Why is Snoop so Expensive? 6

[tcampbe1]

Snoop leak detection fluid costs $125.00 a gallon at working strength, Seamtest concentrate costs $0.15 a gallon when diluted to working strength. Does anyone know why? Snoop claims adherance to some specifications, Seamtest does not. Any advice about other fluids or home grown formulas?

Reference thread 404-211765

 

[btrueblood]

from the Swagelok website, "[Snoop] Formula does not contain chlorine, aliphatic amines, or ammonium compounds".

Can be tough to find soap solutions without those, and various materials are sensitive to the residues. A hint - the major component of most shampoos is sodium lauryl suflate (you could almost literally drink the stuff, it's that mild). A bigger hint, most shampoos and cleaning products then add salt and other possibly corrosive stuff, to bulk up the liquid.

Go find a pharmacy or chemical supply house and ask for some USP grade sodium lauryl sulfate.

 

[Cockroach]

Personally, I use Palmolive and a little water. You can find this in any convenience store, city or rural, is quite cheap, provides me with immediate results and is a cost affective alternative to that industrial "Snoop".

And you should see how soft my hands are....

Kenneth J Hueston, PEng
Principal
Sturni-Hueston Engineering Inc
Edmonton, Alberta Canada

 

[KENAT]

Go to the local dollar store and check out the bubble solution stuff for kids.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[unclesyd]

Here are some products from American Gas Chemical Company that I've used for years and they are about the same price as Snoop.
We found that this product wets and will bubble where nothing else will.
Read the little blurb and you will where the standards come in.

General discussion in ink 1 and link 2 is a price sheet.

http://www.amgas.com/ltpage.htm

http://www.detectorbuy.com/shop/cart.php?target=category&category_id=251

 

[iainuts]

About 15 years ago our company had problems with cylinder valves developing cracks and failing in service. These are the brass valves screwed in to the top of high pressure (~2400 psig) cylinders. A crack would develop around the CGA fitting, allowing leakage and/or complete failure of the fitting.

An investigation found that the leak detection fluid used to check these cylinder valves each time they were filled or placed into service at a customer location, was actually causing stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of the brass. So in cooperation with ASTM, we came up with a standard, ASTM G186, that tested the leak detection fluid for the potential of SCC.

At the time, Snoop was found to be problematic and had significant ammonia/ammonium compounds (~ 120 ppm) which were the cause of SCC. When this was brought to the attention of Nupro (the manufacturer at the time) they reformulated their product to eliminate these trace amounts of compounds. Snoop now passes the testing for SCC per ASTM G186.

SCC is problematic for brass and copper. Not sure about other metals, but I don't think steel or SS would be subject to SCC from these compounds. Regardless, it's advisable not to use liquid detergents or other grocery store bargins. If a leak detection fluid hasn't been tested to ASTM G186, it shouldn't be allowed in service.

As a side story, we had a similar occurance years later on a copper pipe at one of our sites. We found SCC occuring in an area of copper pipe, but only in this one area. Turns out, the delivery driver was urinating on the pipe in this location because there was no bathroom in the area. So urine can also cause SCC in copper and brass alloys and shouldn't be used to detect leaks.

 

[Eltron]

Everything from Swagelok is expensive. I use the same as Cockroach above.

Dan

http://www.eltronresearch.com

Dan's Blog

 

[ornerynorsk]

Iainuts, you may want to give that delivery driver an alternate target. Something that would effectively hide the 9 volt battery and the 2 leads coming from it . . . . . :>)

 

[qcrobert]

I too use Cockroach liquid......

 

[JavaMoose]

I really like Big Blu RT100S. Bought it one a whim to replace the snoop we were all burning through. A little thicker than snoop, which I like personally, and it bubbles like mad with even a tiny microleak. Cheap too, in the $25 a gallon range.

http://www.refrigtech.com/Product/Leak_Detectors/Big_Blu/bigblu.html

 

[msquared48]

Small dogs are always more expensive...

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask

 

[JHop]

I am a little late on this thread, but wanted to make you aware that Snoop is about $50/gallon. I echo iainuts comments about SCC. Snoop has a corrosion inhibitor in it, and it has passed tests for SCC Potential. You may save today, but pay tomorrow if you use something that causes corrosion.