SEKHMET Digital Gauge review - A+

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dwilson050

Member
Dec 17, 2017
203
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Beaverton, Oregon, Washington United States 97006
Hi all,



I’m coming into this discussion a little late…



I’ve been working with Fred at Sekhmet for over 5 months now testing these gauges. Sekhmet’s goal is simple, provide the very best gauge to the airgun community. Thanks to @centercut for introducing us!



The disclaimer… I am in no way affiliated with Sekhmet. Like everyone else, I’ve struggled with inaccurate gauges for some time now. Even when I replaced my factory gauges with the Wika gauges, I found myself still wanting to know the exact bar I was running. For these old eyes, going digital is exactly what I was looking for.



Below is a short review of my journey with Sekhmet. I will tell you now that the latest product release is the best yet and they are still trying to make them even better. I will without a doubt be running these gauges on my airguns



So a little bit about the gauges...

  • The gauge is 28mm with 1/8 BSPP threads (though I think they offer M10*1.0 and 1/8 NPT as well)
  • They comes in two flavors:... steel and brass (for the brass they use C86300 brass)
  • The whole unit is waterproof with a rating of 30 min under 0.5 meters of water
  • The pressure sensor is the same as the Edgun EDMU
  • Pressure range is from 1-400 bar (15-6000 PSI)
  • Accuracy is ±0.5 PSI (per Sekhmet)
  • Weight is appx 50g
  • Battery is a 145mah Li-ion (non-replaceable)
  • Charge time is appx 1 – 1.5 hours via the provided USB/magnetic horseshoe type cable
  • The charge can last for many months (depending on your mode selection)
  • The charging current is 120ma
  • The touchscreen is a 0.49” OLED Screen w/ three main touchpoints
  • There are three basic modes: Screen ON, Sleep and Wake Up w/ Screen Off
  • There are ~ 8 different readouts (depending on the firmware version)
  • Updatable firmware (coming soon!)

The first batch of gauges I received had a few issues:

  • Two of the gauges I received had pretty good size chips in the crystals (very noticeable) – This has been fixed! The crystal has since been replaced with a better crystal. Product packaging is also much better
  • Two of the charging cables were unusable. There were inconsistencies with the brass charging pins on them. Some were rigid, others are springy, and the two that didn’t work were actually depressed into the charger so no pins wee usable. Again, this has been fixed! Turns out the original cables I was sent were 3D prototypes. The ABS production cables are much better. Also, the magnet size on the production cable shoehorn are a bit larger and are stronger.
  • The original crystal smudged easily and was difficult to get clean. The new crystal is much improved in this respect

The second batch of gauges I received had all the previous issues resolved (as mentioned above) and the firmware had been updated to V4.34 20G18.

Fred is about to send me the latest version of the stainless steel gauge with V 4.40 firmware. He says the gauge is even more stable and has new functionality including:

  • Quick data clear key combination. Keep touching the middle key then touch the right one and it will clear all data quickly
  • More sensitive shot counts. Some low power gun's pressure drops off slightly, it's very similar to a small leak. This gauge can now distinguish a shot from a slow leak.
  • Better battery detection. In the previous version, some gauges would not show 100% battery after a full charge.
  • Abnormal pressure change detection. If the pressure changes more than 110 bars within 0.3 seconds, the gauge will hold the reading, because there are some factors like EMI that could affect the sensor (per Sekhmet)
  • Fred also added that they have their own warehouse in the UK now.

So what’s next for Sekhmet?

They are still working to make the gauge better via firmware. The firmware updater is finished but they are still looking for a factory to produce the downloader. Once that’s complete, every user will receive a downloader and will be able to update the gauge firmware once new versions become available.

Final thoughts:

PROs

  • The battery. The highest working current is 14-17ma while the display is turned on. With the gauge shutdown, standby current goes down to 9-10ua, which means that this battery could support the whole system for about 400 days if you don't wake it up manually. The gauge I used for my reg was only down to 76% after sitting for 2 months (and that's after shooting for 2 days straight!)

