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What's New Click on the links below to view & download product information in .pdf AUTOMECHANIKA Frankfurt 2008 16 - 21 September Visit us in Hall 8, K54 We look forward to welcoming new & existing customers to our stand, where we will show our new printer for the brake fluid tester, and our new brake bleeder NEW BROCHURE The all new Alba Diagnostics catalogue is out & available now. In a new A4 format, the brochure is divided into a large Braking section (as you would expect from the leaders in Brake Fluid Test technology), Diagnostics, Battery, Cooling, Oil & General. The Alba braking section covers the world-leading brake fluid tester, with information on brake fluid testing, as well as pages of the ever-expanding Alba range of brake bleeding equipment & brake service products such as the market-leading piston re-wind tools. Email marketing@albadiagnostics.com for your free copy! NEW DEVELOPMENTS TO THE WORLD'S NO 1 BRAKE FLUID TESTER Alba now has a self-selectable, multilanguage unit available. Alba has enhanced the product so that customers can now select from 19 languages (including Japanese) on the simple-to-use display screen. This leads the operator through the test procedure, which takes only 30 seconds. User can also select between degrees C & degrees F LATEST NEW PRODUCTS Click on the links below to see full details ALB30733 Air or manual oil extractor ALB30734 6Lt air operated vacuum brake bleeder ALB30745 Airvac coolant refiller BOILING POINT IS BEST Visitors wishing to contact Orthene Chemicals for further information should contact David Jebbit on: david-jebbitt@supanet.com WHAT SCOTLAND HAS BROUGHT TO THE WORLD Scotland's population has never been much over 5 million people, yet we discovered, invented or manufactured for the first time, the following quite important things...........
TESTING TIMES Alba Diagnostics report from the recent ATS show an increased awareness in the importance of brake fluid testing – and increased awareness of the implications of using the right tester....[more]
FACING THE BRAKE FLUID FACTS Alba Diagnostics, manufacturers of the World's No 1 Brake Fluid Tester are highlighting the differences between conductivity/ capacitance/electrolytic-based testers & boiling point testers...[more]
NEW ON THE MARKET New from Alba Diagnostics, the ALB30647 Press-Vac kit offers a better value, quality alternative to current models on the market. This hand-operated kit can be used to create vacuum or pressure for many vehicle applications....[more] SUCCESS FOR ALBA IN THE MIDDLE EAST BP Middle East & Dubai traffic police have launched a joint safety initiative called ''Drive Safely Arabia''. The aim is to reduce the amount of accidents due to brake failure which are believed to be a major cause of road accidents & fatalities in the UAE...[more] END OF PATENT ACTION The 10-year long patent action between Alba Diagnostics & Nigel Buchanan, former MD & Technical director of Liquid Levers is drawing to a close. Alba Diagnostics won every stage of the action, from the High court in Scotland to the House of Lords in 2004. Alba is now actively pursuing Mr Buchanan for costs in excess of £200,000 Managing Director Stewart Whitton commented, " At no stage of this action was Mr Buchanan prepared to negotiate. He pursued a vindictive campaign, which at some points involved making direct threats to our customers. In the process his company has gone into liquidation, no-one has benefited from this action except the lawyers. We are appalled that this case was ever allowed to get to the House of Lords (something the Lords themselves acknowledged in their ruling). Mr Buchanan never even had to supply a patent agent report to support his wholly spurious claims that we infringed his patent. In truth, he never owned his patent in the first place, as he had already signed an assignation to us for all past, present & future improvements. Every judge we came in front of upheld this. It's a great shame that Nigel Buchanan was unwilling & unable to see the truth himself. We look forward to the future in the knowledge that our product remains the World's No 1 Brake Fluid tester. We thank all our loyal customers, suppliers & employees for their continued support" The ruling can be viewed at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200304/ldjudgmt/jd040205/buch-1.htm GLOW PLUG TESTING – A MISSED OPPORTUNITY In these days of increased service intervals & price squeezes, isn’t it good to know that there’s a missed service opportunity just out there waiting to be used? Alba Diagnostics have launched their new ALB30638 Glow Plug tester, a simple-to-use, hand- held unit that applies power directly to the glow plugs (no need to remove them from the engine).
Alba’s MD Stewart Whitton explained the situation: “Some people say you can test a glow plug with a multimeter, but this won’t tell you the whole story: A glow plug is essentially a heater. When an electric current is passed through it, it gets hot.
When you test a glow plug with a multimeter, you are testing it in its off (cold) state, and all you can measure is its resistance. If you measure a low resistance (continuity) you must assume that the glow plug is OK. If you get no reading the glow plug is open circuit and faulty. However, when a glow plug is operating, its resistance changes from a very low resistance when it is cold, to a higher resistance as it heats up. If a glow plug is short circuit, it will measure a low resistance, but when power is applied to it, it will either just not get hot, or blow a fuse. When you test the glow plug with a multimeter it could measure the same as an operational unit, but because the glow plug cannot be operated while measuring its resistance, you cannot tell that it is faulty.
This glow plug tester works by actually powering up the glow plug and measuring its operating current, giving an accurate indication of the glow plug status. On a normally functioning glow plug you will see a high initial current as power is applied, which will then drop after a few seconds, as the unit heats up, to its normal operating current of around 7 amps. An open circuit glow plug will not draw any current, and a shorted plug will draw a high current that will never drop. These states are all shown by simple to read status LED’s on the front off the glow plug tester for quick analysis. i.e. Short Circuit, Over Current, Normal Operation, Open Circuit / Under Current.
So where’s the missed opportunity? Many people don’t realise that a car can still start with 4 faulty glow plugs. One of our Director’s cars has only done 38,000 miles & all 4 glow plugs were faulty. We identified this with our product; the car had just been in for a 36,000 mile service but they weren’t checked because there’s no mention of them in the vehicle manual. The car started with no problem. We couldn’t believe it ourselves till we did a full electronics check. This product only costs £65 list, so it wouldn’t take long at all to cover the cost if you routinely checked every diesel car in for a service. And think of the additional service revenue. It’s an opportunity just waiting to be used”
FACING THE BRAKE FLUID FACTS NEW ON THE MARKET |
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