The LDARtools Fall Festival 2014 was a smashing success. We hope everyone had fun and brought home memories that will last until next year’s festival. As everybody’s winding down from all that excitement last week, we’d like to present you this year’s LDARtools trivia leaderboard:

1 Jeff Dieh 16 2014_leaderboard-resize
2 Mason Mays 14
3 Jesse Grice 13
4 Corrine Matthews 12
5 Ellen Melegrito 12
6 John Melegrito 11
7 Elena Clinton 11
8 John Nisbet 11
9 Karl Schultz 11
10 Rick Pruett 10

We have a lot more pictures coming so subscribe to this blog to get the latest updates on everything regarding LDARtools and the LDAR industry.

We’re just a few days away from the LDARtools Fall Festival 2014 and we couldn’t be more thrilled to announce this year’s prizes. You can win these by playing the games that will be held throughout the day, dominating the skeet shooting tournament, or being really lucky and winning the raffle.

So without further ado, the loot:

gyro fire_hd6 nexus
Black & Decker Gyro Screwdriver Amazon Fire HD 6 Google Nexus 7
roomba ipad
iRobot Roomba 620 Vacuum Apple IPad Air

guns

Ruger LCRx Revolver and Smith & Wesson Shield

countdown-37

*All product images (except for the guns) are from their respective manufacturers’ websites.

header
titledate
We are delighted to announce that agreement on a 3-year hardware and software contract has been reached with TEAM Industrial Services, Inc. (“TEAM”). As a part of that agreement, TEAM was named a Preferred Distributor of LDARtools products. At the same time, TEAM announced its decision to designate LDARtools as the Company’s preferred provider for VOC analyzers, such as phx21 and c2 Bluetooth devices.

TEAM is a leading industrial services company offering an array of specialized services related to the construction, monitoring, and maintenance of pressurized piping and associated systems, and was the first contractor to offer LDAR services in 1980. TEAM serves customers in the refining, petrochemical, natural gas processing, pipeline, and other heavy industrial industries with a level of service that goes above and beyond.

This new and exciting relationship is the result of a year-long, creative process.  After extensive development and testing, TEAM has begun to deploy LDARtools’ SQL-based LTI Desktop Manager, LTI Mobile and other products. Over the course of the next few months, TEAM and LDARtools will work together to rollout LDARtools GPS and Technician Safety products. TEAM has already begun the process of purchasing and using LDARtools’ state-of- art phx21 analyzers in addition to standardizing on our c2 Bluetooth device.

Mike Hebert, TEAM’s Corporate LDAR Service Line Manager, expressed his excitement about the new relationship. “We are thrilled with our new relationship with LDARtools.  They bring to the table the most advanced technologies and ideas available for ensuring the safety, compliance and integrity of the LDAR programs for our clients.  We’ve always believed in doing everything we can to support our technicians in the field.  LDARtools will put the right software and hardware solutions into the hands of those technicians, making their compliance tasks much more manageable. We’ve found LDARtools is a perfect partner to our core values…Safety First – Quality Always; Integrity; Service Leadership; Innovation; and Pride and Respect.  LDARtools has displayed those values at every turn in this year-long effort to develop and bring only the best to the LDAR Industry.”

Rex Moses, President of LDARtools, had this to say: “This is one of the greatest days in the history of our company. We are honored that TEAM has placed this confidence in us and our products. We are proud of what we have accomplished, but even more excited about what we can build in the future, working so closely with our distributors, customers and friends. It is a lot of fun to be working, hand-in-hand, with Mike Hebert and his team! It is a real honor to have TEAM as one of our Preferred Distributors.”

***

For more information about LDARtools products or to become a Distributor, contact us at 1-877-788-1100. To address inquiries or questions to TEAM, contact Michael Hebert at Mike.Hebert@TeamInc.com.

LDAR Tools team-logo

Come one, come all!

