronic, diving, or pressure testing. an eighth inch loss per day is acceptable in my standards.
I agree - 1/8th inch loss per day is acceptable.
The LEAST amount it can detect is 1/8th inch loss per day. Therein, it can detect acceptable levels of waterloss through evaporation.
Pretty impressive.
I have one, got it today. I will post my feedback as I get used to it. It looks pretty durable so far and comes with a nice blow molded case and a
second smaller case to keep the hand held display unit in. SN# V0001.
My next question to Lance is: Do I have to be sure the water never goes over the blue stripe on the test cell? Will water damage the sensors if water
goes over this line?
hap
The blue line is primarily to indicate the sensors working range. Water level above this by up to an inch will not hurt the unit. In fact if the
sensor stays upright (knob up) you should be able to submerge it without problem. No reason to do this though so I wouldn't recommend it.
If for some reason the unit gets turned upside down in the water. Ist make sure that the water is drained out of the sensor by holding it by the knob
and swinging gently. Secondly make sure that the connector for attaching to the handheld is dry before hooking up and operating the handheld unit.