Leak Testing Language 101

Every industry has their own unique language and leak testing is no different. Those who are new to the industry have a steep learning curve, but there is great news – Uson’s leak testing experts LOVE to educate customers. Leak Testing Language 101 explores commonly used leak testing terms used to describe the performance of leak testers that provide benchmarks for comparison.

Repeatability:

This is a vital measure of your leak tester’s ability to reach the same decision every time with an unchanging input. Of course, that decision might be wrong but at least it is consistent.

Accuracy:

Accuracy is how closely a leak tester can determine the value of a known leak. It can be expressed as the difference between the measured value and a known value. Here’s where Uson’s calibrated Leak Masters come to our assistance. We can use a known leak to challenge the tester during set up or to troubleshoot an instrument or complete system.

NOTE – The difference between accuracy and repeatability is :

Traceability:

Traceability is the path of accuracy from instrument to standard, or from one standard to another. You will often hear that the calibration equipment used to verify the accuracy of the leak tester is traceable to NIST standards. BUTtraceability does not guarantee error-free measurements.

Uson leak testers are calibrated to NIST standards.

The path of traceability looks like this :

Resolution:

Resolution is how the full range of a measuring scale is divided. Like a ruler can measure in inches and resolve to a sixteenth of an inch, resolution is frequently expressed as percentage of full scale e.g. 0.1% FS.

A to D Converter:

This is the analog to digital converter. A 24-bit A to D converter can divide the leak tester’s measurement scale into 1,677,216 steps or increments. For example, a 20 PSI full scale range transducer with a 24-bit A to D converter can resolve to less than one millionth of a PSI or 0.00001. Often though the true resolution is actually less. That’s because not all the bits in a 24-bit converter might be usable due to signal noise and so the true resolution of the leak tester might be more realistically expressed as 0.01 or 0.001 PSI.

Therefore, for Accurate and Repeatable measurements, the signal must be greater than the noise.

Uson Can Help!

If you need assistance understanding leak test specifications, test methods, leak testing equipment, or anything about leak testing, our team of experts are here to help. Contact us and speak to one of our specialists today!