I'm brian with the hvac school podcast in hvac, our school comm, and this is sal i'm with products by pros and Sal's got a microphone today, it's a little bit new for me. I'm not used to holding things in front of my face like this. Today we are going to talk about the true-blue kit from a key tools and blue vac, as well as some of the blue vac micro engages a few of the different features and just do kind of a quick unboxing. So you can see everything that you're getting we're going to be reviewing the blue vac micro, which is the basic micron gauge from blue vac.

One really nice thing about all of the micron or vacuum gauges within the blue vac line now is that they all contain bluetooth, which means they can connect to the really nice blue vac app, that's made in conjunction with a cue tools for watching the trends of Your vacuum and the differences between the micro, the LTE, which sits kind of right in between these two and the pro, is the built-in software packages that come on these gauges. The micro is very basic, micron gauge. You can see what your microns are, and you can see that trend over time when connected to the app alright. So the first thing we want to talk about is the different micron gauges in the blue, vac and Accu tools.

Family. We have the basic micron gauge, which is the blue, vac micro there's another one that goes in between the two, which is called the blue, vac LTE, and then we have the pro and the difference between these different micro engages is not the sensors. The sensors are all really high quality, sensors, they're, all very reliable tools. It is not bluetooth because all three of them are bluetooth connected.

It's really the software that comes on them and their capabilities, so the micro is really just a micron gauge. You can connect it to the blue, vac app and watch the trends, which is very nice. If you take a look here on the back, you can see. They've got a demonstration of what it looks like on the app and the app is very powerful.

With all three, but this is a basic micron gauge when you go to the LTE now you have some more features as far as trends and the ability to hit targets and then, when you get to the blue vac Pro, that's where you have all of the Features unlocked both on the gauge itself as well as in the software, so you can do all of the things like decay, testing, decay targets, all that sort of thing right in the device itself and in with the app which is very nice. We use blue vac gauges and have four years at Kalos well before I was making videos for them or even before I knew I'm Jim Bergman or the team at blue vac and the reason why we like them so much as their reliability. They just do exactly what they're supposed to do time and time again, the pro and the LTE have a nice hook that attaches to the top, obviously they're they're nice standard batteries, so either the triple-a on the Levesque micro or the 9-volt batteries on the Pro and The LTE so there's just not a whole lot that you have to worry about, and they have a lot of really great features. If you want those or if you just want a really nice stable, micron gauges.

You're not gon na have trouble with for years to come. These are both really great options. You mentioned a question about the decay availability on the pro the micro does that have decay like? Doesn't it show decay on the app itself? So to answer that question and again some of the software has changed recently and I was just talking to their engineering team they're, really making this in the app just a basic. You can see the trends you can watch the decay because you can see the graph, but it doesn't give you the ability to hit targets and to build in some of that, automation that you might want to build in, and that's really what you get as you Go into the LTE and the pro as far as the specifics of what each one can do, I would suggest looking on their website and seeing all the details.

But again, if you want something that you could deploy to a junior technician, especially, and it does a lot of the work for them as far as hitting those targets, making sure that it's clean, tight and dry, then the pro version is kind of the mack daddy And the micro is the more simple version, but they all come with that bluetooth connectivity, so you can use them with the app now we're gon na go ahead and open up this this case. One really nice thing about this case is that it's super super heavy-duty. I'm going to turn it around, so you can see it in this direction really really heavy-duty. It's got these four clamps on it, and this is true.

This kit is either the pro or the advanced kit. They also make a smaller kit that comes in a little black bag with just a single hose, but this is really the the nice setup and - and one really nice thing about having this sealed case - is that when you store your hoses in it, that's going to Prevent moisture from becoming an issue and contaminating your hoses. We also have end caps, we'll talk about here in a second, but this kit comes with just a menagerie. An assortment of really important pieces here comes with instructions which cover the process of pulling a good vacuum.

Why it matters kind of provides that just-in-time education protects out in the field? So for those of you who are business owners and want to deploy this, it describes every different part and what it does and and how the app works, which is really important. The next thing is: is it comes with these two hoses, so the pro kit comes with three one meter long. So it's three foot long hoses. The first thing that I always like to point out are these hoses is that they really can be put in very tight positions.

They can be bent pretty easily, actually quite a bit easier than some of the other, even half-inch, hoses out there. These are three quarter inch interior diameter, which is pretty incredible, and the fact that you have three of them means that you could, if you had to, you, could connect all three of them end to end we'll talk and a little bit about. Why? That's not a good idea, but you could connect them all and and if you had to go nine feet I mean you only needed one or more practically speaking. There may be cases where you can connect one close up, and then you need the 6-footer on the other side, or sometimes you can connect all three to different ports on the system.

