RIDGID 36163 CD-100 Micro Combustible Gas Handheld Diagnostic Detector with 16" Flexible Probe and Visual, Audible, and Vibration Alarms

I have to share my amazing experience. Our bathroom in our basement for a long time smelled strange. I thought it may be gas but the basement in general has a moldy smell so I wasn't sure. Recently I decided to buy this gas detector.I turned it on and let it calibrate. I then went to our basement. Near the bathroom closed door, it detected gas at 40 ppm! I opened the door, went into the bathroom and the sensor started climbing up to 160 ppm. I went around and the bathroom and other areas and sure enough the concentration was higher where the gas meter was. All other suspect places and pipes were showing little concentrations like just outside of the bathroom door.So then I took my wife's Windex and I started to spray all over and around the gas meter. Amazingly on one spot below a nut I saw a huge bubble forming! I took the Ridgid monitor to that spot and what do you know? >640 ppm in that spot. 640 is the max in the high sensitivity mode. I should have tried the low sensitivity mode to see how much more than 640 it was.I got my tools, tightened the nut and the bubbles stopped. Soon after that the monitor registered 80 ppm there like in the rest of the bathroom.I bet by tomorrow the gas smell will be history.[Update. Next morning there is no gas smell and the sensor registers no gas]

Ok there are cheaper units out there and much more expensive ones. I am so glad I went with this unit. Ridgid products have not let me down.Reason for purchase: I'm not a professional but a homeowner and father who just switched over to Natural Gas.I have the wall gas/fire alarm detectors but be warned the gas they detect is carbon Monoxide. That is not the same as a Natural Gas leak coming into the appliances or from leaking pipes. Unless it is in large amounts you don't smell the chemical they add to natural gas.So I had first purchased a very cheap plug in unit. For the price is worked just fine. Then began going off very often. I could not be sure if it was a leak again or just a defect. I know what a unit less then 30 bucks is not going to be the most precise. My families safety is worth the best.First Impression; The Ridgid 36163 arrived today and I was very impressed with the quality of the unit. Very rugged and well built. I could see a professional using this daily. I was concerned at first that I was going to have to get into the weeds and learn how to use it. I have enough projects and programs I'm learning I don't want to add another complicated device. WELL I can tell you if you can turn it on you can use it. Calibration is as simple as it gets. You have vibration on and off, high sensitivity and low, on and off sound alert, and thats all there is to it. I still have my cheap plug in unit. If it goes off I check with this unit.Final thought; I would gladly recommend this to my friends and family.

I bought this because I've frequently noticed a faint odor of natural gas in the house I recently purchased. I asked an HVAC contractor to check the gas plumbing for leaks. He wasn't able to find anything, even though he claimed to have looked very carefully. I took this sniffer into the crawlspace and it immediately registered the lowest measurable level. I went to a spot where several gas lines branch from the main supply and the reading increased. I probed around till I found an area that registered >640 ppm. A spray with soapy water immediately revealed the leaky joint. I shut off the gas, tightened the joint (which was alarmingly loose), and turned the gas back on. Visually, the leak appeared to be fixed. The detector still registered a low level of residual gas in the area. I gave it 24 hours, checked again, and found the reading to be zero. I no longer smell any gas.The only drawback I will note with this tool is that it does time out after 10 minutes and shuts itself off to conserve power. This is particularly inconvenient in a situation like I described above, because the tool needs to be in an environment that is free of flammable gas when doing its calibration cycle after powering on. In my case, the detector shut off while I was in the crawlspace, so I had to crawl out in order to turn in back on.

Well worth the price. I was able to track a natural gas leak to within 1" of source. It even detected truck exhaust fumes in a large enclosed space. The only thing it won't do is tell you what gas it is sensing, but I already knew what I was looking for.

Muy muy buen producto... Muy buena sensibilidad, aún no sé si detecta perdidas en cañerías tapadas con mampostería o bajo tierra, pero la detección es muy fina y precisa.

This item arrived fairly quickly. Much sooner than expected. Pros: High quality, durable, rugged, very sensitive, good price and value. Cons: None really. It takes about a minute to calibrate. I had some trouble removing the battery compartment door. The sensor on the head of the flexible probe will need to be replaced after 5 years. This is typical of gas detectors and alarms. It comes with a CD, paper instructions, and a soft case. I researched many of these devices and this detector, in my opinion, is the best in it's class for value. Don't waste your money on cheap detectors.