  • The LED is one of the best I have ever seen on something this small. Also works well in sunlight and is clear when looking at it from different angles

  • I like the way you can invert the display 180 deg. 

  • Updatable firmware (coming soon)

  • Gauge is very responsive even when coming out of sleep mode

  • Charging is fast

  • Menu is easy to use

  • PSI seems to be very accurate. I compared it to my Wika and it appears to be spot on

  • Nice packaging and very well protected
  • The new charging cables are much nicer and the length of the cable is good

CONS (or just feedback)

  • There is no screen protector (thin film) on the bezel when shipped. This is just feedback and none of the gauges were scratched. It's just a nice touch and adds a bit of temporary protection
  • While the charging magnets are powerful, getting the horseshoe charger to line up with the charging contacts takes a bit of finesse.
  • Along the same lines as above, I'm concerned that all the movement of trying to align the horseshoe charger with the charging contacts might scratch the bezel or the contacts after time. Only time will tell.

Wishlist

  • When I bought my Wika gauges, each came with a black plastic piece that you could slide over the gauge. This was for folks that wanted to keep the black theme on their guns. It also serves as added protection when you get into some of the NRL22 type competitions where they could get scratched or damaged

Want to know a little more? Here are some additional details.

http://www.sekhmet-us.com/digital-pressure-gauge.html (be patient, the page is slow to load)



Hope this helps, -Dave
 
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Great review! Very clear, concise, accurate and honest. I love it! I just read your review again...so good! Really I’m impressed! Awesome job!

I also love these gauges and won’t be without them on any of our guns in the future. Such a small price to pay for accuracy and great features.

I too had an issue with the first two gauges I was sent. The screen failed because of the heat caused by the chemical reaction of the epoxy used. Fortunately, Fred was on it and the gauges were replaced and the epoxy changed, problem solved. When I tell people about the failure, I also tell them that we were all asked to test these gauges prior to production, to find any unresolved issues so that Sekhmet could fix them prior to release. The testers found the problems, they were fixed and Sekhmet is now producing a great product!

It’s also important to note that Fred is a great guy and that Sekhmet will stand behind their products.

They really are a great product and very reasonably priced compared to other quality gauges that do far less and aren’t as accurate.

Stoti 
 
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Thanks @stoti! Also thanks for bringing up a very good point which I failed to mention... the problems we encountered were in the "pre production" gauges. As soon as the issues were brought up to Fred, the issues were addressed and a new set of gauges were sent out for re-test. Fred is a standup guy and and is really easy to work with! I'm very happy with these gauges 😁 -Dave
 
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Thanks for the review, excellent info. Mine is still in the box, but soon will mount it. Would be great if they add to the firmware an option to detect a leak. Just like you car tires' TMPS. When it senses a sudden pressure drop that is more then regular air usage from shooting, but less then EMI's "loss of readings/values" time frame, it would display "Major leak" or "Minor leak". For example, if the rifle sits unused (no air used) for 2 hours and the pressure drops 40 psi (no temperature change either) than it's a slow leak. If the pressure drops to close to zero in 2 hours then you have a major leak.

I am assuming it already has air-usage efficiency...keeping track of air-used per shot, and air used per session. That could help when tweaking the gun. 
 
Upvote 1
Why must it be so complicated? I want to shoot my gun, not analyze every shot's parameters, and impact on gun status!

Why can't they produce a simple gauge display for those not inclined to spend more time manipulating their gauge display, when they could be shooting?

"Current PSI" and "Shots Remaining",  Press it once and get current psi, press it twice and get shots remaining.

Now THAT'S a useful electronic gauge that I could easily use and would buy. 



