Testo 310 Combustion Analyzer Kit with Printer 0563 3110

The Testo 310's hoses are Teflon lined in order to resist kinking, fraying, and splitting. This also equates to longer longevity of the hoses and excellent sample response times. The Testo 310's water traps are far more intuitive than most, with no need to disconnect and drain your hoses. The Testo 310 printer kit aggressively filters out NOx to ensure only the most accurate readings, and works over a wide range of temperatures with its continuous and fast temperature compensation.

The Testo 310 residential combustion analyzer is used to analyze the efficiency, safety, as well as the environmental impact of the furnace or appliance you are testing. While a variety of test are needed to get the complete picture of combustion, three test, ambient CO, draft, and gas pressure are helpful to run before performing the combustion test. Gas fired appliances like furnaces, boilers, and water heaters create gases as a byproduct of the combustion process. In order for these appliances to work safely, they must be vented properly and maintain a proper draft to make sure the gases exit your home. Gas leaks, high carbon monoxide levels, and improper drafting can all be dangerous if not addressed.

 

These gases are made up of oxygen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. A safe burn is represented by having the correct mixture of these components. An improper mixture can mean poor performance of your system and worse a safety concern. Only by using a combustion analyzer can these be checked.

Carbon monoxide is a dangerous byproduct of combustion generated by incomplete combustion due to lack of combustion air, ventilation air, or mechanical problems. Using the Testo 310 to check the ambient CO should be one of the first test a service technician performs when on a service call.

The first step in testing ambient CO would be the zeroing phase in clean ambient air before entering a home or mechanical room area. A service technician would start outdoors by turning on the combustion analyzer. The analyzer’s pump draws in air for a few seconds to clear the probe hose and the sensors. Doing this outdoors enables you to then walk into the mechanical room or house with the analyzer running checking for safe levels of carbon monoxide.

Draft is required to draw flue gases and carbon monoxide safely out of a living area. This is generally accomplished through a chimney or vent system. If the flue draft get interrupted or is impeded, carbon monoxide can back up in the chimney or vent, eventually leaking or ‘spilling” into the home through the draft hood. Verifying draft and checking for spillage is an important safety consideration for a furnace.

Using the Testo 310 for the draft pressure test starts by going through a 5 second stabilization for the manometer with the probe outside the draft (zeroing out phase). The analyzer’s probe is then ready to be inserted inside the flue to measure draft. Placement is important as it should be downstream from the elbows away from the draft diverter so you obtain the most accurate reading. After obtaining your measurement, you can record your reading by pressing the STOP button. The measurement is then stored on the instrument and can be used when you later perform the combustion test as well as ready to be printed out for your records when done testing.

After measuring ambient CO, verifying adequate draft, you might want to check the fuel pressure on a gas furnace. Improper gas pressure can cause issues with an appliance. Too much can overheat appliances or start fires, and too little can cause your pilot light to go out frequently, make appliances unreliable, or possible even cause carbon monoxide from inefficient combustion conditions.

The Testo 310 has a built in manometer that will not only measure the draft, but can also read pressures up to 16” water column. In order to check the gas pressure you will need to remove the particle filter located in the back of the flue gas probe and insert the orange sealing plug. The 310 comes with silicon tubing for the pressure test. Unfold the tubing making sure that there are no kinks in the hose and then slide the probe shaft into one end of the tubing making sure not to damage the thermocouple. On the other end of the silicon tube you will need to attach your own brass connector.

 

You are now ready to run the pressure test. You will need to press START on the meter so it can go through it’s zeroing out and calibration process. The silicon tube with the brass coupler is now ready to be connected to the gas valve to measure the pressure. Turn on the gas and the Testo 310 will measure and display the measurement. To record the gas pressure reading, press the STOP button and the reading is locked in. After recording the measurement, the sealing plug will need to be removed from the gas path, the filter re-installed back in the gas path, and the cover put back on. The silicone hose will need to be removed from the probe shaft and put away before performing a different test.

Now that you have measured and stored the ambient CO, draft, and gas pressure measurements using the Testo 310 combustion analyzer, you can go back to the Flue Gas Measurement setting and scroll through the stored measurements. You are then ready to perform a complete combustion test using the stored measurement with complete confidence that you will be providing the customer with the most accurate information regarding their equipment.