Sold Known good and accurate compression tester

[woodeneye]

Hi all, I've bought a slew of what were supposedly good compression testers, well besides the HF one. I even bought a craftsmen set, but it reads way low compared to the one in my my buddy's garage and compared to people that sold me saws. Heck I have one saw that I know for a fact turns over most testers to 165lbs, but none of my budget models or my craftsmen (which is still under warranty) read high enough on known good saws. So if you have an extra known good tester lying around, for a decent amount, I'd love to pay you for it! In this case I'd actually prefer used so I know I'm getting a good one.
Thanks,
Jarod

 

[Guido Salvage]

My go to one is an Actron I paid $30 for at Mejier. It reads within a couple of pounds of my Snap-On gauge. Just make sure it has a Schrader valve.

 

[woodeneye]

Thanks Gary, I'll try one more new one. If it fails, though, I'm buying used... Haha!

 

[Jon1270]

Based on a thread here on AS I recently picked up an OTC gauge from Amazon, and am very happy with it. The readings it gives are consistent and seem plausible.

 

[woodeneye]

Thanks, but I have a relatively high end kit that looks just like that. Must have gotten a bad one because I've compared it to two known good compression testers and I just wasn't getting the readings. Off by about 30 psi.

 

[Jon1270]

I feel your pain. I've tried as many as four gauges on the same saw and seen a spread of about 80 PSI between them! I wish there was some objective way of testing them without expensive lab equipment.

 

[blsnelling]

I've been through most of the inexpensive gauges. They all eventually failed. I bought a used SnapOn off eBay. That was several years ago and it's still going strong.

 

[irhunter]

I've been through most of the inexpensive gauges. They all eventually failed. I bought a used SnapOn off eBay. That was several years ago and it's still going strong.

Any way to tell who actually made the snap-on gauge?

I have a torque wrench made by the people who make snap-on wrenches...and, it is every bit a snap-on, and I got it for about 1/2 the price.

Roy

 

[Jon1270]

I don't own a Snap-On gauge, but I borrowed an old and well-used one from the mechanic around the corner and it only read 100 psi on a saw that was in great shape. That same saw blew 165 on the new OTC gauge (seemed most plausible to me), and over 180 on a no-name cheapie gauge. I also bought an older Mac gauge on eBay, and its needle won't go over 130 on any machine. The main thing I garner from this is to take other people's compression readings with a big grain of salt.

 

[7hpjim]

My go to one is an Actron I paid $30 for at Mejier. It reads within a couple of pounds of my Snap-On gauge. Just make sure it has a Schrader valve.

This is the same gauge that Autozone sells, I have been through 2 and that's why I don't have a gauge anymore, @ $42 plus tax this is a waste of money on cheap Chinese junk!!

 

[angelo c]

This is the same gauge that Autozone sells, I have been through 2 and that's why I don't have a gauge anymore, @ $42 plus tax this is a waste of money on cheap Chinese junk!!

count me Autozone unhappy as well. I borrowed/rented one from them the other day and it read 30lbs different same saw, same hose, different head.
equally frustrated as the saw i was testing gave 'excellent' feedback from my manual pulling test...and man I am a pulling madman...married man and all

 

[fin460]

I've been through most of the inexpensive gauges. They all eventually failed. I bought a used SnapOn off eBay. That was several years ago and it's still going strong.

I saw Brad's Orange Snap On gauge and thought that it had to be expensive! Expensive yes, but I found one on ebay just like it with 3 adapters for 120$, I bought it and have used the crap out of it testing every saw I buy and sell.

I don't expect someone to pay that much, and I would expect most other quality brands to produce some consistent results.

I am always watching for my gauge to read something inaccurate, just this week I got a well used ms261 in and it read 190lbs! I was like CRAP my gauge must be off, under closer inspection I noticed the base gasket had been deleted, and I have a like new but broken in ms261cm on the bench with a base gasket delete that has 194psi compression reading, I take all my readings with the saws cold. Usually not ran for days.

I have bough several tools over the years, and like OTC, and Lisle, I would trust them to make an accurate gauge, but we all know quality isn't as important as profit to manufactures these days.

 

[fin460]

Stock ms261cm, and a muffler modded base gasket delete ms261cm, both about the same run time, around 10 to 15 tanks.

I noticed the angle you hold the gauge makes a big difference, when I read the gauges before taking the photo, I got 180psi, and 194psi, but either way, still a good bump from removing the base gasket.


Disclaimer, I didn't remove the gasket, and I haven't checked squish or gasket thickness for clearances!, I'm not sure if there were anyother modds done to make the base gasket delete possible. I assume it is as simple as a regular delete, but I haven't looked into it.

 

[woodeneye]

Don't you have better things to do with your time like shining a certain Homelite up? Haha!

View attachment 386311 View attachment 386312

Stock ms261cm, and a muffler modded base gasket delete ms261cm, both about the same run time, around 10 to 15 tanks.

I noticed the angle you hold the gauge makes a big difference, when I read the gauges before taking the photo, I got 180psi, and 194psi, but either way, still a good bump from removing the base gasket.


Disclaimer, I didn't remove the gasket, and I haven't checked squish or gasket thickness for clearances!, I'm not sure if there were anyother modds done to make the base gasket delete possible. I assume it is as simple as a regular delete, but I haven't looked into it.

 

[fin460]

I was going to let you clean it up

 

[woodeneye]

I was going to let you clean it up

Well, I do like a farm fresh saw, so I guess that will be alright. I did buy some paint for it in St. Joe yesterday!

 

[Guido Salvage]

I lucked out and found my Snap-On in a pawn shop. I had been in the shop many times and never saw it, one day I saw the case on the shelf and decided to investigate. Turns out it had been there over a year, I got it for $37.

 

[woodeneye]

I lucked out and found my Snap-On in a pawn shop. I had been in the shop many times and never saw it, one day I saw the case on the shelf and decided to investigate. Turns out it had been there over a year, I got it for $37.

So what you're saying is that I'll be getting a Snap-On Compression Tester for Christmas? Haha!