Electronic Leak Detectors

Electronic Leak Detectors

Electronic leak detectors use heated or ionized sensors to locate refrigerant leaks. Electronic leak detectors are the most sensitive type of detector and provide the fastest way to identify and locate a gas leak. It is important to identify refrigerant gas leaks as they can increase ozone depletion and, in large amounts, cause heart problems when inhaled by humans. Refrigerant gases are commonly used in industrial and commercial coolant systems. Electronic leak detectors can be programmed to identify a specific refrigerant or to include multiple possibilities. R12, R22 and R134a are among the most common refrigerants to be identified by electronic leak detectors, although R134a is more difficult to detect even with electronics.

While nearly all types of leak detectors involve electronic components, heated diode and corona discharge are the two main types of electronic leak detector. The most common type uses the corona discharge technology. A high voltage corona, or circle, is created in the sensing tip. When entered into the field around the sensor, refrigerants break the corona barrier and trigger an alarm to notify the user of the leak. Despite their popularity, the major flaw of corona discharge leak detectors is that the corona barrier can be broken by other particles such as dust and moisture in the air, causing false alarm. The heated diode electronic leak detectors, although they function in much the same way, have fewer false positives because of the heated sensor. The heated sensors of this type of detector are triggered by absolute concentration, which causes alerts to increase as refrigerant amounts increase indicating proximity to the leak.