USER MANUAL - LACO Technologies, Inc.
Contents
1. to home in on the actual leak location If the signal maxes out with all LEDs reduce the sensitivity of the unit and continue to test to determine where the leak is TEST PART GAS BOTTLE VACUUM PUMP TYPICAL MANIFOLD SETUP 7 2012 LACO TECHNOLOGIES INC LACO USER MANUAL XRS9012 UNDERGROUND LEAK LOCATION USING THE LACO XRS9012 This application note explains how to use the LACO Portable Leak Locator and hydrogen to find leaks in cables pipes and tanks that are buried underground BACKGROUND e While Helium is traditionally used as a tracer gas in leak detection and location it has become difficult to obtain and expensive to use when and if it can be found Primarily due to helium s scarcity alternative methods of leak detection and location have been developed The XRS9012 uses a tracer gas of H5 forming gas which is available everywhere and is less expensive than helium e This method uses a mixture of 5 Hydrogen 95 Nitrogen an abundant and inexpensive tracer gas to fill the underground item and then locate any leaks with the XRS9012 Although hydrogen exists in the air there is about 100 000 times more of it by volume in the tracer gas Notwithstanding this increased presence of hydrogen the tracer gas is quite safe and not flammable due to the overwhelming amount of nitrogen in the mixture 1115 important to realize that leaking gas will penetrate the surrounding earth through the principle of diffusi2. a tracer gas in leak detection and location it has become difficult to obtain and expensive to use when and if it can be found Primarily due to helium s scarcity alternative methods of leak detection and location have been developed The XRS9012 uses a tracer gas of H5 forming gas which is available everywhere and much less expensive than helium e This method uses a mixture of 5 Hydrogen 95 Nitrogen an abundant and inexpensive tracer gas to fill the TEST item and then locate any leaks with the XRS9012 Although hydrogen exists in the air there is about 100 000 times more of it by volume in the tracer gas Notwithstanding this increased presence of hydrogen the tracer gas is quite safe and not flammable due to the overwhelming amount of nitrogen in the mixture Unlike other leak location tools the sensitivity of the XRS9012 is not compromised by humidity Additionally the XRS9012 is highly gas specific so the presence of other gasses will not affect the sensor METHODOLOGY 1 Connect your part to an appropriate manifold and evacuate air from the part 2 Connect your bottle of forming gas to the manifold and fill the part to a safe test pressure LACO has Hydrogen Charge Systems available to facilitate this process 3 Using the XRS9012 systematically scan the part using the response of the LEDs to determine how close you are to the leak 4 Continue to test various locations around the spot where you first obtained a signal
3. 0 LED bar gaph indicator response time no maintenance OUTPUTS Speaker Earphone standard 3 5 mm 1 8 jack gt 8 ohms Heavy Duty Water Proof Design Rechargeable Batteries Charger AC Adaptor Charger Many Accessories Available CHARGERS AC 100 240 VAC Car charger 9 15 VDC Includes Carrying Case Car 1 2012 LACO TECHNOLOGIES INC LACO USER MANUAL XRS9012 ACCESSORIES The LACO Portable Leak Locator comes with the hand probe HP 9012 an AC adaptor charger a car charger and earphones along with a soft carrying case that allows it to be slung over your shoulder or belted to your waist to provide you with complete freedom of movement HAND PROBE HP9012 The Hand Probe sensor included with the XRS901 2 is situated at the tip of the probe providing immediate response The Hand Probe is an excellent tool for pin pointing leaks Can also be used with Hand Probe Extension J SURFACE PROBE SP9012 HAND PROBE EXTENSION HPX9012 Extends the reach of the HP9012 Hand A practical probe for leak detection Probe The Hand Probe simply slides in in wet or muddy environments such as place inside the tubular steel handle and soft soil clay sand and snow The sensor makes walking leak locating so much is located at the tip and is simply stuck easier into the ground to detect hydrogen tracer gas escaping from leaks in underground pipes Connects to Portable Leak Locator XRS9012 a
4. 012 LACO TECHNOLOGIES INC LACO USER MANUAL XRS9012 Press MAX again to proceed ERROR CODES If an error is detected the instrument will give off a pulsating acoustic alarm signal and the ON lamp will blink red The type of error is indicated by the LEDs LED 1 Sensor temperature low LED 2 Sensor temperature high LED 3 Sensor voltage low LED 4 Sensor voltage high LED 8 Battery voltage lt 5 0 V LED 1 and 4 simultaneously most likely means that either the cable or the probe is not connected A single LED 1 2 3 or 4 most likely means that either the cable or the sensor is broken LED 8 means the battery needs to be charged CHARGING The instrument will switch on when charging cable is connected Charging is fully automatic and ON lamp will blink until battery is fully charged 12 h Charging voltage is 9 15 VDC Current is limited to 1 5 A maximum Charging from car battery is possible 1 hour charging gives 6 hours of operation 5 minutes gives approx 20 minutes of operation For prolonged battery life charge often and fully 6 2012 LACO TECHNOLOGIES INC LACO USER MANUAL XRS9012 POST TEST LEAK LOCATION ON A PRODUCTION LINE USING THE XRS9012 SCOPE This application note explains how to use the LACO Portable Leak Locator to find leaks for post test leak location on a production line where the part has failed the leak test BACKGROUND e While Helium is traditionally used as