So if you have a refrigeration system, something that has multiple ports, that's a really good way to pull a fast vacuum. The key thing here, what makes these hoses really different is that these are made of a vinyl material. They don't have perforations in the jacket. It's a very smooth jacket, it doesn't absorb moisture the ways in which some rubber materials can't absorb moisture.

That's a big advantage as these really nice, Oh rings, you can see how big these o-rings are, and that makes for a really good seal versus some of the smaller internal o-rings that a lot of non vacuum hoses utilize. The other thing is is obviously the internal diameter that really is going to help with vacuum speed. The number one question we get is well, if you're throttling down to a quarter inch on one end, does that make a difference? Having the hose be that much larger and the answer is absolutely I'm not going to go into the science of it, but we've proven it over and over and over again there's tons of videos out there to talk about this. It absolutely does matter the size of the hose, in fact it's one of the biggest factors and this kit addresses all of that.

Alright. So now, let's talk about the core remover tool or CRT that comes in this kit, and you see it says a key tools on the side. It's got the blue vac logo on the end, which is a nice little touch. This is not the same as some other similar CRTs that may look similar out there on the marketplace.

A lot of guys have thought that it was the same and it is not. This is a truly vacuum, rated meaning it's been tested, underneath vacuum core remover tool, which is very important in order to pull out the core. You've got this really nice end piece, that's a little bit larger than the diameter of the of the threaded pieces below, so that makes it nice and easy to grab on to, and one thing you can do with these, and that gives you a sense of their Ability to hold a vacuum, it's just put your finger on the end and pull out, and you can feel the vacuum being pulled just by pulling that core remover tool out and that's a good indication of a quorum over tool. That's holding well is the fact that you can kind of feel that suction against your finger.

Obviously you've got your side port here that has a Schrader in it. That's sort of standard fare for a core remover tool. That's the place that you can connect your vacuum. This is the spot where you connect your vacuum: gauge micron gauge and the blue back micron gauges come with a little brass adapter that has a core depressor on the one end, and you want to connect that core depressor side to the Schrader core on the core.

Remover tool - that's very important. It's very important that that core is fully depressed. Some of the other products out on the market have had challenges with that with that core and with the core depressors. They worked a lot of that out with this kit in order to make that a little bit more smooth.

One of the features of this core remover tool is that it has double gaskets in the end that helps allow it pull down to a deep vacuum without having issues with losing some of the vacuum. We have two of these core remover tools in the kit. You're also going to notice that there's a cutout here which easily fits either the pro version, the LTE or the micro version. You have nice slots that these can easily fit into the case really nice, and then we also have two core depressors vacuum routed hoses.

Do not have core depressors in them and that's because you don't want anything. It's going to impede the flow through the inside of that hose and 1/4. Presser is definitely a significant restriction in cases where you cannot remove the cores which econo Cap'n's on occasion, two most common situations that this occurs is when the valve is in a really awkward position, and you can't easily get this this big long, core remover tool on There or when you have Cormack scores in place, so those of you who do work in commercial applications, you're gon na find cases where the cores are not designed to be removed because it's a totally different technology, and so with these, all you have to do is Just back out the cord depressor put that on to the core and then tighten it down, and it's got a little a nice high quality core depressor in there, which is still going to give you better volume flow. Then you would get otherwise, which is nice, because you still it still has much more open flow through the center see.

If you can see that right there, it's got much more open flow through the center, then it you would have if you were using a core remover tool just having the valve core remover onto the unit or the valve of the unit does not depress. No because you have to this, this isn't designed to depress this is designed to completely remove so the process of installing this would be you'd pull this out. You would generally leave this shut off you'd attach that to the unit, then you would open it and then you would push it in and keep twisting it out until eventually it's gon na pop open like that, then you close the valve. You pull out the Schrader, and now you have free and open flow, which is the best way, because the Schrader is a pretty significant restriction and then you're going to attach your micron gauge here and your and your evacuation hoses are gon na go here.

So you're gon na attach them like that. So now you have free flow. So without now you have complete restriction, whereas if you had to use this quarter pressure depressed correct correct unless you depress that Schrader, you are not going to get any flow, and that is actually a pretty common issue that Tech's don't understand the depression of that Schrader Or the removal of the Schrader is necessary for flow, and a lot of guys will use these vacuum hoses that are designed for pulling vacuum, and they won't realize that they got to pull that Schrader and they're like man. These things don't work at all, well yeah, because they're, not depressing the core or they think they're pulling a deep vacuum when in fact, they're actually not pulling a vacuum on the system at all and they're only pulling a vacuum on their hoses.

