Ditching the manifold?

ChrisJ · June 16

I've noticed more and more guys using either digital gauges that screw directly on the service valves, or even analog gauges for the same thing.

Curious on how this works out for flowing nitrogen, pulling a vacuum, charging etc. I'm also having a problem visualizing large analog gauges screwed onto a typical 2-5ton AC unit, it seems kinda cramped.

I'm asking because my manifolds are getting old, and my hoses are as well and they're far from cheap. My good Yellowjacket ball valve hoses are 9 years old and one has a crack in it, and I guess I'm technically supposed to change these every 5 years.

Not to mention manifolds causing problems while pulling a vacuum and all of the other benefits of not having a 60" hose connected to the liquid line…….

Digital gauges probably do not make sense for me for how little I use them, but analog + thermometers I trust.

mattmia2 · June 16

i think it is mostly people that don't know how to use the gauges. it is also convenient if you can read the gauge remotely on a phone for some things.

SlamDunk · June 16

young people cant read/write cursive and dont know what the little hand on three and big hand on the four means. Not shocked that gages would be hard to read. Digital stuff probably costs more=higher profit

mattmia2 · June 16

little hand on the 3 and big hand on the 4 means the clock is broken

ChrisJ · June 16

I've also seen analog gauges setup this way, so I'm not sure why the rant against young people?

@pecmsg

mattmia2 · June 16

the single analog gauge is probably being cheap about just measuring the high side to find the subcooling and hoping the low side is something reasonable.

ChrisJ · June 16

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1898716#Comment_1898716

They use both low and high side gauges.

mattmia2 · June 16

i could barely find manifold sets on supplyhouse.com and the only ones i found were some company i never heard of called "hilmor": maybe they bought imperial or robinaire or wellow jacket.

mattmia2 · June 16

oh, and they are about 3x the price of what the name brand ones cost when i bought the harbor freight ones i have

HydronicMike · June 16

I stopped using a manifold maybe 4 years ago, my manifold is probably rotting in my shop. I like my fieldpiece probes, they have a great range. It’s just easier, and like using a combustion analyzer over a wet kit, you see things in real time as you make changes. As well as seeing all your numbers and gauges on a single screen, and can show the customer a comprehensive report of their system.
There’s so much more diagnostics and systems analysis you can do with digital psychrometers than you can with any thermometers.
My buddy has some of the JB ones, which look nicer because they have displays on the probes, so you don’t always have to hook up to a phone or ipad.
I use core depressors, charging tees, and valve core removal tools, etc. I do have an analog ‘lollipop’ I use for recovery, to pull down to ‘0’.
Also, with these smaller systems, gauging up and purging hoses makes an important difference to the charge. And the whole kit fits in a smaller Veto bag.
There are a number of YouTube videos from AC Service Tech showing vacuum and recovery setups using all probes. I’ll see if I can find some links.

https://youtu.be/oOMlOvOsFk8?is=MqZF7EnKJ0Z2jPx_

https://youtu.be/TllrD0Mt2LU?is=8DyMT98SjHYA-9Tz

https://youtu.be/8pDp-q2dr_g?is=Hpng-qAVNaZIK40k

This should give you some ideas.

ratio · June 17

I use the Fieldpiece wireless set because it's handy for me to nipple on to a unit & put all the panels back on & run it while doing my startup; it consolidates all the measurements in one place & also shows (limited) trending.

I have a few stingers, occasionally it'll be the easiest thing to get on a port (or it was before I got my wireless set); but mainly I use them for pressure testing.

BTW, hoses are a consumable. They get used up in a year or five, you'll be able to hear refrigerant moving through them at certain points, meaning something's happened to the inner layer. I've never had one with any of the fancy ends (ball valve, low loss, etc.) that didn't leak, either pressure or vacuum. I just get the plain ends & add whatever fitting I want. Usually pull the core depressor out too, I only vac with the Schrader pulled any more.

ChrisJ · June 18

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1898753#Comment_1898753

Back in 2017 when I bought my first set of YJ ball valve hoses, I learned pretty fast that you can't touch, or even look at the valves while in a vacuum.

I do like being able to close them off before removing them though and it lets me suck the liquid from the high side hose back into the low side before removing the hoses.

Are you still using low loss hoses without the ball valve?

ratio · 1:28AM

Straight hose less depressors, then what I usually run is a whip-style ball valve with a LL straight on the liquid line, and a LL 90° on the suction line, swapping the LL fittings as needed. The ball valve lets me shut off the high side so I can empty the manifold into the low side, although I'm pretty sure I could get away with just the LL fitting, they close off the hose when they come off. I actually like the JB brand better than the Yellow Jacket ones, they're smaller around & fit into snug places better.

To evac, everything comes off the ends of the hoses & I vac through core tools after I pull the cores out. It's just soooo much faster.

Ditching the manifold?

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