Fieldpiece SM480V SMAN Digital Manifold Wireless Data Logging

Works great. Upgrading my entire AC setup so I'm ready to go into business when the time comes. This manifold I paired with the Fieldpiece Joblink set which includes the wireless air temperature sensors for return/supply, pressure sensors for suction/liquid, and temperature clamps for suction/liquid.One issue I had initially was on system vacuuming, and I almost returned these for the 3 port SM382v, but decided against the return. The issue is present when using hoses and manifolds that have had refrigerant ran through them. When pulling a vacuum, refrigerant will start to evaporate at inconsistent times. This leaves you wondering if that 5 micron delta/min on a decay test is a leak or not. Most of the time, it did a great job of pulling down to 200 microns (manifold side) then on closing the manifolds vacuum port, we'd shoot up to about 350 or 400 while it equalized. After equalizing, we'd see a constant ~2 to 5 micron rise per minute.Other times, I'd get down to 400 microns and pop back up to 520, and it would pump back down to 390 and pop back to 510, pump down to 380 and pop back to 500. This cycle repeats itself and I can't tell if it's a micron gauge fault or evaporation. It isn't a leak, because it holds solid microns, but it does pop around quite a bit. Purge with nitrogen through your manifold and lines at high pressure before starting vacuum to mitigate this.Instead of returning this manifold because of the vacuum inconsistencies, I went for the redundancy approach and got two large vacuum hoses and a wireless micron gauge, leaving the manifold for watching system charge or vacuum alternative. Although I could just use the full wireless set for that now, anyways.

Only had the opportunity to use these gauges once. So far so good. Use this type of gauges with my last company and I thought it was worth the investment.

Fine

If your hvac service tech/installer the 482v are a must have item, who knows what when and where the next refrigerant will show up.

High quality, worth every penny.Makes refrigerant diagnosis simple

Love Fieldpiece products but if you want to buy tools like this, find a local parts house or a actual online dealer that Fieldpiece recognizes. These gauges started leaking at the refrigerant knob about 4 months after entering the field and Fieldpiece did not warranty them because they were bought off of Amazon, Fieldpiece rep told me the best he could do is recommend the manifold rebuild kit.

This is the Cadillac of digital gauges.

My dad is a major diy freak, but he often springs for the cheap tools instead of the professional ones. He came over cause my AC was running warm, and his subcool and superheat numbers from his cheap gauge was all over the place. He often put too much refrigerant, then pulled some out, then had to put some back. It was a mess, and he didn't leave me feeling confident in the job. I ended up calling a professional to top it off again. My dad's cheap gauge resulted in him taking more refrigerant out of the unit, then putting more in. The tech ended up charging me 1k to top off 2 units. We bought another house, and started to experience warm air again. but instead of calling my dad or a tech, I decided to wing it, buy the tool all the professionals use, and learn to do ac maintenance myself. With the help of YouTube, I think I mastered the basics. I ended up fixing the issue. I had complete confidence in the superheat and subcool calculations from this fieldpiece. I took my time with it and the results paid off. I even used it to check my car ac, and found it low on refrigerant in no time. Tool will definitely pay for itself in due time. Like every tool, there is a learning curve. But their are tons of YouTube videos to help.