There's a lot of little situations like that that you have to pay attention to this pro kit comes with a couple: different fittings, the advanced kit and we'll talk about this just quickly here, the an steak. It does not come with the court depressors, it does not come with the 90 degree fittings and it does not have the extra hose. So if you had the advance kit, you would come with two of these hoses through these three footers one meter hoses and you would not have these 90 degree fittings or the core depressors. So you can see here it shows a comparison of what's in the advance kit versus what's in the pro kit, the pro kit first off has the three hoses.

It has more clamps, obviously to go along with that. It has the 90 degree adapter, and it also has the core depressors the advanced kit and does not have some of those items, but other than that it does come in the same kit, they're both going to have the same core products inside just a just. A few more in the true-blue pro kit, as well as the core depressors alright, so we've got a couple different fittings: we've got a quarter, inch quarter inch straight fittings and this Pro kit here and these are going to be what attach to your core remover tools. Again, it's important when you're using crts that you're pulling them all the way out and you're attaching here, I've seen some guys attach their vacuum to the side port and that's not going to work for several reasons.

These fittings do not have core depressors in them. So that's one factor, but the other factor is that you're really wanting to pull on no shredder cores, and so why would you connect to a side port that has a straighter cord? This is for your micron gage, for your vacuum gauge to attach to all right. So you've got two of these quarter. Inch straight on.

You've got two in the Pro kit. You've got two of the 90 degree fittings which come in really handy. These are not in the advanced kit, but they can be purchased separately. You've got your large fittings here.

You've got both a half inch connector and a 3/8 connector, and this comes in handy because in some cases, you're going to have a pump. That does not have a half inch connector. If you do have a half inch, connector use the half inch or if you have two ports, then you can actually use both which comes in handy. You also have your T, and I'm going to show you briefly how this is connected to a vacuum pump.

Deep down in here, you've got several additional earrings, and these o-rings are a big part of the magic. Not only do the hoses like we've mentioned they're, not they don't have the permeability, so they don't leak as much they're. A larger internal diameter, but also these o-rings are going to last a lot longer and they're gon na seal a lot better. Some of the competitive products out there do you have to pre grease the o-rings when you put them on to the it's okay.

So, as far as you know, you don't need to use oils or assembly lubricants. I still do use a little bit of nylon. That's actually kind of a disputed question. It's not an issue so much as it is nya laug does attract dirt, and so, if you're gon na be really good about keeping them clean and putting the caps back on and all that, there is some advantage to using nylon, but of any hoses that have Ever been made these with these great big o-rings, really don't need any additional lubricant m of anything, maybe put just a dab of mineral oil on them or something can't hurt again.

A lot of that is just force of habit. Once you get used to doing something, then, in addition, you have three of these smaller clamps now, and this is there's two different ways you can think about these clamps you've got three of these smaller clamps and you've got three of the larger clamps and a lot Of guys ask well, which one should I use on which end here's, what it comes down to these larger clamps are easier to get on and off so they're just easier to get on and off, but they're, larger, and so sometimes it's gon na get in the Way near the equipment, these ones are more difficult to get on and off, but they're smaller. That's the only difference there they're both do the job effectively these be. You know these probably are not gon na last, quite as long as the others, especially if you're taking them on and off a lot.

So the way some guys think of it is you're gon na put these ones at the pump, because it's not near the ports - and this often comes down to what type of work you do if you're doing residential HVAC, then space is a big consideration. If you're doing larger commercial HVAC, then space, you know, access to the ports is often quite a bit easier, and so, if you're doing big commercial HVAC, I would put these buy the equipment ports and I would put these up by the pump if you're doing small Residential, I would put these down by the ports and these by the pump just because space is so important. So let me show you actually assembling these should get them nice and snug. You don't have to over-tighten them again.

You have these nice big o-rings that can press very well and you saw that was actually. These are. These are the more difficult sides and that was actually quite easy. This is the side that we would potentially connect to the pump.

If we're using a tree like this, where you're doing two, then you would connect the tree directly to the pump and we'll show you how to do that in a second. But now we're going to connect one of the quarter-inch ports to the other side and we'll do one of the 90s I'm actually now over one of these now I've actually watched blue back to a demonstration where they literally take the hose and set it on the Ring and it sucks together and seals just as well as having the clamps, so the idea that the clamps have to be super crazy, tight in order to make a seal. That's just not the case. Is it possible that maybe you may have one that was pinched? A little bit, if you didn't get it in there perfectly square, it's possible, but that's where you would just reconnect it.

