TL;DR: Specify a pressure calibrator rental by range including any vacuum, pneumatic or hydraulic medium, and accuracy class against your tightest tolerance, then confirm the certificate covers that range for the full term and the pump, hoses and adapters are in the case. Reference instruments fail too, so ask about a same-class swap.
Pressure was the largest single cluster in the requests reaching our labs over the last quarter, gauges, transducers, process calibrators, manometers, vacuum gauges, and a rental request for a 0–15 psi pressure and vacuum reference with certificates. Pressure rentals are usually short and specific: a week to verify a set of gauges while the owned reference is away, or a range the lab does not normally need.
What should I specify for a pressure calibrator rental?
Range first, and say whether it goes below zero, vacuum and compound gauges need a unit rated for it. Medium second: low ranges are pneumatic, high ranges are hydraulic, and mixing media contaminates the instrument and voids the certificate. Accuracy class third, against the tightest tolerance you will test to. Then the certificate, the pump and adapters, and the swap plan.
Deadweight tester or digital calibrator for the rental?
A deadweight tester is the more fundamental reference and the better choice when you need the lowest uncertainty and have a stable bench. A digital calibrator is faster, portable, and the usual rental choice for field work and mixed ranges. The trade-off is set out in deadweight tester vs digital pressure calibrator.
What will I be checking with it?
Most often process gauges, transmitters and manometers. The parameters and methods are covered in pressure transmitter calibration, pressure manometer calibration and digital manometer calibration. Readings should be taken rising and falling so hysteresis is captured, whatever reference you rent.
What standards chain sits behind the rental certificate?
Techmaster’s accredited pressure capability runs from −12 psi through 10,000 psi at its Vista, Santa Clara and Orlando laboratories and to 15,000 psi at San Antonio, with barometric pressure to 39 psia, on the ANAB ISO/IEC 17025 scope (Cert. AC-1736). A rental reference is calibrated against that chain before it ships.
Frequently asked questions
Can I rent a pressure calibrator that goes below zero?
Yes, but you have to say so. Vacuum and compound work needs a unit rated for negative pressure, not a positive-pressure gauge run backwards. State the full span you need, including the negative end, when you enquire.
How accurate does the rental need to be?
At least four times better than the instruments you will check with it, as a starting rule. Ask for the accuracy class of the rental unit rather than just the model number, and compare it against the tightest tolerance on your list.
Does the rental include a pump and fittings?
It should. A pressure calibrator without a hand pump, hoses and adapters for your ports is a display. Confirm NPT, BSP or quick-connect adapters are in the case before it ships.
Is the certificate valid for the whole rental?
Check that it is within its calibration interval for the full term and that it covers the range you will actually use. A certificate covering 0 to 1,000 psi does nothing for a 3,000 psi check.
The bottom line
Range, medium, accuracy class, certificate, fittings, swap. Send the list of instruments you will check and their tolerances with the enquiry, and we will match a reference to it.
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Techmaster Electronics, ISO/IEC 17025 accredited calibration laboratory, ANAB Cert. AC-1736, founded 1989. Five US labs, 5-day standard turnaround, 1–2 day expedite.
Request a quote →Techmaster Electronics, LLC is an independent ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited calibration laboratory. We are not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by any manufacturer named on this page. All product names and model designations are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here only to identify the equipment we calibrate, repair, or rent. Confirm that our accredited scope covers your instrument’s parameters and ranges before shipping, ask us and we will check it against your model list.
Khanh Nguyen is the Marketing Manager at Techmaster Electronics, a B2B marketing leader covering the test, measurement, and ISO/IEC 17025 accredited calibration industry in the United States.