information about uses for
the Son-Tector ultrasonic detector in:
Building Maintenance, Hospitals,
Public Utilities, Shipping, Power Substations, and Corona Discharge
The SON-TECTOR may be used to spot operating system maintenance problems during
routine checks. It eases the load on maintenance personnel by finding problems
while they are small, thus avoiding later, costly, system breakdown. Should a
breakdown occur, the SON-TECTOR locates the source of the problem quickly and
|It is simple
to use the SON-TECTOR to locate the source of high or low pressure
steam leaks. The leak is found by moving the probe in a wide
arc. The probe "hears" the leak and allows the operator
to quickly home-in on the leak. Headphones may be worn to exclude
surrounding noises. In extreme cases, where even the headphones
cannot exclude competing noises, the meter gives a visual indication
of the leak's location.
personnel are familiar with the characteristic sound difference
between the passage of steam or the passage of condensate. These
differences are faithfully reproduced by the SON-TECTOR. If there
is sound all the time, the trap is stuck open, and if there is
no sound, the trap is stuck shut--nothing
could be simpler!
Pre-SON-TECTOR methods for finding steam trap malfunctions included listening
for the sound of passing steam with a screwdriver and using hot melt crayons
on the up-stream and down-stream sides of a trap. The SON-TECTOR eliminates the
mess and uncertainty of these old-fashioned methods.
Another class of trap, the modulating trap, is more difficult to monitor because
there is a constant flow, even in a good trap. If there is no sound, the trap
is clearly bad, stuck closed. The best way to verify that the trap is not stuck
open is to use the contact probe on a known, good trap of the same type. Adjust
the volume control for 1/2 scale on the meter, then test the trap in question.
A reading of 3/4 scale or more indicates a strong probability that the trap is
stuck open. A lot can be learned from the characteristic sound pattern of a good
and faulty trap -- readily evident to the user with experience.
should be fully drained so as to have access to the ends of the
condenser tubes. Next, the steam side of the condenser is isolated
and pressurized with air to between 2 and 4 PSI. This can usually
be accomplished using existing
compressed air supplies.
Leaks are found by using the SON-TECTOR hand probe to scan the tube ends. The
Sound Concentrator is used to determine whether the leak is in the rolling at
the end of the tube or down inside the tube---indicating a possible split. Leaks
on the order of .003 to .004 inch diameter can be located.
is often hydraulically operated. The Contact Probe will instantly
spot valve malfunction and internal system oil leaks. In addition,
the Contact Probe quickly checks bearings for condition and proper
|Air leaking into
a large vacuum condenser of turbo generators can increase costs
by hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. These leaks are
impossible to find by conventional methods and the engineer defaults
to a routine shellacking in hopes of sealing leaks he can't find.
Since the SON-TECTOR is sensitive to the acoustic energy generated
by a vacuum leak, it can readily find these leaks, cutting off
another source of major losses.
GAS, AIR AND NATURAL GAS PLUMBING
have systems involving compressed air, oxygen, and natural gas,
often with several secondary systems. The SON-TECTOR package
will find leaks in such systems without closing down the systems
in question or inconveniencing a tenant. A quick scan along the
system will quickly find the leak.
|Often, live steam
is discharged into a forced air heating duct to maintain proper
humidity levels. Without the SON-TECTOR it is almost impossible
to tell if the nozzle is working. With the Contact Probe, it
is a matter of a few seconds-noise means it's OK, no noise means
|Place a SON-CASTER
in a room suspected of having leaks to the outdoors. It will
saturate the room with ultrasonic sound without disturbing the
occupants. The SON-TECTOR is placed outside to rapidly spot points
of sound (and air) leakage. This method is particularly effective
around most doors and windows.
AND ETHYLENE OXIDE
gas is widely used in hospitals as a sterilant for instruments
and equipment. The gas is an irritant and is carcinogenic. Some
extreme precautions, including housing the equipment in evacuated
rooms with air locks on the entrances, have been proposed because
of the difficulty in maintaining consistent gas-proof seals in
sterilization chamber doors.
Regular, daily use of a SON-TECTOR to check chamber
door seals and cylinder piping and valving will substantially
raise confidence in the operational condition of these components.
It will make
practical an operator protection system not requiring major building
redesign work. In one instance, the SON- TECTOR found a leak
created by a single hair that was caught on a door gasket during
the routine daily cleaning! Removal of the offending hair returned
the system to safe status.
|Any system involving
high voltages, as in a large building or power sub-station, is
subject to corona discharge problems. These waste expensive power
and interfere with tenants' radio, TV, and telephone equipment.
The Hand Probe of the SON-TECTOR may be used to rapidly and safely
locate the exact point of trouble.
the proliferation of sensitive FM receivers and color television
came an increasing awareness of the
by corona discharge causing interference in reception. Once
it has been established that the interference source is not
a nearby motor or other appliance, the problem is one of
rapid location of the source of the corona interference.
Years ago, the accepted procedure involved two men. One man
remained on the ground to operate a standard RF detector
while the other climbed the pole to probe suspect components
a "hot stick". The object was to find a component
of the transmission system which caused a noticeable change
in RF emission when probed. In some stubborn situations,
it was necessary to go over an entire local system, tightening
all components when the exact noise source could not be located.
This procedure, of course, consumed a lot of unnecessary
The SON-TECTOR 112 Package changed all this by eliminating
one person and vastly speeding up the whole operation. The
RF detector is still used to locate the pole or immediate
area of trouble, but once this has been accomplished, the
switches to the SON-TECTOR 110M with hand probe. Sounds heard
through the SON-TECTOR as a result of corona sound much the
same as in a RF detector, but the unit is far more directional.
Often the faulty component may be located exactly from the
ground. Occasionally, it may be necessary to partly climb
a pole or use the POLE MOUNTING AMPLIFIER, available as an
to the SONTECTOR 112 Package.
Being light (15 ounces) and compact, the SONTECTOR 110M may
be easily carried while patrolling a right-of-way. The built-in
speaker offers a safety feature In that the headphones need
not be used in situations where the operator may be exposed
to traffic and possibly need the use of his or her ears to
detect an approaching vehicle. If windy day conditions must
be simulated, the pole is struck with a sledge hammer and
the resulting corona noted with the SON-TECTOR.
Additionally, the contact probe, included in the SON-TECTOR
Package, is highly effective in locating internal arcing
in transformers. The probe is merely held by the inspector
right angles against the transformer case. For safety reasons,
be sure to ground the case first.
In high voltage cable manufacturing, the insulation of a
reel can be tested with normal "hi-pot" tests applied
to each conductor. It is now necessary to locate the exact
fault point so that the cable can be repaired. Usually, equipment
is available which can locate the approximate fault location
utilizing resistance measurements involving, again, high
voltage. We need, however, to find the fault to within an
inch or so!
This is where the SON-TECTOR comes into play. The cable is
unwound from its reel on to another until the suspect area
is exposed over a span of 15 feet or more between the reels.
Standing behind a safety barrier, the tester uses a POLE
MOUNTING AMPLIFIER on a suitable insulated "hot stick" to
locate the exact source of maximum arcing sound.
Once the fault has been located in this manner, the high
voltage is removed and repairs can be readily effected. Prior
the cable, a final test is usually made in the same manner
after repairs are complete to be sure that they have been