Elcometer’s Product Development

Ever since our first coating thickness gauge in 1947, Elcometer has been a world leader in the design, manufacture & supply of inspection equipment to the coatings inspection industry, building a global network in 170 countries to meet the needs of the protective & industrial finishings industries.

1947

The Company is started by the late JC Sellars with the launch of the original Elcometer coating thickness gauge - now called the Elcometer 101.

Manufactured by the East Lancashire Chemical Company (ELCO) the “ELCO Meter” was the gauge which eventually became the name of the company

This was a mechanical coating thickness gauge for measuring coatings on ferrous metals.

1957 - 1960

Elcotector Universal Comparator, using valves, the original Elcometer 103, which was the first non-ferrous gauge in the range, and one of the first in the industry.

1960 - 1965

In 1962 Ian C Sellars takes over on the death of his father, John. Product development began to take off with the launch of:

Minitor – Elcometer 102 (1964), small version of Elcometer 103 for coatings.

Elcotector MkII (1962)– Elcometer 103mk2 updated gauge again using transistors.

Elcometer 104 Pinhole Detector (1966) – with wet sponge, for porosity in coatings.

Inspector – Elcometer 111 (1963) single contact magnetic thickness gauge – one of the first “banana gauges”.

1965 - 1970

Elcometer 105 Holiday Detector (1967) - high voltage test for porosity in coatings, this was a bench top unit which had mains power and was also available with a battery pack (a box with a number of HP2 batteries).

Surclean, The Elcometer 153 (1969)– which used a blue light to determine the onset of rusting

Elcometer 115 (1968) and Elcometer 154 (1969) Wet Film Combs

Elcometer 157 (1969) Pencil Coating Thickness Gauge

1970 - 1975

Holitector – The Elcometer 166 (1970) was a pulsed DC portable high voltage test, for porosity in coatings.

Elcometer 106 Adhesion Tester (1970) was launched – the first hand operated tensile tester for coatings. Still one of the most widely used adhesion testers on the market today.

Eddygauge - the Elcometer 133 (1973) for coating thickness on non-ferrous metal.

Pinhole Detector - Elcometer104 mk2 (1971)- a smaller version than the 1960's version.

Minitector – Elcometer 158 (1971) and Elcometer 158 mk2 (1973) Electronic coating thickness gauge for steel using the magneto resisitor principle – a forerunner to the hall effect technique.

Eddytector – Elcometer 173 (1972) for coating thickness on non-ferrous & the Twintector – Elcometer 173 for coating thickness on ferrous and non-ferrous metals. This was one of the first gauges that would measure on both Ferrous and Non-Ferrous metals – using two probes.

Roughtector – The Elcometer 181 (1974) to view surface roughness.

Tanktector – Elcometer 183 (1974) was designed to test for pinholes in filled tanks. The tube was immersed in the liquid and earthed to the metal tank. The idea was that as you inserted the tube into the tank the alarm would sound if a pinhole was detected. By emptying the tank you would be able to determine the depth of the pinhole.

1975 - 1980

In the late 1970’s, following a conference on electronics attended by Ian Sellars, the company decided to drop the naming of individual products, and focus on naming products using the company name “Elcometer” followed by a model number - not only making the company name a brand, but also providing the additional benefit of reducing costs of registering trademarks each time a product was introduced.

Elcometer 145 (1980) low cost coating thickness gauge for iron and steel.

Minitector 150 (1975) coating thickness gauge was the first modular thickness gauge which had a total of 13 variants and was the beginning of the philosophy to provide customers with the product that they required at affordable prices – one still followed by the Company today.

Elcometer 151F (1979) coating thickness gauge for ferrous, which held the reading on the analogue display when the probe was lifted from the surface.

Minitector Minor – Elcometer 190 (1976) low cost coating thickness gauge for iron and steel – a ‘pocket sized instrument’

Saeberg Drill 195 (1979) destructive coating thickness gauge.

Elcometer 152 (1982) copper comparator for electronic boards.

Elcometer 204 and Elcometer 269 (1984) updated wet sponge pinhole detectors.

Elcometer 211 (1985) updated version of the Elcometer 111 "Inspector". Initially launched in Black but quickly changed to orange to be in keeping with the brand colours.

Elcometer 245 (1983) the first truly pocket sized coating thickness gauge for coating thickness on ferrous metals.

Elcometer 250F and Elcometer 250N digital coating thickness gauges. (1980)

Elcometer 255 (1981) was the world’s first microprocessor based coating thickness gauge.

Elcometer 265 (1983) microprocessor gauge for non-ferrous metals.

Elcometer 350 (1982) microprocessor bench top coating thickness gauge.

Elcometer 380 (1978) roughness gauge for wood – which incorporated an internal moving stylus.