Kindly 'Ol Uncle Hoot
 
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Hi Hoot, 

How are you? All is well I hope. Something to consider, you can set these gauges to “simple mode”, when in this mode, the bottle pressure is displayed when the screen comes on and you can toggle to shots remaining. I don’t ever use that mode but it is there for people that prefer “simple”. You can also have the gauges set up so that the screen turns on after each shot and shows the bottle pressure. After the preselected amount of time, the screen turns off automatically. You can set it to stay on for 15 seconds or a few minutes.

When I’m tuning my gun or making any changes, I use these gauges a lot. The air used per shot, average air used and shots remaining are super handy when tuning...Especially when trying to find that fine line between hammer tension and regulator pressure for best efficiency. Hahaha...Just kidding, I love power and accuracy, not efficiency!!! It’s also nice to be able to see exactly how much air the gun is using prior to and after I’ve made a tuning change.

Some might say that $100 is a lot for a gauge. Yes, it’s a lot of money, but considering the cost of everything else in our sport, it really isn’t all that much. When you consider that they’re rechargeable, super accurate and waterproof, that alone makes them worth the money. All the other great features are a bonus! I just wanted to share a little insight about simple mode and setting up the gauges to show what you want to see after a shot in the standard mode. Have a great day Hoot!

Stoti
 
Upvote 0
Why must it be so complicated? I want to shoot my gun, not analyze every shot's parameters, and impact on gun status!

Why can't they produce a simple gauge display for those not inclined to spend more time manipulating their gauge display, when they could be shooting?

"Current PSI" and "Shots Remaining",  Press it once and get current psi, press it twice and get shots remaining.

Now THAT'S a useful electronic gauge that I could easily use and would buy. 



Kindly 'Ol Uncle Hoot
Click to expand...

Dear Uncle Hoot.,..once someone said: "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept" 😊
 
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Hi all,

@hepotter - Hi Hoot, as @stoti mentioned, you can toggle to simple mode, set your “stay on time” and never have to touch it again (except to clear the shot count). Without touching anything, you will get the Bar and the number of shots (since last cleared).

@ deadonshot - Long press the left button and it will say Device Info and show you the battery charge. Press the top button after that and it will show the Firmware version. If the version is one of the pre-production units, it will be something like V4.30 20E03. You can email Fred at Sekhmet to be sure (use both addresses when you send him email. [email protected], [email protected]

-Dave


 
Upvote 0
Dear Uncle Hoot.,..once someone said: "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept" 😊
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Granted, George Washington was a true visionary! However, air gun technology in the 1700's was not what it is today. We must ask ourselves "...Do we trust the opinion of someone using wooden dentures and wearing a powdered wig???" Even today, those practices would stimulate doubt in any practical individual's mind! Further, you must recall missiles in those days were made of wood and used coal for fuel. That is why no real progress was made in moon shots until the 1960's! It was a simple matter of personal desire vastly exceeding existing technology! Regarding the situation in question, we have a matter of existing technology vastly exceeding personal desire!!!

All these things considered, I remain firm in my opinion..."Existing psi and shots remaining!"

Regards,

Kindly 'Ol Uncle Hoot
 
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Question

Will you recommend this gauge for the regulator pressure too? 

The new RTI regulator is running two gauges side by side, do you know if I'll be able to fit two so close like that? They look bigger than the ones I have... Again maybe just need one

Common sense tells me this should go on the bottle pressure so I get the features described in the product, like shoot count, etc. Features I don't want or pointless on the regulator gauge... But I really want to read exact pressure on my regulator, very useful for me. Maybe what Hoot was saying makes sense, a simpler version without the features just a pressure reader for regulator makes sense?

But I'll wait for your responses, I'm learning about this product

Thanks
 
Upvote 0
Dear Uncle Hoot.,..once someone said: "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept"
1f60a.svg
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Granted, George Washington was a true visionary!

Kindly 'Ol Uncle Hoot
Click to expand...

Well, a President is a President even if off by near couple of centuries :)
 
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