5. LACS icinoroci s CONTACT US LACS PHONE FAX Toll Free 800 465 1004 Phone 801 486 1004 Fax 801 486 1007 ADDRESS LACO Technologies Inc 3085 West Directors Row Salt Lake City UT 84104 WEB www lacotech com info lacotech com TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND SERVICE support lacotech com SMT 07 1022 revA1 CONTENTS SPECIFIC ATION renen 1 2 ACCESSORIES AND PARTS aaa 2 3 THEORY Q OPERATION 3 5 4 APPLICATION NOTES oesosoeeessoeessoosesoossssosssssosessosessses 6 8 LACO USER MANUAL XRS9012 A SPECIFICATIONS 1 j You know there is a leak but where Whether you need to locate a leak in a plant 771 process piping system or on a production line following leak testing of your part the XRS9012 is the ideal tool to quickly and 2 accurately pinpoint the leak The XRS9012 E is not affected by humidity or the presence of other gasses and uses inexpensive and We abundant forming gas 5 hydrogen 95 nitrogen which is also safe and inert No more depending on expensive and unreliable helium supplies Simply charge the piping system or production part with the tracer gas mixture and scan for the leak The XRS9012 has both an LED bar graph indicator as a well as audio feedback to help the operator determine the location of and proximity to the leak APPLICATIONS Underground Telephone cables power cables gas pipelines gas sta
6. ble due to the overwhelming amount of nitrogen in the mixture Unlike other leak location tools the sensitivity of the XRS9012 is not compromised by humidity Additionally the XRS9012 is highly gas specific so the presence of other gasses will not affect the sensor METHODOLOGY 1 If necessary using compressed air purge the fluid process system that you want to test 2 Isolate the system into the smallest possible sections for speed and accuracy of testing 3 Connect your bottle of forming gas to one end of a section with an appropriate manifold and fill it to a low pressure being careful not to exceed the design pressure of the system 4 Using the XRS9012 systematically scan the testing area using the response of the LEDs to determine how close you are to the leak 5 Continue to test various locations around the spot where you first obtained a signal to home in on the actual leak location If the signal maxes out with all LEDs reduce the sensitivity of the unit and continue to test to determine where the leak is ACCESS POINT TO GAS BOTTLE COMPRESSED AIR 9 O 2012 LACO TECHNOLOGIES INC
7. e is minimal in this case because molecules other than Hydrogen cannot penetrate the metal film and the background concentration of Hydrogen in air is only 0 5 ppm parts per million High amplification together with clever signal processing makes it possible to reliably detect very small leaks of Hydrogen gas The nature of the MOS FET Metal Oxide Sensor Field Effect Transistor is that of a very thin piece of metal that is heated when the unit is on The heated metal allows only Hydrogen molecules to enter but also causes oxidization when Hydrogen is not present The oxidization will reduce the sensitivity of the sensor over time but the presence of Hydrogen tends to clean off some of the oxide layer This is why it is a good idea to give the sensor a strong whiff of the tracer gas at startup and before turning the unit off Q amp A What is the probe life in hours before replacement is required The sensor is a consumable and there is no way of telling its life time in hours since the life time is a factor of age how often it has been used and how much hydrogen it has been exposed to during usage Most sensors last longer than two years The sensor lives longer if it is exposed to good puffs of hydrogen now and then when it is in use heated The thing that may shoten life time except for abuse is that it is on heated for long periods but seldom gets any hydrogen What is the failure mode of the sensor Does it just quit wo
8. nd allows detection of GROUND PROBE GP9012 hydrogen through asphalt and concrete without making barholes through the surface It has a built in two speed vacuum pump dust filter and float valve GAS FILL KIT GFK9012 LACO provides a manifold and regulator with a flow meter and valves that will allow you to connect your bottle of tracer gas and fill the item you want to OPEN LEAK STANDARD test Tracer gas available at KIT XRS9012 K kit includes the XRS9012 the eae ee a Calibrated open leak standards are gas fill kit the hand probe and the hand available for use with your XRS9012 to probe extension assembled together in AirGas p n X02 enable you to verify that it is working a hard protective travel case or you can Ni95C15AJ198 effectively and that its sensitivity is build your own custom kit with just the suitable for your needs Contact LACO for accessories you need Praxair p n HY Star81 K and part number 2 2012 LACO TECHNOLOGIES INC LACO USER MANUAL XRS9012 THEORY 8 OPERATION This manual is addressed to those responsible for and using the XRS9012 instrument This leak locator works on the principle of microelectronic sensor technology The tracer gas does not need to be transported into the locator instrument Instead there is a small microelectronic chip mounted in a sensor housing either in a Hand Probe or in an Insert Probe used in automatic testing equipme
