Now that phx42 is here, is there really any competition?

Basic Stats

phx42

TVA2020

Weight

Most of our users carry their machine more than they carry any other large object in their life. Making it light, shows our commitment to the people actually doing the work.

7.25lbs

3.26kg

9.4lbs

4.25kg

Length x Thickness x Height

Thickness is used instead of width to draw attention to the technician’s number one form factor request. “Make it thinner so there is more room for me in ladder cages.”

10 x 2.16 x 7.5 in

25.5 x 6.6 x 19 cm

11.5 x 4 x 9 in

29.2 x 10.2 x 22.9 cm

Volume

The true measure of how big something is.  Making things small is hard and we invested the time to go that extra mile.

162 in^3

2654 cm^3

414 in^3

6784 cm^3

Case Material

Sometimes bad things happen. Rugged is good.

Aluminum

Plastic

Bluetooth

Considering EPA Consent Decrees are ubiquitous and have made manual entry of ppm values all but obsolete,  charging extra for Bluetooth should be obsolete as well.

Standard

Extra Cost Option

Detection Range

Detection Range is one of the factors that determine what peg factors you can use. Using a lower peg may cause you to report a lot more emissions than actual.

0-100,000 ppm

0-50,000 ppm

Run Times

phx42

TVA2020

H2 Run Time

How long can you run on the internal hydrogen tank?

10 Hours

10 Hours

Battery Run Time

Will the battery last all day?

10 Hours

10 Hours

Is Continuous Monitoring Possible?

Can you leave the FID running all night/day/week/year?

Yes.

Contact Support for more info.

No.

Must be refilled manually every 10 hours.

Ease of Use

phx42

TVA2020

Temperature Compensated for Extreme Cold

Automatic

Filter Removal Detection

Yes

Special Conditions Apply

No

Connection on H2 Cylinder

Quick Connect

Damage Prone Left Handed Threads

H2, Filter, and Battery Info displayed on Handheld?

Yes

via Bluetooth

No

Reliability

phx42

TVA2020

Charger Port

Aerospace Grade

PS/2 Style

(OLD Computer Mouse)

External Scrubber for Combustion Air

Allows less unburnt sample in the FID, extending the time between service events.

Yes

No

H2 Regulation Method

Control Valve with feedback loop

Traditional Regulator

Automatically Tracked Batteries

Prevent repeated battery failures by tracking Serial Numbers electronically.

Yes

No

Return on Investment.

Equipment that is not being utilized is the most expensive kind of equipment. phx42 is designed to increase time on tools at every opportunity.

phx42

TVA2020

Cold Start Pump Warmup

In cold conditions, some pumps need to warm up before they can provide the proper pressures and vacuum to operate.

None

Warmup Before Calibration

15 Mins

30 Mins

H2 Refill Time

~15 Seconds

~2.5 Mins

Machine Health Self-Check

Problems found before deploying a machine to the field have a much lower impact on productivity.

Yes

No

Diagnostic Logging

Solve intermittent problems quickly.

Onboard and On Handheld

None

Automated shut down sequence to evacuate condensation from the FID.

Moisture inside an FID causes corrosion and difficulty igniting.

Yes

No

Gold POGO Pins Inside FID Exposed to Sample and Moisture

These types of connectors cause difficulty igniting a Flame Ionization Detector.

No

Yes

Modular Low-Cost Igniter

Yes (~$100)

No, Integrated into the Capsule (~$480)

Time to Repair/Replace Pump

10 Mins

2.5 Hours

Parts Cost

While not all parts can be exactly compared, here are some examples of how LDARtools designed the phx42 to help reduce costs.

phx42

TVA2020

Pump

This is the workhorse of the flame ionization analyzer. An FID sample pump in LDAR service is asked to suck up all kinds of nasty things.

$357

$1,684

Battery

$739.50

$1,065

Battery Charger

$325.92

$652

Glow Disk/Capsule

$124.29

$765

Probe Filter

$5

$179

Probe Tip

$30

$78

O-ring Kit

$0

No O-rings requiring maintenance on the phx42

$142

Note: All prices as of 7/16/2024 and are for comparison purposes only.  Prices will change over time and may not be updated here.  Please see storeldar.com for LDARtools’ current prices, or contact ThermoFisher for theirs.