Economy Series

After using it in my shop for a few weeks, I can say this machine is damn effective. You can be done with diagnosing leaks in mere minutes. What I found out that it does is turns mineral oil into thick smoke which is then pumped in sealed systems, such as air intakes, exhausts, you name it. Wherever there are cracks, smoke would seep out and this would determine the leak source.It's so effective and fast to use! To hook it up, you simply connect the power cables to the 12V positive and negative battery terminals of your car. Then plug in your air compressor and you're good to go. I now have 3 of these running, 2 in the shop and 1 at home. Huge time saver!PROS:- Fast and easy to use. Capable of finding common leaks in mere minutes. (Hint from experience: use a flashlight)- Works on almost all sealed systems like intake manifolds, exhausts, etc. and the mineral oil is safe for even oxygen sensors. Believe me, I've tried. However, I'd still cover up the mass air flow sensor just in case.- Has an air regulator @ a very safe 1 psi so your system doesn't blow out.- Compact. You can put everything back into the box it was shipped in for quick storage.CONS:- The unit requires mineral oil which is not included. Had to go out to purchase some at Walmart for a few bucks.- Air connector only allows for a quick connector fitting from any air compressor. But I don't see why you can't use a hand pump for this.- The kit doesn't include an EVAP port adapter, but you can simply disconnect the EVAP hose and use the included multi-size tip.If you have one in the shop, I'd recommend an EVAP port adapter for much faster diagnosing.UPDATE July 20, 2017: It's been 4 months since I've purchased 3 of these (2 in the shop and 1 at home). Everything is still working strongly. Quite impressive for such an affordable diagnostic machine. I refilled mineral oil only once or twice for the ones I had in the shop. Which costed me less than $3. Had a question about what type of mineral oil would be best and seller responded very promptly. Use plain ol' mineral oil guys! It's cheaper than baby oil and baby oil smells a little bit. Good customer service, great product. I'm happy, just thought I'd let you guys know.

The only reason this would get a poor review is if the buyer has no concept of what it costs to produce and market a unit like this. Yes, this unit is a little cheap and cheesy but, it works well if you set it up properly. For what the unit costs, you are actually getting a fair deal. The most important parts ie. ( power cord and heat coil inside and regulator ) are of good quality and that is what truly counts. Yes, the can is a cheap Home Depot tin paint can with fittings for air and the smoke tube and power attached and a regulator. All looks like its straight off Ebay or maybe from here on Amazon. But, they do a good job of putting it all together for you. I read a few of the bed reviews that complained that said " I could have made this junk myself for cheaper! " and their right. But they didn't! You are paying for parts and for someone else to build it for you. With that in mind you are getting a fair deal for your money and it works. Keep the air PSI under 10 psi and it is a little champ.

Instructions were not very clear on how to set up, so we had it reversed. I almost lost a hand and my husband would've been hit in the face if I hadn't moved him before the lid popped off the can. Once we figured it out, it worked great, as described and as expected and helped us find the leak in my BMW, thus saving us money fixing it ourselves.

Takes all of 2 minutes to connect everything. Instructions say it should take about 5 minutes before you start seeing smoke. It didn't take mine that long. I hooked it up to a 3 gallon air compressor from Harbor Freight, and gets consistent smoke. Worked like a charm.

I’ve been a mechanic for 61 years. I’ve never needed anything like this.. but after using it, I will never not have one. This one is a little crude. But it gets the job done. I’ll probably never use it again, but it was so damn fast. I found the problem in about 20 seconds. Very, very cool machine.!! I used it on my 2013 Jeep Wrangler 3.6 just a cool tool it doesn’t care what car you use it on. It would work on any kind. Been fighting the problem for a week and I found it in no time flat thanks so much for making such a neat machine.!!

I had the infamous leak somewhere in the evap system on a Jeep. Few hundred dollars estimate from the local shops. I bought this, and after about an hour figuring out how to hook it up tried it for real.Took less than a minute to find the problem. Less than a minute!! Got the part, installed it, retested and everything was fine. Reset the code, drove it a bit, passed smog test with flying colors. You can even check your gas cap with this.I does look a little silly, paint can with some hoses and some wires, but it does the job really, really well. My neighbor has already used it to find a vacuum leak in his AC system. This thing is great. It does get hot though, so pay attention to what you're doing to prevent dropping it when the heat surprises you.

Just accept it is what it is, and your getting it for half the cost of a real unit. Which means it's cheaply built, and almost homemade looking.It's some hoses, a Gas regulator from a grille, a quart paint can, some wires and a rag wrapped in tungsten. Not too complex. But it works.Now it will work great that one or two times you need it. But the element is very delicate, and seems it busted an electrical connection just sitting in my garage for a week, so it quit working. That or it broke becuase I close the drawer I put it in too hard.What it alsp did was teach me how to use one and proved to me I needed one in my tool kit. It was a $100 lesson. Going to go spend the extra $100 and get a better unit that will hold up. Might even splurge on the $300 one.So if you need this as a one time tool, it's a great option. Plan on reusing it later.. buy something else.