9. nt The sensor technology allows a lot of flexibility which is not the case for traditional leak detectors The Hydrogen sensor is a unique type of gas sensor which is very sensitive to Hydrogen and totally insensitive to almost all other substances While other Hydrogen gas sensors thermal catalytic etc used in Hydrogren gas alarm equipment are normallY sensitive to a lot of other gases and vapors this sensor is not affected by common interferents such as methane propane gasoline vapors water vapors organic solvent vapors etc The sensor consists of an integrated circuit containing a MOS FET amplifier Instead of an electrical input to the amplifier there is a thin film of metal hydride which is permeable to Hydrogen atoms only Hydrogen molecules each consisting of two Hydrogen atoms split into atoms when hitting the metal surface and are selectively absorbed by the film The absorbed Hydrogen atoms give rise toa small voltage which is amplified and transferred to the detector instrument The instrument carefully controls the temperature of the sensor chip and interprets the sensor signals The sensor voltage is not a simple function of the gas concentration Therefore there is some signal processing in the instrument to compensate for background drift etc and to determine the Hydrogen concentration in a gas sample Background concentration and interference from other gases limit the sensitivity of gas detectors Interferenc
10. ole length of cable This applies to pressure routes with air pipes or cables that have no pressure transducers or test valves CONTROLS ON off SENSITIVITY VOLUME BATTERY CHECK MAX ZERO EARPHONE SOCKET SEARCH ON Starts instrument When the detector is started the ten LEDs light up and subsequently count down during the warm up sequence The detector is ready to use when the countdown is completed OFF Turns instrument off 4 O 2012 LACO TECHNOLOGIES INC LACO USER MANUAL XRS9012 SENSITIVITY The sensitivity of the detector can be set to 10 different levels The highest levels are extremely sensitive Conclusions to excavate for the repair of a leak should not normally be made without reconfirming on sensitivity 5 or lower Use the higher sensitivities for faster identification of suspect areas Confirm the leak position by measuring more carefully at a lower sensitivity Wait until the concentraion has increased or make a few holes for higher signals Excavate only on signals that your can repeat over and over again The sensitivity is changed by pressing the SENSITIVITY up or down key Pressing the key momentarily will increase or decrease sensitivity on level and the corresponding LED will light up shortly The sensitivity will increase decrease to max or min if the key is held down for longer NOTE The sensitivity can not be changed when the instrument is in mode Switch to SEARCH mode for changing sensiti
11. on rather than buoyancy so it is necessary to wait a suitable period of time before attempting to locate the leak to allow the tracer gas to make its way to the surface of the ground If you suspect the leak is not large it may be necessary to fill your item and wait several hours before testing Unlike other leak location tools the sensitivity of the XRS9012 is not compromised by humidity Additionally the XRS9012 is highly gas specific so the presence of other gasses will not affect the sensor METHODOLOGY 1 Verify the location of the underground item 2 Isolate the underground item into the smallest possible sections for speed and accuracy of testing 3 If necessary using compressed air purge the underground pipe cable or tank that you want to test 4 Connect your bottle of forming gas to the underground item with an appropriate manifold and fill it to a low pressure being careful to never exceed the design pressure of the system 5 Wait a suitable amount of time for the tracer gas to escape the leak diffuse through the ground and be detectable No holes need to be drilled through asphalt or concrete to locate leaks that might be buried beneath The porosity of paving materials and cracks that may exist combined with the extremely small size of a hydrogen molecule make it possible to detect leaks through these materials 6 Using the XRS9012 systematically scan the testing area using the response of the LEDs to determine h