1985 - 1990

Elcometer 256 microprocessor coating thickness gauge which was available in 9 model variants variants. (1984)

Elcometer 500 coating thickness gauge and datalogger for Statistical Process Control. (1986)

Elcometer 300 (1987) precision coating thickness was launched as a plastic alternative to the Elcometer 256 gauge, and was available with and without statistics.

Elcometer 246 (1989) coating thickness gauge for ferrous substrates, used hybrid electronics and significantly reduced the cost of a coating thickness gauge in the market and was the forerunner to the Elcometer 345

Elcometer EDCS V1.01 (1988) MS-DOS software launched

Elcometer 401 (1986) – Elcometer’s first gloss meter – using Sheen Instruments Optics and the Elcometer 256 housing.

DP 1000, DP3000 Dataputer SPC gauges (1988)

DP 2000 (1985)

Elcometer 500 (1986) – first modular coating thickness gauge with alpha-numerics

1990 - 1995

Elcometer 108 hydraulic push off adhesion tester, designed for measuring coatings on flat, concave and convex surfaces. A digital version was launched in XXXX

Elcometer 355 (1994) high precision coating thickness system, 2 variants, was designed to be a replacement to the very successful Elcometer 256 and had the first modular coating thickness gauge platform – allowing any probe to fit into any gauge and still be 1% accurate.

Elcometer 345 (1991) was launched to great acclaim and replaced the Elcometer 246 as the leading hand held coating thickness gauge. It was available in a range of versions with and without memory. A truly general purpose coating thickness gauge, and is still available today, some 20 years after the original introduction – with enhanced electronics, naturally. Elcometer 311 Automotive gauge (1992)

DP5000 (1990)– Dataputer Attributes Collector

Elcometer 136 (1994) DC Holiday Detector (joint development with PCWI (Australia).

Elcometer 112 Wet Film Comb (1995)

1995 - 1999

Elcometer 107 (1997)cross hatch adhesion tester

Elcometer 109 (1999) FRAPPO adhesion tester was a simple device that allowed users to test adhesion of coatings up to a specific load – after which the dolly would break – a pseudo non-destructive tensile adhesion tester

Elcometer 110 PATTI (1998) pneumatic automatic adhesion tester – provided accurate and repeatable testing of adhesion using compressed air.

Elcometer 365 (1996) modular coating thickness gauge with Statistical Process Control (SPC) and ‘mimics’ which graphically instructed where the next reading should be taken.

Elcometer 220 (1998) concrete cover meter.

Elcometer 236 portable DC holiday detector was introduced (Elcometer designed)

Elcometer 345 mk2 – an upgrade of the very successful Elcometer 345 coating thickness gauge, this gauge had infra-red data output & a Bigfoot™ probe

EDCS Win (1998), Datastat Win (SPC Software) (1998)

2000 - 2005

Elcometer 456 digital coating thickness gauge - the world’s first digital coating thickness gauge with graphic screen and menu driven softkeys

Elcometer 365 SPC coating thickness data analyser – digital inspection gauge with real time production process analysis

Elcometer 270 pinhole detector – utilising the ‘wet sponge’ method of holiday detection and designed to set a new standard for wet sponge detectors namely, a high quality low voltage detector with similar accessories to a high voltage spark tester – includes a built in voltage assessment – ensuring that 9, 90 or 67.V is able to be generated from the battery.

Elcometer 311 “elcomotor” refinishing gauge – ferrous and dual FNF instruments for the automotive industry 

Elcometer 236 DC holiday detector - high voltage testing to detect pits, holes, flaws etc. in coatings

Elcometer acquired  Braive Instruments SA Belgium and their French company Braive France Sarl (March 2003) – leading manufacturers of physical test equipment to the paint and powder industry. The companies became part of the Elcometer worldwide business network and are now known as Elcometer SA and Elcometer Sarl respectively. This widened the Elcometer product offering to include the development of coatings all the way through to post application inspection.

Elcometer acquired, a Global leader in the  manufacturer of concrete inspection equipment, Protovale (Oxford) Limited (April 2003) - adding a range of concrete inspection equipment – such as rebar locators and concrete covermeters, together with industrial metal detection equipment in to their product portfolio – widening their product offering to the construction industry.

Elcometer 331 concrete covermeters - quickly and accurately locates, orientates and measures the depth of cover over reinforcement bars

2005 - 2010

Elcometer 331 H concrete covermeters with half-cell; used to accurately identify the location, orientation, depth and diameter of high tensile steel and stainless steel rebar, as well as the potential for corrosion

Elcometer 266 High Voltage DC Porosity detector – designed to ensure safe high voltage testing, features include and internal volt meter – ensuring that the probe generates the selected voltage at all times, and a voltage calculator – users simply select the standard they are working to, key in the coating thickness and the gauge automatically calculates and sets the voltage accordingly.