The LDARtools Fall Festival opens in less than two weeks and everything’s coming together pretty nicely. We have a lot of activities in store for our guests and we couldn’t be more thrilled:

last_year-resize

Skeet Shooting

For this year’s festival, we’re holding a small skeet shooting tournament. Our big open spaces allow us to launch clay pigeons all day. Too bad we can’t say the same for bullets.

Trivia Contest

We’ll hold the second annual LDAR Think Tank Trivia contest. IPR/EMS got the most points last year. Will they take home the crown again?

leaderboard

Door Prizes and Games Galore

We’ll be giving away a lot of stuff this year just for folks who are coming over. But to make things more fun, we’ll also have games to nab the bigger items. Unfortunately, a phx21 isn’t included in the prize pool.

Livestock Meet and Greet

The kids will have a blast playing with the animals. Our lamb (Pita), goat (Sam), and the hordes of chicken running around are just as excited to see them.

pita-resize

Food Trucks

For a scrumptious meal, we have POCKet to Me and St. John’s Fire to thank. POCKet to Me serves delightful pita wraps, while St. John’s Fire provides regional gourmet cuisine.

pocket_to_me-resize    stjohnsfire-resize

Product Demos

We’ll also hold demos of our current and new products. Questions are encouraged and we’re here to help you out with whatever issue you have. It also makes a legitimate case for coming over.

Gun Giveaway

And finally: we’ll be giving away a .38 snubnosed revolver and a 9mm SHIELD. Need we say more?

See you on the 14th of November! Please RSVP at sales@ldartools.com.

countdown-resize

LDARtools has developed a bracket to hold your phx21 analyzer while topping up your H2.

Hooked under the H2 valve’s base, the bracket comfortably supports your phx21 while you set up. You don’t even need to take the phx21 out of the backpack to fill your cylinder. Here’s a video to see it in action:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RunYl6fKQ_w]

If you can’t watch the video, below are the steps to make use of this handy prop:

Step 1 Make sure the Sample Hose is attached to the phx21 before placing the backpack onto the bracket.
Step 2 Remove and safely store the fill cap.
Step 3 Turn on the H2 and connect the Fill Adapter to the phx21 H2 fill port.
Step 4 Twist the handle, then wait a few seconds for the cylinder to fill.
Step 5 Remove the Fill Adapter and reinstall the fill cap.
Step 6 Close your backpack and you’re done.

phx21bracket

Please contact LDARtools to inquire about procuring the phx21 Fill Station Bracket for your site:

  • Call 1-877-788-1110.
  • Email sales@ldartools.com.

The Fall Festival is in less than three weeks’ time and everyone’s excited here at the LDAR Think Tank.

While the team’s running around getting everything ready for November 14th, we’re trying to get the LDARtools Chateau ready. Here are a few of the projects and additions we’ve made during the past weeks leading up to the Festival:

Fancy Floors
Aside from looking squeaky clean, our workshop and warehouse now have laboratory-grade, non-slip flooring. We’re ready for everyone to see where the phx21 magic happens.
floor1
Swings Are Set
Our palapa now features swings with just the right height that Rex’s feet can touch the ground. Lunchtime at LDARtools is now a hundred times more fun.
swing1
See The Sign
We’ve raised the sign several feet so that people won’t get lost when they come over next month. Our next project is to put up lights, preferably neon.
sign1
Stomped The Stumps
We’ve removed the stumps on our front lawn and while it takes time to get the spots green, we have a big open space for the festivities.
stump1
Cups and Cups of Coffee
Between meeting the demand for phx21s and preparing for the Fall Festival, it’s nice to have a breather once in a while. We have a fancy new coffee maker and great java helps a lot in the morning.
coffee1
Driveway Gets Done
The entrance to the Chateau is getting a makeover (plus a new mailbox). And though we’d miss the brief jostle during our drive in and out of the office, we’ll be ready for visitors on the 14th.
drive1

We hope to see you in a few weeks! Don’t forget to RSVP by telling us you’re coming at sales@ldartools!

countdown

Ideally, analyzers would run perfectly forever. LDARtools built the phx21 to safeguard against a lot of problems, but things eventually go awry. Level 1 Technician training ensures that when your machine fails, you can get it up and running in a matter of minutes.