Do you suggest guys take the fittings off after using it for a vacuum and they're done and they do or do you suggest them keeping it on there? So not the re put the fittings back on each free shop. I think it depends on the type of work that you're doing. If you're the type of technician who's doing a lot of different types of applications, then it may make sense to take them off and then recap them with these plastic covers. If you do a lot of the same type of work repetitively, then I would generally leave them in place, but again I would not leave the hoses on the pump.

I would definitely put the hoses back in the kit and then cap the ends in some way. You know so maybe using quarter inch quarter inch, male flair, connectors or something inside here to cap the ends of the hoses. Because again, you really want to make sure you keep dirt and contaminants out of the inside of that hoses, even though you're putting it inside of this case. Of course, I'm being a little overkill here, that's the nature of the beast.

You know you got to believe in a little bit of overkill if you're a advanced technician, but but in general I would probably leave the the fittings on the ends and sort of your standard configuration. You can see how easy these were to connect they're both on there, nice and snug, and the biggest difference is the size and how easy they are to use. The larger one is easier to use to get on and the smaller ones save a little bit of space for you now, I'm going to show you how to do this and the standard configuration in order to pull a vacuum as quickly as possible, using the pro Kit or the advanced kit, whatever the case may be so the first thing I'm gon na show you how to do is how to connect this tree and and it's it's fairly obvious. I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but just so that way.

We, you know, we demonstrate everything appropriately, you can do it in this configuration or you can install it in this configuration. Whatever is easiest for the application you're working on. Typically, I've seen guys connected in this orientation. This is this is how we're gon na do it? This nav AK pump.

This is the our PA di weaves a lot of these at Kalos. I will use a lot of these and a lot of the field piece pumps both so, but this is what I happen to have sitting here and I'm gon na show. You how to connect to this the nice thing about this kit is you're gon na get the full 8 CFM out of this pump, you're actually going to get what you pay for, whereas if you're using quarter-inch hoses are going through your gauges in a lot of Cases you're gon na get less than one CFM. Cfm is cubic feet per minute.

It's a volume flow rate, so it's got the nice plastic caps. We take those off and definitely save those, because those are going to come in handy later. We make sure that we've got the right port, size and sure enough. That is the half inch port.

So we can tighten that down and then all we're doing is using a clamp to attach this tee right there. So nice and nice and easy we've got three of these puppies, so I'm going to open up another one of these and one of the o-rings with because it has two o-rings that do not have the metal centers and it's got two o-rings that do so. These would be like replacements, and then these o-rings here also have the little metal ring, but this year, so you can see it so you've got some o-rings that got the metal ring and some that don't for your tee you're gon na want to use the ones That have the middle o ring, so you're gon na place that in there right there - and you can see - I mean it just sits on there - really nice - you don't have to overthink this. So here's an example where it's actually nice to have both connectors because you can see the handle here on this particular pump, sits right up and it would make it difficult to put the large clamp on so we're gon na use, one of the smaller clamps.

So we've got, we got a perfect situation here for using a smaller clamp. That's why they have both a lot of people have asked. What do you have two different clamps? Well, it's a perfect example of why you have to have two clamps, so you just have to make sure two overlaps on both sides - and this goes on nice and easy just slides right over and obviously I'm going to want this side to be where I can Access it, it probably easier just to do it like this. So now all we do is just tighten this down and you've got a nice snug fit and again you may want to Snug it down a little bit more just so that way you don't have as much.

You know wiggle on it, for heaven's sake, don't use a wrench or channel locks or something stupid on this, and you don't want to damage things. It's just nice, nice and finger tight, snug everything up and now. We've got two connection points that now we can connect our larger hoses on or if we want, we could put one here one here and use the three-quarter inch, connector and connect here. If I wanted to connect three hoses to the pump which we've done, we did it on a refrigeration unit.

Just the other day and pulled down a the entire refrigeration unit was a split system. Low temp condenser receiver fan coil everything down below 250 microns in 25 minutes. I want to hear you say Wow very impressive Wow. Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Yes, indeed, that is the full demonstration of this kit, all right, so i'm brian with hvac school. You know i'm sal with products by pros, and this has been an unboxing video and demonstration of the blue vac.

True, blue professional pro pro kits as well as a couple of their different micron gauges and we're gon na do more on the micro engages in the future. So never fear thanks for watching my him never said in the middle of my video. Why? I'm just a wrong bird: no I've! Never I've never done that. Yeah.