Elcometer 456 Mk 3 digital coating thickness gauge – the world’s first coating thickness gauge with Bluetooth communications

Elcometer 224 digital surface profile gauge, the worlds first digital surface profile gauge with memory and Bluetooth data output.

Elcometer 415 coating thickness gauge – provides a simple, accurate and reliable way to measure coatings on all smooth ferrous and non-ferrous metal surfaces – specifically designed for the industrial and powder coating market.

Elcometer 1720 washability and abrasion testers – for testing the abrasion, washability, brushability and resistance of a wide range of materials including paint, lacquers, inks, coatings, leather, wood, plastics, printed material, fabrics etc

Elcometer 1615 variable impact tester – one universal assembly with the option of six different kits providing the functionality for various testing methods

Elcometer 319 digital dewpoint meter – measure and record all relevant climatic parameters.  Can be used as a hand-held gauge or a stand alone data logger - ideal for monitoring climatic conditions over a period of time

Elcometer 121/4 paint inspection gauge – designed to measure the thickness of single or multiple layers of coatings

Elcometer 309 delta T hygrometer – measure Relative Humidity and Delta T – the key climate parameters

2010 - 2012

Elcometer 3045 pendulum hardness tester

Elcometer 308 hygrometer – measures Relative Humidity and Surface Temperature - specifically designed for use in very hot climates where the surface temperature of the substrate can exceed the paint manufacturer’s recommended limits for successful painting – and more important than Delta T.

Elcometer 4340 motorised film applicators – redesigned range with standard, perforated, single or double channel table options – with a table which is flatter than glass.

Elcometer purchased Dakota Ultrasonics Incorporated of Santa Cruz, California (Jan 2011) - who design and manufacture a comprehensive range of ultrasonic NDT corrosion thickness and flaw detectors

The New Elcometer 456 digital coating thickness gauge – 10 years after the launch of the original,     best-selling Elcometer 456 digital coating thickness gauge, Elcometer launched the next generation of Elcometer 456 gauges with colour screen, automatic rotating screen and alpha-numeric memory

Elcometer 280 pulsed DC holiday detector - a ‘stick type’ holiday detector designed to make pulsed DC high voltage holiday detection safer, easier and more reliable

Elcometer 456 upgrades: Since the launch of the new Elcometer 456, there have been two product enhancement upgrades which are free to all Elcometer users. Customers simply connect their gauge to the software and follow the on screen prompts. Feature enhancements include: Batch graph, real time trend graph, doubling memory capacity and tap awake.

Elcometer 224 digital surface profile gauge – available in two Models, B & T, with integral and separate gauge options, the new Elcometer 224 offers significantly more functionality and operating features than the old model, greatly enhancing performance (May 2012). The world’s first separate probe Digital Surface Profile Gauge.

Elcometer 224 separate probe for convex surfaces – with its unique (patent applied for) design, this probe is ideal for measuring surface profile on pipelines and other curved structures.  The unique probe feet allow correct positioning of the probe ensuring accurate, stable and repeatable measurements. (October 2012)

2013

Elcometer 506 pull-off adhesion testers – lightweight, portable and easy-to-use analogue and digital adhesion gauges.  Suitable for measuring the pull-off adhesion of coatings up to 50MPa (7250psi) either on-site, or in the laboratory. The design ensures that a uniform force can be easily applied throughout the range by smoothly rotating the gauge’s crank handle, ensuring repeatable results to an accuracy of ±1%.

The Elcometer 506 quick connect coupling allows the simple attachment of various diameter dollies which, together with a wide range of accessories, allows coating adhesion testing on flat, curved, thick and thin substrates - including metal, wood, concrete and other fibrous materials.

Replaceable skirts for 14.2, 20 and 50mm dollies, together with a thin substrate skirt.

Elcometer 130 salt contamination meters – fully portable, easy-to-use instruments designed to quickly and accurately measure the level of soluble salts on surfaces.

2014

Elcometer 510 automatic pull-off adhesion tester – using an automatic hydraulic pump which ensures smooth and continuous pressure application for consistent, repeatable results, the Elcometer 510 accurately measures the strength of the bond between the coating and the substrate. First gauge to have Bluetooth 2-way communications to PC, Apple and Android mobile devices.

The Elcometer 510 is the first gauge to have attributes within, together with a rate/pull graph, and changeable skirts.

Elcometer 480 single, dual and triple angle glossmeters – measuring gloss, haze and % reflectance in a single instrument with industry leading repeatability, reproducibility and inter-instrument agreement, menu driven colour display, robust and ergonomic design, statistics and graphing, USB & Bluetooth® to Android and iPhone mobile devices, the Elcometer 480 sets new standards in the field of hand-held gloss measurement.

