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Inexpensive Sonic Tester - Check Cylinder Walls
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    Posted: Mar/21/2012 at 8:02pm

Fellas -

I bought an ultrasonic thickness tester off eBay a few years ago.  Chinese and not very expensive.

Problem with it is that the probes they shipped with it were flat and too large for the curve of a cylinder wall, so it would not sit flush on the cylinder wall.  Read somewhere that folks were sanding theirs down, so I did that to mine.  No luck.  Measurements vary fairly significantly now.

Has anyone found a reasonably priced probe that fits one of the Chinese sonic testers?  Mine does not have a brand name evident, but figure the attachments are the same.

I realize that the industry standard is the Dakota unit, but I don't have $1,200 to shell out for one of these.

Thanks,

Scott
71 Javelin SST, Canary Yellow, 401, T-10
66 Fairlane GT Convt, 428, 4 sp
68 GTO Convt, 455, TH400
70 GTO, RAIV, 4 sp
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Matt at Bulltear (jeepsr4ever) used to sell a pretty nice one.  I don't see it listed on his site any more, but maybe he still has a line on them.  Wouldn't hurt to PM him.

Bob
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http://www.bulltear.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=195
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I bought one from Bulltear when he first was making them available.  It does not have all the gadgetry and features of the CB110 from NBT Systems we use in the shop, but it's just as accurate. It will give you all the info you need, just not as conveniently.  When compared to the $1700 we spent for the one in the shop, it's a bargain.  We rent it out for $40/day with a $300 deposit and paid for it in two months.
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Originally posted by Class Guy Class Guy wrote:

I bought one from Bulltear when he first was making them available.  It does not have all the gadgetry and features of the CB110 from NBT Systems we use in the shop, but it's just as accurate. It will give you all the info you need, just not as conveniently.  When compared to the $1700 we spent for the one in the shop, it's a bargain.  We rent it out for $40/day with a $300 deposit and paid for it in two months.
 
That's good to hear.  If I can't find a good sensor to get mine working well, I'll be getting another one.
 
Thanks

Scott 
71 Javelin SST, Canary Yellow, 401, T-10
66 Fairlane GT Convt, 428, 4 sp
68 GTO Convt, 455, TH400
70 GTO, RAIV, 4 sp
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Originally posted by Class Guy Class Guy wrote:

I bought one from Bulltear when he first was making them available.  It does not have all the gadgetry and features of the CB110 from NBT Systems we use in the shop, but it's just as accurate. It will give you all the info you need, just not as conveniently.  When compared to the $1700 we spent for the one in the shop, it's a bargain.  We rent it out for $40/day with a $300 deposit and paid for it in two months.
 
I just looked at the specs for mine and have a question - I see that the Bulltear unit has an 8mm sensor and it looks flat to me.  That's the same size one mine has and it would not conform to the curvature of the cylinder walls.  I was hoping to get a smaller and/or curved sensor, but sounds like the one that you have works fine.  How do you get accurate readings if the center of the sensor doesn't touch the cylinder walls?  Do you use something thicker than oil (vaseline, grease, etc) to connect the sensor to the walls?
 
Here are a few pics of what I have.  The smaller sensor is 8 mm and I ground it down some so it would fit the curvature of the cylinder walls, but lost accuracy/repeatability when I did that.
 
[image]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m118/sd_walters/100_3372.jpg[/image]
 
[image]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m118/sd_walters/100_3370.jpg[/image]
 
Thanks,

Scott


Edited by bulletpruf - Apr/04/2012 at 9:28am
71 Javelin SST, Canary Yellow, 401, T-10
66 Fairlane GT Convt, 428, 4 sp
68 GTO Convt, 455, TH400
70 GTO, RAIV, 4 sp
www.bulletpruf.9f.com
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Originally posted by bulletpruf bulletpruf wrote:

[QUOTE=Class Guy]I bought one from Bulltear when he first was making them available.  It does not have all the gadgetry and features of the CB110 from NBT Systems we use in the shop, but it's just as accurate. It will give you all the info you need, just not as conveniently.  When compared to the $1700 we spent for the one in the shop, it's a bargain.  We rent it out for $40/day with a $300 deposit and paid for it in two months.
 
