RadonAway 50017 Easy Read Manometer, Blue

Works as intended

My manometer story.This a great tool, quality built and reasonably priced. I'm using mine as a troubleshooting tool for vacuum operated pressure switches.I have created an inexpensive way to test your furnace pressure switches to determine, fairly precisely, at what pressure they open and close!Get an Ortho "Dial N Spray" (or similar sprayer) remove the siphon tube from the port located on the underside of the screw-on nozzle/bottle lid and insert your own vacuum tube onto the port on the bottom of the lid. Hook that tubing to the middle of a "tee" and from the tee connect two other hoses, one to the manometer and one to the pressure switch.Then hook a multimeter up to the pressure switch contacts and set the meter to its lowest resistance/continuity setting. (Hopefully, a setting with a continuity buzzer so you don't have to watch the meter itself, that way you can concentrate better on reading the manometer scale to achieve better accuracy in determining when the switch contacts make or break. Make sure you test your pressure switches in the vertical orientation.(The way they are mounted in the furnace.) It makes a difference.Hook a garden hose up to the sprayer head and select the spray setting of your choice. (I have my sprayer set at the 8 ounce setting. I don't know if the lower settings would be better?) Now VERY CAREFULLY begin to open your faucet. (Too much water flow will cause too much vacuum and it will suck out all of the fluid in the manometer!) Paying MUCH ATTENTION, SLOWLY increase water flow until you see the fluid begin to rise in the manometer. It does not take much water flow to start developing vacuum and it only requires minute adjustments to raise or lower the fluid levels in the manometer so be very careful. My stationary tubs have the lever style faucet handles and I think they are the best kind because you can tap them gently with your finger to precisely adjust the water pressure. I don't think round faucet handles, that you turn, would be able to provide the accuracy of adjustment needed compared to the lever style ones.As you slowly raise the column of fluid in the manometer you will eventually hear the buzzer sound from the multimeter. At that precise moment note the position of the fluid column on the scale and that is the pressure, in "Inches of water column", at which the contacts close inside the pressure switch. In a reverse fashion decrease the level of fluid in the manometer, by slowly decreasing water flow, until you stop hearing the multimeter buzzer at which point noting the pressure at which the pressure switch contacts open.This test can be very helpful in determining how well your pressure switches are operating.

Shipped quickly, easily mounted in the previous manometer's footprint.

work as expected.

been running 23030-1 RP145 radon fan for 3 months now. Very quiet, actually un-hearable with the furnace or other stuff running in my utility room I did buy the this 50017 manometer for $12 and would highly recommend that. I periodically look at it to make sure the fan is still sucking/blowing. You can put your hand on the fan and feel a slight vibration so you know its running but the manometer actually lets you see the amount of air movement by looking at the blue liquid. Just be aware, it does not provide Cubic Feet Per Minute or any velocity measurements. It just lowers blue juice on one side and raises it on the other so you know there is a difference in pressure. DONT FORGET TO REMOVE THE RUBBER STOPPERS, or the blue juice won't flow freely between the two tubes. On my system the blue juice seems to remain about 1" higher on one side than the other. Im sure bigger fans would cause a larger difference in blue liquid height.

This is a stone simple differential pressure gauge. No power supply, no batteries - just connect and read.I'm using it to monitor the pressure drop across the air filter in our HVAC system. We run the fan 24/7 even with air conditioning off - this keeps down the pet dander and allergens in the house. But this continual operation loads up the filter.Installation was quick and easy, but did require a trip to the hardware store to buy vinyl tubing. Drilled two holes in the air handler (one on each side of the filter) and ran the tubing to the gauge location. Didn't need sealant on either end but this depends on the tubing you get - I got lucky. Done deal.

This is a simple gauge for measuring the suction level being produced by your radon fan and to insure that your radon mitigation system is working properly. I did add a little caulk to the tube going into the PVC pipe (but it still comes loose from the manometer side if needed). You don't need a lot of suction for a successful system... mine currently draws .35 wc and has substantially reduced my radon levels.If you are building your own mitigation system, you may want to consider some of the following items:RadonAway Model XR261 6" Radon Fan6" X 4" Flexible PVC Coupling for 6" Fan Mounting - White, 2-PackFernco Inc. P1056-44 4-Inch Stock CouplingRadonAway Fan Pipe Cap with Screen for 4" PVCSafety Siren Pro Series3 Radon Gas Detector - HS71512 by Family Safety Products, Inc.I've included some photos from the system I designed and installed at my house... dropped my basement levels from 4.0 to 0.3 pCi / liter.

Works good. Gives a constant reading of what amount of negative pressure your fan unit is producing. If you have a fan located in an area where it's hard to hear, I highly recommend you use this meter. You could see in an instant that you have a good negative air pressure condition. I have my fan located in the basement and can hear it when walking in to the mechanical room, knowing that my unit is on and functioning. I chose to use one of these anyway so I could monitor the job that the fan unit was doing. Some reviews on the fan unit stated a number of years on the fan running saw less effectiveness on it's performance. If the fan is failing this will show that there is less negative air pressure in my contained system. It installs easily and nothing much of anything to break down or fail.