Fluke’s newest offering in the emerging market for Visual IR Thermometers is the Fluke VT04. I recently posted about the Fluke VT02 and mentioned that it has some limitations. Many of these issues have been addressed in VT04 and have set it at the head of the pack for this new kind of tester.

      Since February 2013, all Bacharach Fyrite Insight Plus and InTech Combustion Analyzers have shipped featuring the new Ambient CO Test Mode. This new test is available in the main menu when the unit is in the Siegert Combustion Measurement mode. The Ambient CO Test is a 15 minute test that will take and record a CO measurement every minute (see picture at right). The display screen will show the measurements for each minute as well as the max CO that it has measured.

     Bacharach’s newest entry into their Combustion Analyzer lineup is the Fyrite Insight Plus. This analyzer has a beautiful full color display that shows real-time analysis that is simple to use and read. Bacharach offers B-Smart pre-calibrated sensors that can be easily replaced by the user in the field. This saves on downtime by not having to send your unit in to get the sensor replaced which allows you to keep it in the field where it belongs, making you money.

      This is a follow up to the smash hit, must read blog of the summer, Fieldpiece CO Detector Accessory Head. All kidding aside, the ATIR3 IR Thermometer Accessory Head by Fieldpiece is a much simpler product that every HVAC technician worth his weight in refrigerant will use.

     In my last installment I wrote about the Fieldpiece HS36 Stick Meter. This meter accepts the accessory heads that Fieldpiece makes to expand its meters to fit its customer’s specific needs. The ACM3 CO Detector Head (pictured at right) is a snap-on Accessory that adds the capability of measuring CO to your Fieldpiece Stick Meter.

When we last left off, I gave a small introduction to Fieldpiece and their philosophy regarding Multimeters in the HVAC world. Today we are going to discuss their HS36 TRMS Stick Meter. The Fieldpiece HS36 TRMS Stick Multimeter represents the top of the line Stick meter that Fieldpiece currently offers. For those unfamiliar with Stick style meters, this post should be a great introduction.

      When I first took this product out of the shipping box, I was looking at what appeared to be an awkward, box shaped wheeled suitcase. After allowing my mind to drift to myself walking through an airport terminal with this thing in tow I quickly got down to business. Upon opening the suitcase you immediately see the care taken in design that ensures not only a tight fit but also safety for travel. The instrument sits inside a foam insert that keeps it from shuffling around and also lets you know exactly where all the pieces fit.

The Fieldpiece SMAN3 model has been discontinued.