INFICON Whisper, Ultrasonic Leak Detector, 711-202-G1

I have had ongoing small compressed air leaks in my shop. I've used UE system ultrasonic leak detectors in the past and I know they can quickly find leaks. But they cost $1000 and more. Based on reviews and ultrasonic technology, I tried the Inficon Whisper. It did indeed quickly identify a couple of small compressed air leaks in minutes. Now I don't have to listen to my air compressor cycle to recharge (due to leaking air). UE uses focusing cones with their detector to help isolate sounds. I think I'll try printing a focusing cone for the Whisper. It may or may not help. Worked pretty good without a focusing cone.

I was hesitant on buying because of the price vs how much I would use it. I used it once so far and it was a game changer and saved me hours. I'm a fire sprinkler inspector and I'v spent hundreds of hours crawled around in hot, dirty, and insulation filled attics and wondered around freezing cold warehouses listening for air leaks in dry sprinkler systems. I had a job to go into an attic crawl space of a 75 yr old college dorm and crawl on my hands and knees in pink insulation to look for a pinhole leak. We've spent 4 months looking for, mostly due to the 3 large air handler units that were also up there. I finally bit the bullet and decided to purchase this thing. Well, 20 mins and I found 2 leaks that were half way back through the attic. With the laser point on the machine, you can stand in one spot and follow the pipe or line for quite a ways. You will need to learn what to listening for, a leak won't scream here I am. You will listening for noice pitch changes. Once you hear it getting louder and as you go past a leak the sound gets quieter, the point it back and you'll heard it get louder again. It will sound like audio static from the speaker or headphones, and the indicator light bar will rise as you run over a leak. We definitely saved time & money by using this. It paid for its the first time we used it.

This unit helps you quick find larger leaks that you may not hear. But if your losing a few PSI in 30 minutes, those fine leaks likely won't be found with this unit. I don't regret getting it, as it has helped me very quickly locate larger leaks. (10 psi in 10 minutes)

bought this to help locate small air leak under a truck. Used it from front to rear and never detected anything. Went back over with soap and water solution and found 3 small leaks. So tried it again to see if it was a setting wrong or something i was doing wrong. Still it would not detect the verified leaks. If you are trying to locate leaks that you can not hear then don’t waist your money on this.

UPDATE: 12/24/19. Almost a year, and still working well.I use this fairly often with a fleet of buses to find pesky air leaks. If there is a big leak, no problem - that is audible. But those small ones... that's what this is for. Narrowing down where the that tiny leak is. Works great.Finding air leaks in air brake systems is a pain. This makes it a lot easier.And it is great for doing a quick walk-around check. Just have someone release the parking brake and apply the foot brake while walking around and pointing this tool all around the vehicle. If there are no leaks, it won't register a thing. Pretty slick. If there is a leak, you can quickly narrow down to at least the area, if not the exact spot.I didn't care for the included wired headphones. They work, but the cord is a pain, especially if you need to use a creeper under the vehicle. I kept running over the cord or getting restricted in movement by the cord.So I improvised a better solution.Ordered a bluetooth transmitter and a bluetooth headphone. No dangling cord! Yay!There are a lot of options to choose from. I chose these three items:Transmitter:https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EHSX28M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06__o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1Headphones:https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F54Y6GU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1Short cable:https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B072TYZ89H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06__o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1Used a little patch of velcro tape to attach the transmitter on top of the unit, just above the display. The cord is just the right length to wrap around the unit from the plug to the transmitter. And the headphones fold enough to still fit in the case. (a little tight, but it all fits!)The transmitter and phones are rechargeable, so an occasional recharge will be needed. But they last for hours.They paired pretty easily, and it's not hard to turn on each one before use, and shut down afterwards. Just have to get used to a little button pressing.INFICON, if you're reading this, maybe consider making a model with bluetooth built-in? That would be great.

I got this for a few different reasons but one use is for an inflatable dinghy that is losing air over a weeks time. I wanted to find where the leak is but really can't find it anywhere. Now I have used a similar unit (might have even been this one) while plugging a mold up during resin transfer molding (RTM) and it really helped out. I can't return this at this point but I'm just hoping I can come across something to where this can really help.