Derrick Mauk, our Special Projects Manager, taught a Level 1 Technician Training class for TEAM Industrial last week that covers the following:

  • Removing and reinstalling the phx21 case
  • Replacing the battery
  • Adjusting the probe flow pressure
  • Adjusting the LPH2 pressure
  • Replacing the pump
  • Replacing the Bluetooth
  • Replacing the glowplugs
  • Installing the charger bulkhead

A phx21 repaired on-site by a certified Level 1 Technician maintains its intrinsic safety guarantee.

Of course, LDARtools is still available through our support hotline and we’ll repair your phx21 as soon as possible. But according to Derrick, “You’re looking at a downtime of two hours as against seven days” if you have a Level 1 Technician on-site.

Contact LDARtools to schedule your Certified Level 1 Technician Training at 1-877-788-1110.

Team Industrial’s new L1 Technicians
Franky Hamman
Dain Frederic
Chuck Alexander
Tim Lowe
Desmond Thomas
Brian Weaver

l1training

The raffle was last year’s fall festival highlight. The grand prize: a Springfield Armory XDS 9mm Semi Auto pistol. It’s no surprise that everybody waited with bated breath as Rex Moses, LDARtools CEO and President, selected the winning ticket. The crowd was excited—hoping they would take home an expensive firearm.

Rex held the ticket and asked the crowd to raise their hands if they held tickets 500 to 510 (?). Our friend Robert Williams, ECS Sr. Specialist for TEAM Industrial Services, Inc, apparently held five. That’s a fifty percent chance of winning right there. But as raffles go, Rex knew that there’s still a chance that he might not win. So our magnanimous boss bargained.

Rex offered to buy Robert’s tickets for one hundred dollars. Robert refused, confident that he’d bag the prize. Rex was unrelenting and kept raising the amount until he offered a hundred for each ticket, which brings the total to 500 dollars. That’s half of the cost of the gun, but Robert wanted none of that.

Rex announced the winning number and the winner claimed the prize. Needless to say, a fifty percent chance may not be all it’s cracked up to be. Sharon Ochs, a family friend of the Moses’, took home the handgun, Rex got to keep his 500 dollars, and Robert Williams has a story to tell with a second shot at the grand prize this year on November 14.

blogpic01

The Fall Festival is almost here and we’re all excited to see everybody again. It’ll be just as fun (if not more so) and the prizes are going to be great! Come for the food and games, stay for the company.

countdown36

img_1698893278965

Bins, boxes and shelves line the walls of the warehouse and David Munguia is its overseer. As LDARtools’ Inventory Specialist, David makes sure that everything in the warehouse is accounted for and that includes the shipping of repairs and new machines fresh from the workshop. He does all these while classic rock plays in the background.

Ensuring our inventory is sound keeps him busy. “I’m really enjoying it. It’s a fun challenge and I’m learning from the new experiences,” he says. Having worked at a larger warehouse before, he’s happy with the pace here at LDARtools. We’re sure the big open space with good acoustics play a big part.

A musician when he’s not at work, David plays keyboards for the band Kaos in family-friendly places all over the Houston area: the Kemah boardwalk, Pleasure Pier and anywhere else their gigs takes him. Classic Rock and Top 40 covers are part of their repertoire, but he was trained as a classic pianist. One of the highlights of his musical career is opening for the band Journey during a wintry festival in Chicago: “It was a dream come true. I never imagined I would have the opportunity to open for Journey.”

His wife, Maureen, was EA’s Knowledge Coordinator. They met in college as Music majors, and David says it was “love at first song.” They have three children: David Thomas (5), James (3) and Nicholas (2).