Measuring gauges and instruments have been improved upon since the middle of the 20th century. A company that has been amongst many that contributed in that regard and are still innovating to this day is Testo. Founded in 1957 in Germany, this world leader of manufacturing portable test and measurement solutions has been privately owned ever since. With now there being 33 subsidiaries around the world Testo has stayed the top dog of not just a simple thermometer (its first product) but a plethora of other tools. Today Testo specializes in flue gas analyzers, leak detectors, gauge pumps and many more products which is why it’s important to go through how some of them work.

Testo 550

Specs & Features

The 550 is a digital refrigeration manifold that comes with built-in Bluetooth and easy integration with their app. Like many quality Testo products the 550 can operate in temperatures from -50 ° C to +150 ° C. The measuring range of this device is between -1 and 60 bar, whilst the resolution sits at 0.01 bar. The 550 has an accuracy of 0.5 % fs at 22 ° C.

How to Use Testo 550

1. First to zero in the pressure sensors you need to have all the connections pressures and press the P key to execute the function. To connect refrigerant hoses, you need to ensure that first the valve actuators are closed. Then connect the hoses for low-pressure side and high-pressure side to the instrument and he the refrigerant hoses to the system.

2. To select the mode, press set several times and select the function you need with the arrow keys. To save the setting, press set and you are ready to measure. Start off by pressurising the equipment and then read the readings on the screen. To change the readings use the arrow keys.

Testo 557

Specs & Features

The 557 is Testo’s gauge for digital refrigeration with both Bluetooth and vacuum. The device has 60 refrigerant profiles and 4 ports with an included oversize charging and evacuation port too. It can work with R32 and newer generation refrigerants and provide superheat and subcooling measurements simultaneously.
How to Use Testo 557 Vacuum Probe
1. To use the 557 you need to deactivate the surface compensation factor first. To do this you need to press the “set” button repeatedly until you see Tfac displayed. Then use the arrow keys to set it to off. After that press “set” and go to the main menu. You should see Tfac displayed which means it’s disabled.

2. Set the refrigerant by pressing “R” and the play and stop button to select the refrigerant flashes. Once that’s done connect the vacuum probe. Do this by removing the front cover of the connector. The instrument will automatically switch to the vacuum measurement mode once the probe is connected. Choosing the measurement mode by selecting “set” and then navigating with the arrow keys.

3. Perform the measurement by applying pressure to the instrument and then reading the values. Flick through the readings on the display with the arrow keys. Once done remove the probe and put the cover back in its place.

Testo 570

Specs & Features

The Testo 570, like the above Testo products is a manifold too but it works with heat pumps alongside refrigeration systems. The 4 pressure connection unit is able to replace mechanical manifolds, pressure charts, and thermometers. This is thanks to its 2 pressure sensors and three temperature sensors which give it a measuring cycle of 0.75 s.

How to Use Testo 570

1. Like with the 557, the 570 also needs to have the surface compensation factor deactivated. This time it’s in regards to the immersion and air temperature probe. Do this by pressing “set” and then selecting the probe type. Obviously, you select immersion probe and hit ”ESC”.

2. Choose the instrument mode by pressing “ mode” and then using the arrow keys to flick through and hit “ok” when you want to select a mode. Once done it’s time to execute the measurements.

3. To perform the measurement just apply pressure to the measuring instrument and you’ll be able to read the values on the display. When 1 bar is reached before the critical pressure of the refrigerant you’ll see the display flash.

Testo 310

With the 310 you are able to do a gas analysis of gas water heaters, small combustion plants, and low-temperature as well as condensing boilers. This is thanks to its 0.5 hPa pressure measurement accuracy and 0 to 4000 ppm ambient co measurement accuracy. The 310 has a flue gas loss between 0 and 99.9 %.

How to Use Testo 310 Flue Gas Analyzer

1. To use the 310 you need to first connect the plug of the mains unit to the main socket on it. Then connect the mains plug of the mains unit to a mains socket. You can open either one of the configuration menus as the 310 has two. When you open the menu of choice you can then take some measurements.

2. To get data from a device you need to select the measurement type with the arrow keys and click “OK”. Then start the measurement by pressing “start”. To change the reading display, use the arrow keys and to quit the measurement hit “stop”. This is quite a straightforward process as the menu is made to achieve easy navigation.