do you have any review units left ? would be interested in sharing it on my channel :)

Tell them to consider adding a T to their name. TopTest makes a lot more sense than TopTes.

@@vwestlife Muscle memory has had me doing that every time I typed their company name. Maybe I should see what they say. (I am not sure they are paying attention to much of the feedback I have sent. I told them not to send the four extra detectors and seemingly they are doing so anyway.)

It came as a surprise to me, as I told them from the beginning that the review would be completely honest and they said that would be OK. I don't know if something got lost in translation, or if their representative thought I'd compromise on that point. I'd hope for the former, though it's probably the latter. TopTes isn't the first to do this. I've been asked before with other review videos to edit out the "bad parts", and the answer has been the same every time. I have also made it known that if I ever was willing to do so, at that point it is no longer a review but an advertisement -- and it will be clearly labeled as such or the video won't be published.

@@uxwbill It feels like a lot of reviews are just advertisements these days. They'll tell you all about the features of a product, but they don't say much about how well the product actually works, or if there were any problems with it. The only bad thing I usually hear is that something is more expensive than its competitor, and that's usually the only reason they'll give you not to buy something. That's why I like watching videos such as yours here on KZfaq, where you put the product and its features through all their paces and demonstrate how well they work or don't work.

While it may be a nice form factor it doesn't appear to be as reliable as the other products shown.

When something is your livelihood and you're responsible for ensuring safe operation, I think it pays to buy the best tool you can afford. The Klein detector has been decent to me. (I'm not nearly so fond of their CO detector, which is a Uni-T rebrand.) I picked up the Inficon mainly because it seems to be one of the standards, and people seem happy with it. Of course, certain things like gas valves with vents can have you looking for a problem that might not be, at least to start out. (Yes, I've done that.) I never had a torch explode on me (that probably would have put me off of brazing and sweating pipe forever!), though I had to work with some truly craptacular options at one of the HVAC/R jobs I had. The first was some kind of a jeweler's torch. To my amazement, I was actually able to braze a 7/8ths inch suction line on a condensing unit and get it sealed the first time. I was deathly afraid I'd end up getting the valves on that condensing unit so hot that they'd fail and blow the entire refrigerant charge out right in my face. When I complained about this (and the lack of a striker -- it's been drummed into me that you Just Don't use a cigarette lighter, ever), they pointed me to a torch that was leaking oxygen from the handle. Even if it had worked, it wasn't much more powerful than what I had been using. So I finally just brought my own torch set in and that was that. Boy was I glad when I got out of there!

Yeah. Fortunately, I was pretty heavily supervised for at least a few installs and they had me on a bunch of jobs with another dude who had been doing HVAC/R for about 8 years at the time (he was about my age so that was effectively his whole professional life after high school). Still kind of wish I had invested in an explosive gas detector because, like, I did get really good at using the "radioactive bubbles" (those things under UV light looked.. interesting), that Inficon one looks like it would have been much quicker about a second opinion on at least my first gas run. Fortunately, all we ever did to mess with the outside gas valves was to use the service person shutoff whenever there was a run inside that wasn't up to more recent codes (or, maybe they were and the guy I was learning from was just really dead set on having redundant shutoffs). So, yeah, cigarette lighters to get the torch going.. I worked around a bunch of guys who smoked so that ended up being a "when you're really desperate" type of bad habit I picked up on (lighting the torch with a cigarette lighter I mean, I still don't smoke real cancer sticks personally). I can see how that could end badly just because all of us tended to dial our flames a bit lean (no sooty flame, but more of a jet engine sounding thing, that could blow up a lighter right quick). I recall learning about those jeweler's torches when the commercial contractor I was with in 2020 was putting me through school again (school I don't gotta pay for, I'll take 20). All I gotta say, I could see how that might work well enough, but still, 7/8 with that is pretty impressive. I ended up learning to just wrap the valves with wet rags during soldering and to keep wetting the rags down until the soldering job is done, but obviously that's not a perfect solution (more of a "good enough" solution in most cases). Now, the exploding torch head. This residential place I was working for was a bit better than most about how they treated their equipment, but some stuff slipped through the cracks. Particularly, this one torch set they had that had been last maintained basically never. So, we're in this stupidly massive house (a new construction job) somewhere north of Crescent Iowa. Everything downstairs had been welded, but we had this redundant evap upstairs that needed patched in. The one guy just kept cranking the valves open and bumping the pressure because "what the hell, I just grabbed this tank of gas this morning!". Before we could really speculate, there's a loud "BOOF" noise, the head chunks off in a bunch of directions, and the one guy is holding effectively just a pair of hoses with a fire on the end of them. I and another guy thought quick and turned the main valves on the tanks off. I'm pretty sure at least the guy holding the hoses needed a change of pants after that. Personally, I had one of those laughs like when you almost die, but then don't, kinda like "ha, holy crap, that just happened". Honestly, I probably would have stuck around there even after the exploding torch because this contractor was, at least inwardly, more honest than a lot of HVAC/R contractors in the area, but the winter 2021 season got oddly slow for all construction-related things in the area (plumbers, roofers, electrical, concrete, HVAC/R, etc.) so I got benched for a month before a factory in the area offered me a pretty hefty pay bump to effectively be the guy who taps on machines with a hammer until they work (for the most part--tap it with a hammer and if it still doesn't work, the problem's electrical). Once I reach master mechanic on my training though, I can move on and start messing with refrigeration so there's my motivation.

I ordered one of these today to see if it detects my farts as combustible gas.

Indeed the TopTes detector is effective and decent value for the money. When you do something for your livelihood, though, I think it pays to buy the best tool you can afford.

I haven't deleted any comments from this video (and as a rule, I don't do so unless asked or something has absolutely no redeeming value at all).

@@uxwbill ok sorry i was watching and i made a comment and then it wase'nt there must have been my mistake i dident hit the return thanks for your reply sorry my mistake im getting old good to see your back on love watching your post i go back watch them over and over thanks Bill

I don't know, but I can test it sometime and find out. Even so, considering that it's not rated for such, I would not buy it with that expectation in mind.

@@uxwbill Thank you for your reply, it is much appreciated.

@@jamesdye4603 TopTes has another gas leak detector, the PT199, that is specified to pick up on gasoline. I didn't get that one for review. Other reviewers tested it and found out that it will detect gasoline vapors.

@@uxwbill Thank you for the reply. Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

No, you get a Technicolor Punch In The Nose for Not Following Directions.

@@uxwbill Nobody reads the instructions Bill ??? Will you tell the Boss that I miss Her happy cooking vids, With my regards from Dublin Ireland. & I hope the Key Keeper has found a lock that fits.

What advice is that?

@@uxwbill to watch the video to the end before commenting

Oh yes, I agree completely. I don't understand why meter manufacturers haven't figured this out! Every Fluke meter I have with a backlight (87 III, 87V, 902FC) either has the backlight stay on until shut off or for several minutes minimum.

In addition to stepping down the much higher pressure from the gas supply line, it also serves to provide relatively stable gas supply pressure to any appliances that use natural gas. Propane/LP gas systems have similar regulators. A diaphragm and (sometimes adjustable) spring within the regulator work in concert to regulate the gas pressure.

I don't know, and as the video says with regard to methane, I took the high road. At least for now. :-P

I guess you could put a detector in the top of a plumbing vent stack to see if it picks up a trace amount.