Portagauge® 6 Measure the Steel That's Left, Straight Through the Coating
Portagauge 6 - front, A-scan on screen
Ahead of a class renewal or intermediate survey, the question is always the same: how much steel is actually left? Portagauge® 6 reads true metal thickness through paint and coatings up to 20 mm: residual hull-plate thickness, corrosion monitoring on decks, tank tops, bulkheads and pipework, so wastage is found before structural integrity is compromised, with no grinding back to bare metal.
One probe on the steel, the metal read through the paint
Every figure on this page lives somewhere on the kit. Hover or tap a number to trace it to the hardware.
- 01Probe2.5 & 5.0 MHzDual-element probes, held on the steel with couplant; multi-echo reads true metal through coatings up to 20 mm.
- 02Steel range1.50–100 mmAccuracy ±0.1 mm at 0.01 mm resolution, with a 14-material database plus custom sound speed.
- 03DisplayA-scanBacklit graphic LCD with an A-scan and oscilloscope trace, so the echoes behind a reading can be checked.
- 04Keypad & logger200,000 readings4 MB data logger, with an audible minimum-thickness alarm.
- 05HandheldIP65 · 360 g168 × 82 × 31 mm; up to 12 h on a 9 V PP3, or 24/7 via USB.
Portagauge® 6
A rugged, single-operator thickness gauge built for marine corrosion survey work.
Through-CoatingPortagauge® 6
Measures true metal thickness through coatings up to 20 mm, with interchangeable probes for thin plate through to heavy section, and an on-board log for the whole survey.
Key specifications
| Technique | Multiple-echo (true metal through coating ≤ 20 mm) |
| Steel range | 1.50–100.00 mm |
| Accuracy | ±0.1 mm |
| Resolution | 0.01 mm |
| Probes | 2.5 MHz & 5.0 MHz dual-element |
| Materials | 14-material database + custom sound-speed |
| Display | Backlit graphic LCD · A-scan & oscilloscope trace |
| Alarm | Audible minimum-thickness alarm |
| Data logger | 4 MB · up to 200,000 readings |
| Dimensions / weight | 168 × 82 × 31 mm · 360 g |
| Power | Up to 12 h (9V PP3) · or 24/7 via USB |
| Ingress / warranty | IP65 · 3 yr unit, 1 yr sensor |
| Mfr. part no. / CAGE | 2099382-6 · CAGE KD983 |
From newbuild acceptance to end-of-life survey
- Hull plating, decks and shell: wastage mapping for class survey
- Ballast and cargo tanks, bulkheads and internal structure
- Pipework and pressure-vessel walls where coatings can't be removed
- Spot-checks during repair, refit and condition assessment
Because it reads through coatings, the same point can be re-measured survey after survey, building a corrosion-rate history that tells you not just the thickness today, but how fast it's changing.
Gauging Steel Thickness, Step by Step
A single operator reads true remaining metal without grinding back the coating.
Calibrate
Calibrate on the supplied 5 mm metal test block before the survey.
Couple the probe
Apply couplant and place the dual-element probe on the surface. No need to remove paint.
Read true metal
The multiple-echo technique reports remaining steel through coatings up to 20 mm thick.
Log the point
Store the reading (up to 200,000) and re-measure the same point next survey to track corrosion rate.
Where it's used aboard
The Portagauge 6, Introduced
Footage published by Coltraco Ultrasonics showing the Portagauge® 6 in use.
The coating no longer hides the corrosion
A single-echo gauge measures from the coating surface, so it over-reads thickness and forces you to grind down to bare metal at every test point. Portagauge® 6 uses a multiple-echo technique that times the signal between successive metal-to-metal reflections. It simply ignores the paint and reports the true remaining steel, even under coatings up to 20 mm thick. That makes a hull or tank survey faster, cleaner and repeatable, and its data logger holds up to 200,000 readings for a traceable corrosion record you can hand to a class surveyor.
What ships, and what to plan around
The kit as Coltraco lists it, and the limits worth knowing before you order.
What ships
Portagauge® 6 kit. 3-year warranty on the unit, 1 year on the sensor, lifetime technical support.
- Portagauge® 6 main unit
- Standard 2.5 MHz dual-element probe (DE2.5-14, 14 mm)
- 5 mm metal test block
- Ultrasonic couplant
- User manual
- Calibration certificate
- Robust carrying case
Plan around these
As stated in Coltraco's own brochures. We confirm anything else on the quote.
- The probe sets the range. The kit probe covers 1.5-100 mm. For pipe, the optional 5 MHz probes: a 10 mm face (1.5-100 mm, pipes from 25 mm / 1") and a 6 mm face (1.5-50 mm, pipes from 15 mm / ½"). High-temperature probes are also offered.
- Coatings up to 20 mm are ignored in multi-echo mode, which reports the metal only.
- Materials: 14 in the built-in database; anything else by entering a custom sound velocity.
- Power: 9 V PP3 for up to 12 h, with auto-off after 30 s idle, or 24/7 through the micro-USB port. A micro-USB cable is not on the kit list.
- Rating and cable: IP65 enclosure, 0.9 m LEMO-00 probe cable. No operating temperature is published.
- Standards it meets: BS EN 15317:2013, NFPA 25 9.2.7, IACS PR No. 19 and No. 77, DNVGL-CG-028.
Thickness Gauging: FAQ
Does it read through paint or coating?
What does it detect?
Is it calibrated?
Which standard does it meet?
What probe options are there?
How often should thickness be surveyed?
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