Blog posts tagged with 'fix pressure gauge'

Have you ever purchased a low pressure gauge and noticed the pointer was pointing off of zero? You probably thought your gauge was broken and needed to be replaced.  This is a very common issue for people who are using liquid filled pressure gauges on their applications. Reason being, glycerin naturally expands and contracts due to temperature changes so whether the gauge is sitting on a warehouse shelf, in a shipment, or outside for a while, small buildup of pressure can happen inside the case of the gauge causing the very sensitive bourdon tube to push the needle off of zero. The good news is your gauge is not broken. There is actually a very quick fix for this issue - it's called “burping” your pressure gauge.
For a visual tutorial, we think Kodiak Controls explains it best with their YouTube video titled “How to Burp a Pressure Gauge."

If you do not have video access right now, grab a flat head screw driver and follow these steps below:

1. Take your flat head screw driver and place it carefully near the fill plug on the top of your gauge.
2. Gently push the fill plug to the side to alleviate some of the air.
3. Be careful not to push the fill plug all the way in. If this happens and you can’t get it out, you’re probably going to have to buy a new gauge.

Air or glycerin may come out during this process or the fill plug may fall out entirely. All of these things are OK! Just make sure to put the fill plug back on carefully so that it doesn’t get pushed inside the gauge (see step 3).

If done properly, your gauge should now be pointing back at zero. If you are still having issues or have any questions, please contact us! Our team of technical experts would love to help.

A pressure gauge out of calibration can be extremely frustrating.  The gauge may constantly point off of zero when there’s no pressure in the line or the gauge is consistently reading 5% above or below the range it really should be reading based on your other instrumentation.

One solution to this problem is to utilize the adjustable pointer on the pressure gauge assuming your gauge has one.

Most industrial pressure gauges will have an adjustable pointer because gauges will commonly fall out of calibration out in the field due to vibration, pulses, or just general use.  Gauges that don’t typically have them are smaller utility pressure gauges or liquid filled gauges.  Usually they’re lower in cost and its cheaper just to replace than try and worry about adjustments.

Below is a link to a video by our friends at Kodiak Controls explaining how to adjust the calibration of a pressure gauge using an adjustable pointer.  Keep in mind that an adjustable pointer can only help if the needle is off by 1-10% of the full range.  So, if you have a 100 psi gauge and the needle is always off by 3 psi, an adjustable pointer will work great.  But, if your 100 psi gauge is off by 30 psi, an adjustable pointer is not your solution.  There is a bigger issue at hand and you may need to purchase a new pressure gauge.  Enjoy the video!

How to Use an Adjustable Pointer