I just looked at the specs for mine and have a question - I see that the Bulltear unit has an 8mm sensor and it looks flat to me.  That's the same size one mine has and it would not conform to the curvature of the cylinder walls.  I was hoping to get a smaller and/or curved sensor, but sounds like the one that you have works fine.  How do you get accurate readings if the center of the sensor doesn't touch the cylinder walls?  Do you use something thicker than oil (vaseline, grease, etc) to connect the sensor to the walls?
 
Thanks,

Scott
71 Javelin SST, Canary Yellow, 401, T-10
66 Fairlane GT Convt, 428, 4 sp
68 GTO Convt, 455, TH400
70 GTO, RAIV, 4 sp
www.bulletpruf.9f.com
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We use and recommend plain white lithium grease.  How do I get accurate readings?  Calibrate it first.  The unit makes up the difference in curvature. 
 
The sonic waves or electronic waves are transmitted from the surface of the probe.  If you grind it to make it curved, the wave signals then are transmitted in a fan shape and the return echo will not return in a strong enough concentration to the probe to get an accruate signal.  Also, the waves bouncing around at all kinds of angles will cancel out much of the signal and cause ricochet waves to return to the probe so you will get inaccurate readings.


Edited by Class Guy - Apr/04/2012 at 9:38am
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Originally posted by Class Guy Class Guy wrote:

We use and recommend plain white lithium grease.  How do I get accurate readings?  Calibrate it first.  The unit makes up the difference in curvature. 
 
The sonic waves or electronic waves are transmitted from the surface of the probe.  If you grind it to make it curved, the wave signals then are transmitted in a fan shape and the return echo will not return in a strong enough concentration to the probe to get an accruate signal.  Also, the waves bouncing around at all kinds of angles will cancel out much of the signal and cause ricochet waves to return to the probe so you will get inaccurate readings.
 
Ok, I'll see if I can get a replacement probe (mine looks just like the one Bulltear has) and will try it with white lithium grease.
 
Thanks,

Scott
71 Javelin SST, Canary Yellow, 401, T-10
66 Fairlane GT Convt, 428, 4 sp
68 GTO Convt, 455, TH400
70 GTO, RAIV, 4 sp
www.bulletpruf.9f.com
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Originally posted by bulletpruf bulletpruf wrote:

Originally posted by Class Guy Class Guy wrote:

We use and recommend plain white lithium grease.  How do I get accurate readings?  Calibrate it first.  The unit makes up the difference in curvature. 
 
The sonic waves or electronic waves are transmitted from the surface of the probe.  If you grind it to make it curved, the wave signals then are transmitted in a fan shape and the return echo will not return in a strong enough concentration to the probe to get an accruate signal.  Also, the waves bouncing around at all kinds of angles will cancel out much of the signal and cause ricochet waves to return to the probe so you will get inaccurate readings.
 
Ok, I'll see if I can get a replacement probe (mine looks just like the one Bulltear has) and will try it with white lithium grease.
 
Thanks,

Scott
 
Found a place in California (NDT Systems or something like that) that sells just a transducer/sensor with a bit of a curve so it will fit the inside of a cylinder wall.  However, it's $245 for just the transducer w/cord.  The one Matt/Bulltear sells is only $100 more for the entire setup.  Had hoped to find one for $50 or something like that.
 
Scott
 
 
71 Javelin SST, Canary Yellow, 401, T-10
66 Fairlane GT Convt, 428, 4 sp
68 GTO Convt, 455, TH400
70 GTO, RAIV, 4 sp
www.bulletpruf.9f.com
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