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Permalink Reply by Trainer on April 22, 2009 at 7:19am

The hot stick is easy, go to one of the big chain home improvement stores and just buy one. The gas monitor is a different story; we’ve had several over the years and to be honest we no longer buy the 4 gas, never used it completely anyways, stick with a single or 2 gas. The other reason is replacement of the sensors, you have to replace often and they are expensive, usually you can buy a new unit for not much more than the cost of sensor replacement.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Brooks on April 22, 2009 at 3:29pm

I agree that the average department does not need a four gas meter. However, a 3 gas is a must. You need to know the oxygen levels, explosive levels and CO levels. If you are in a high explosive area with no oxygen, that is bad. If you are in an oxygen enriched area, that can be just as bad, if not worse. You can get $1500-1800 meters that need new sensors and annual maintenance. I used to maintain these all the time. We began buying a "2 year" detector a few years ago. The Industrial Scientific M40 is warranted bumper to bumper for two years. Sensors, batteries and all electronics are covered. You just need to calibrate it. I have had sensors go bad, and they replaced them with no problem. After two years, we get new ones. The cost of new sensors is about the same price as a new meter. A three gas sells for $550.

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Permalink Reply by Deanna on April 22, 2009 at 3:40pm

Ther is a really good hot stick that my husband uses that is relativley inexpensive. We are electricians and have manged to talk chief into buying one for every truck. I think it is made by Ideal, but I will ask him when he gets home from work and let you know.

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Permalink Reply by Trainer on April 22, 2009 at 4:43pm

J, the 2 gas I was referring to you call a 3 gas, o2/co plus does UEL and LEL, I guess I just always called it a 2 gas, my mistake. As for the brand, going to have to go to the station to remember.

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Permalink Reply by Truckie Jay on April 22, 2009 at 5:42pm

We use the 4 gas detector and just purchased acouple of these little guys. Before purchasing we demo'ed 2-3 different units. I highly recommend demo'ing different brands before you make the final purchase.
Draeger X-am2000

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Wright on April 22, 2009 at 9:48pm

Hey Guys and Gals
Thanks for the useful post and info. I've got a couple gas detectors in mind and I"m going to demo them before I make a buy. I looked at the MSA brand, only thing I don't like is it's size, it is not much larger than a minitor 5 and it made be hard to handle if you have veryy large hands. A department up the road from me has a Q-ray brand , they are very pleased with it. Once again thanks for the info....

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