[Syty] Looking to buy a smog machine

[DOlivares]

Those old sniffers by Sun and such had no capability with NOx... only unburned-HC and CO.

It's been a long time, but I seem to recollect that the weakest link in those instruments was the SENSORS.  They were highly susceptible to contamination, mechanical shock damage (like they do regularly on American Body Shop-- the funniest show currently on the planet!), and just plain aging.  The HCs were the least durable but were wider in "bandwidth" than the solid-state versions we all drive around with in our vehicles today.  Sun used to recommend a sensor-change-out every 3 years or so just on principle....

And that leads me to my recommendation for you:  DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY on one of those old cabinets, unless you could get it for free or at an obscene discount, as I did... unless you're not that interested in precision and are only looking for trended results.  I recall that J.C. Whippeny & Co. used to sell a portable all-solid-state tester from England for about $300 for either CO or HC.  I've got it-- still new in the box-- lying around somewhere and, on paper, it looked great!  That was nearly 10 years ago... but that's the way to go:  Go modern technology!  There's several catalog outfits that market ultra-reliable/accurate handheld gas-sensors of all types and ranges to ASHRAE, OSHA, and EPA-techs and such... or the Tenneco or Borg-Warner suppliers to the DOT bunch....  THAT'S the direction I would follow if I even cared about that crap anymore.  A used/refurbished handheld unit would last you for years.

D.O.
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  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Gary H 
  To: syty at syty.org 
  Sent: Friday, August 17, 2007 5:58 AM
  Subject: [Syty] Looking to buy a smog machine


  I'm thinking of buying an old smog machine to pretest my cars before 
  taking it to the shop.
  The old smog machines circa 80-90's are relatively cheap now.

  Anyone know what to look for when buying these old smog machines? Can 
  the old machines measure
  NOx (I'm sure they all can measure HC and CO)?

  I have absolutely no experience with these machines.
  Thanks,
  Gary
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