The Elcometer 181 Mechanical Concrete Test Hammer is a simple to use
gauge which provides an estimate of the strength and quality of concrete.
Formerly, masons and construction workers used to check the set and state of
concrete by striking the surface with a hammer. They assessed very roughly the
set and resistance of the concrete by the nature of the metallic sound produced
and of the rebound. The Elcometer 181 replaces this unreliable method of
testing with a hand held tool which gives quantifiable and reproducible test
results.
Your Elcometer 181 Mechanical Concrete Test Hammer consists of a spring
loaded mass which, when released, causes a plunger to impact the concrete
surface with fixed and constant energy. During the rebound stroke, the mass
moves a pointer along a scale on the body of the test hammer. This scale is
marked in units of rebound number.
Charts on the body of the test hammer allow the rebound number to be
converted into the compression strength of the concrete.