Pressure gauge fail

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I just received a 15 PSIG pressure gauge (China) from ebay. I'm going to use it to monitor the pressure when I pressurize the fuel tank to look for leaks (soapy water method). This test is done at 2 PSIG or less. Knowing the reliability of pressure gauges in general, I checked it's accuracy before using it. The needle didn't move off the peg until 4.5 PSI!! It read 2 PSI with 6.5 PSI was applied. That would likely have damaged my fuel tank. So, a word to the wise: bourdon tube pressure gauges are OFTEN way out of tolerance from the factory. I have found this to be true for both those of US and China origin. Fortunately, repositioning the needle put mine on the money.
 
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The closer the "sweep" of the needle is to 360 degrees, the more accurate it usually is.

Good on you for checking it first.
 
Good to check, I doubt 6.5 PIS would have done too much though. I put 30-40 psi in a tank to de-crumple it. Worked, but my tanks a little rounder now than I would like.
 
I think that out of 100 buyers of those gauges, maybe 2 or 3 actually check their accuracy before first use!
 
I have a manometer, but prefer to use vacuum gauges to set the carbs on my bike. Todays job, so calibrated my gauges, different ages and brands, both US brands. So long as the give the same reading they are good enough for the job.

 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
The closer the "sweep" of the needle is to 360 degrees, the more accurate it usually is.

Good on you for checking it first.


Actually, it's more complicated than that. The most common gauge a mechanic is going to see is a grade B. Grade B gauges are ±2% of full scale in the central 50% of the range and ±3% of full scale in the first and last 25% of scale. The important part to understand is the full scale designation. For example a 100 PSIG class B gauge would be ±3 psi at 10 psig (30% of reading), ±2 psi at 50 psi (±4% of reading), and ±3 psi at 100 psi (±3% of reading). If the gauge had just been professionally adjusted it would have been adjusted at midscale to nominal, and would be most accurate there. Unless you have a gauge calibrated, with data, it's a [censored].
 
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