Any member here have one of these type of valve spring testers? I normally take my springs to the shop & just use their tool to check, but i wouldn't mind owning my own tool. The shop one is a bench mounted press style unit, this is just a squeeze in the vice. Unless someone can suggest a better tester that wont rape my wallet?

Try a bathroom scale and a drill press, not overly accurate until you get one spring tested and painted up for identification, then it becomes as accurate as the one that costs 4 figures.

LSM makes a few nice for the money testers. Budget buy for me would be an on the motor tester. Not terribly accurate, but it does repeat well. Test a new spring, then use that as your standard, and you can track pressure loss.

LSM on head tester.........it took me a little bit to get a consistent technique when using it.
But it should give me a heads up if I do have a spring going south on me.
Anything that says " LSM " isn't going to be found on the discount rack , but it is well made , and works well.

The biggest difference that you will see with any tester is accuracy.........good ones cost good money.
With the on head , I am looking to see if there are variations in pressure , so it is less critical.
A bench tester has a different job.
And even if it isn't spot on , as long as it is consistent , I could work with it.
But you are getting into test springs , calibration and probably a couple other variables that become important to get accurate and consistent measurements.

I only use LSM tools for this, couple other out there but they take care of their customers once you buy their product.

The problem with on head testers we found is different people doing the same test got different results. I have a mate who has one, when seat pressures are low we can all get close readings, but I'm running high seat pressures for a roller & we can varie by 40 psi. I'm looking for a bench unit with positive stops so any of us knuckleheads get the same reading.

I recently had to replace my 30 yr. analog old 1000 Lbs. bench valve spring tester with a new one from Summit, I ordered a Longacre and was told 4 to 8 week delivery and then 8 weeks later I was told it was being delay another 1 to 3 months so I order the Intercomp brand 1400 Lb. max pressure and got it in a couple of days, it is not what I expected, it is much less than what I wanted but it does work
I had a dial indicator on the old one so I could get the valve springs compressed just like they are on the heads with the installed height accurate (using the retainer and keepers on the same valves that they would run on ) and end up knowing exactly how much it was from reaching coil bind at the open heights
I wish I would have order another Longacre brand to compare the two but I haven't

Yep.......like I said , it took me a while to get a technique I was comfortable with that gave me consistent results.
But using the same technique , whoever is pulling the handle , if you see a significant drop off in seat pressure , the spring comes out.
I am around 250 on the seat , and if one pulled 10 % less , it would get my attention.

yep tubtar, doing the same thing everytime, even at different rebuilds is the problem. This is why i'm asking about the one in the OP. not having seen one I was hoping for some feedback, its available thru Summit so i can consolidate a few items to save on freight.I'm down under so if i shop wisely i get a few things at a reasonable rate. The one i'm looking at is compact & looks almost idiot proof & being consistant, data from 1 rebuild check to the next should be consistant. Really cant see that happening with an on engine tester.

Gotcha. Usually , the expensive one is the right one.
But after international shipping and the duty or tax , they are all expensive for you.

When a big spring is going south, anyone will see it with that lsm on motor tester. Especially if you went over the springs when they were new. When i put new springs on, I'll run the motor till it's warm, then run over them for a good average.

I lucked out and found this one on Moparts many years ago and love it. I also have a nice LSM on engine checker but I rarely ever use it.