12. ow close you are to the leak 7 Continue to test various locations around the spot where you first obtained a signal to home in on the actual leak location If the signal maxes out with all LEDs reduce the sensitivity of the unit and continue to test to determine the best place to dig j aa E m P E Gas filled Heating sy gems J Water pipes power cables F O 2012 LACO TECHNOLOGIES INC LACO USER MANUAL XRS9012 MAINTENANCE LEAK LOCATION USING THE LACO XRS9012 This application note explains how to use the LACO Portable Leak Locator to find leaks in pipes valves and tanks that comprise part of an above ground fluid process system BACKGROUND While Helium is traditionally used as a tracer gas in leak detection and location it has become difficult to obtain and expensive to use when and if it can be found Primarily due to helium s scarcity alternative methods of leak detection and location have been developed The XRS9012 uses a tracer gas of H5 forming gas which is available everywhere and is less expensive than helium This method uses a mixture of 5 Hydrogen 95 Nitrogen an abundant and inexpensive tracer gas to fill the fluid process system and then locate any leaks with the XRS9012 Although hydrogen exists in the air there is about 100 000 times more of it by volume in the tracer gas Notwithstanding this increased presence of hydrogen the tracer gas is quite safe and not flamma
13. rking No It just slowly becomes more and more insensitive to hydrogen Users should check the sesnor by either leak locate on the gas bottle regulator which almost always leaks a bit or fill the gas line with tracer gas cuto off the flow and put the sensor at the end of the gas line If it reacts but slowly and only at high sensitivity settings it s time to replace the sensor 3 2012 LACO TECHNOLOGIES INC LACO USER MANUAL XRS9012 Whatis the sign the sensor has begun to fail Either you get an alarm code on the instrument if the sensor has developed a technical problem short circuit can t be heated or similar try disconnecting the hand probe when the unit is ON and you will see what happens or you just notice decrease in sensitivity when you make a function check against a tracer gas puff OPERATION The XRS9012 is a portable battery powered instrument for leak detection of hydrogen as part of a mixture of forming gas 5 Hydrogen 95 Nitrogen The instrument has two operating modes SEARCH and MAX The SEARCH mode is used to pinpoint leaks The pitch of the acoustic signal indicates the concentration of tracer gas around in the ground above the cable The pitch rises as you approach the leak and falls as you move away Let the sound guide you to the leak The MAX mode is used to compare the gas concentration in a number of areas e g under manhole covers This is useful to prelocate leaks after filling a wh
14. tions heating systems water pipes Leaks in buried cables conduits and pipelines can be difficult to find without the proper tool The XRS9012 can assist you in quickly locating tiny underground leaks with the greatest of accuracy allowing you to effect repairs quickly and cost effectively Leaking tracer gas permeates the surrounding soil and rises to the surface where it is easily detected Maintenance The Portable Leak Locator is ideal for determining where you may have a leak in above ground fluid processing plants The unit is light and portable and relieves you from being tethered to a cart mounted workstation Highly sensitive the XRS9012 will help you locate leaks down to 1x10 atm cc sec Post test leak location on a production line Keep your production efficiency at maximum by using the XRS9012 to locate the leak for repair after testing a part on a production line Once a part has failed remove it to a rework station to locate the leak with the XRS9012 reserving the production leak detector workstation for testing new parts FEATURES XRS9012 SPECIFICATIONS COMPONENT DIMENSIONS 9 85 x 4 75 x 3 35 10 25 x8 7 X3 75 in carrying case Leaks as small as 1x10 atm cc sec TEMP RANGE 20 C to 50 C 4 F to 122 F Highly Selective Hydrogen Rechargeable lead batteries gel electrolyte Sensor not affected by humidity AD LAS 3 hours at 20 C 68 F 6 sado F Sensor at probe tip faster 1
15. vity VOLUME and set the audio volume The volume setting changes stepwise to max min if the key is held down Volume setting is stored after 1 minute BATT CHECK show charge status 10 LEDs indicates fully charged battery approximately 15 hrs of operation LED 1 5 indicates approximately 1 hour of operation LED ZERO resets signal to zero SEARCH sets instrument in SEARCH mode AUTO POWER OFF The instrument will switch off after 30 minutes if no key is pressed BATTERY PROTECTION FEATURE The instrument will automatically switch off in the battery voltage falls below 5 0 This protects the battery from harmful deep discharge MAX MODE TESTING First with instrument in SEARCH mode select appropriate sensitvity level Place probe at test point and press MAX simultaneously Leave probe in position The instrument will now measure for 10 sec MAX lamp is blinking and then indicate the signal strength MAX mode lamp stays on Note the reading and proceed to next test point For a new test place probe at next point and press simultaneously To get comparable results it is very important that you place the probe at the test point in exactly the same manner The MAX mode is primarily intended for Hand Probe HP9012 under manhole covers and for Surface Probe SP9012 on manhole covers and hard toppings If the selected sensitivity is inappropriate you must press SEARCH before changing sensitivity 5 2
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