The Elcometer 480 is the first gauge to have RFID for automatic gloss tile recognition.

2015

Elcometer MTG2, 4, 6 & 8 ultrasonic material thickness gauge range - measuring material thickness and velocity with a measurement accuracy of ±1%, menu driven colour display, robust and ergonomic design, multiple calibration options with calibration memories, statistics, graphing, B-scan, sequential and grid batching, USB & Bluetooth® to Android and iPhone mobile devices.

The first Ultrasonic NDT products with Bluetooth to iOS and Android

Elcometer 508 push-off adhesion tester – lightweight, portable and easy-to-use digital adhesion gauge.  Suitable for measuring the push-off adhesion of coatings up to 25MPa (3630psi) either on-site, or in the laboratory. The design ensures that a uniform force can be easily applied throughout the range by smoothly rotating the gauge’s crank handle, ensuring repeatable results to an accuracy of ±1.5%.

The Elcometer 508 quick connect coupling allows the simple attachment of standard dollies for adhesion testing on flat surfaces as well as dollies for measuring on curved surfaces.

Elcometer 311 automotive refinishing gauge – Specifically designed for the automotive industry, the new Elcometer 311 is available in two versions, Model B and Model T, with ferrous only; for measuring on steel automotive panels and dual ferrous / non-ferrous options; for measuring on both steel and aluminium panels.

Ideal for use in car bodyshops and by insurance assessors for reducing inspection times and identifying previously repaired damage to vehicles.

Elcometer 415 industrial paint & powder thickness gauge – Specifically designed for the industrial paint and powder markets, with zero and smooth calibration (zero and a foil value) options, the new Elcometer 415 provides users with high accuracy on paint and powder coated smooth (un-blasted) substrates.  With its intuitive, easy-to-use graphical menu structure, the new Elcometer 415 is ideal for measuring cured paint & powder coating thickness on flat or curved substrates up to 1000µm (40mils).

Elcometer PTG6 & 8 precision material thickness gauge range - ideal for measuring and recording material thickness from just 0.15mm (0.006") up to 25mm (1") and sound-velocity on a variety of substrates in a wide range of industrial applications with a measurement accuracy of ±1%, menu driven colour display, robust and ergonomic design, multiple calibration options with calibration memories, statistics, graphing, B-scan, sequential and grid batching, USB & Bluetooth® to Android and iPhone mobile devices.

Elcometer 130 SSP soluble salt profiler – provides fast and accurate measurement of the level and density of soluble salts and Bresle equivalent values.

The multi-point measurement electrode provides four Bresle equivalent readings in just over two minutes, with a comprehensive salt distribution map providing a more accurate indication of the amount of soluble salts on the test surface.

Up to 3,500 readings sets can be stored in up to 1,000 batches each with date and time stamp, 2D and 3D Salt Density Map, Pass/Fail Map and Distribution Graph.

Readings can be transmitted via Bluetooth® into ElcoMaster® Mobile Apps for Android™ and iOS devices.

Elcometer 204, 304 & 307 ultrasonic material thickness gauge range - measuring material thickness and velocity with a measurement accuracy of ±1%, menu driven colour display, robust and ergonomic design, multiple calibration options with calibration memories, statistics, graphing, grid batching, USB & Bluetooth® to Android and iPhone mobile devices.

2016

Elcometer 135C Bresle test patch - with 19% thicker foam walls, high quality adhesive and easy to peel off the substrate leaving no foam residue, the new Elcometer 135C Bresle Test Patch is ideal for measuring soluble salts in the field.

Elcometer 995 Coated Thickness Standards - manufactured to an accuracy of ±2% and available in Ferrous, Non-Ferrous and Dual FNF sets, the new Elcometer 995 Coated Thickness Standards are ideal for accurately measuring the performance of coating thickness gauges.  Each set is supplied in a protective folder complete with zero plate, four individually serialised substrates coated with a hard wearing film for extended life span and a fully traceable calibration certificate.

Elcometer 920 Ultrasonic Calibration Standards - designed and manufactured by Elcometer Limited using 4340 steel to a tolerance of ±0.1% of the nominal thickness, the new Elcometer range of ultrasonic calibration standards are ideal for calibrating ultrasonic material thickness gauges when uncoated samples of the test material of a known thickness, are not readily available.

Elcometer 500 Coating Thickness Gauge - the first gauge from Elcometer designed to non-destructively measure the thickness of coatings on concrete and other similar substrates - takes repeatable and reproducible dry film thickness measurements of coatings on concrete up to 10mm thick – without damaging the coating.