History

Jodon Incorporated was founded in 1963 by brothers John and Don Gillespie in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. Originally Jodon manufactured laboratory-grade Helium-Neon gas lasers. The product line was eventually expanded to include holographic equipment, laser accessories, holographic plates, and our METS – Microwave Engine Timing System – product.

In 1980, an engineer from General Motors Harrison approached Jodon to use our existing laser expertise to develop a way to measure the louver angle of automotive heat-exchanger fins. This project eventually led to the development of the LAC-1000. This system incorporated an infrared LED for the light source and used a microprocessor to run the software.

In 1994, Michael Gillespie took over as President of Jodon. The same year, Jodon changed its primary focus away from laser and hologram production and focused instead on non-contact gauging systems for the heat exchanger industry worldwide. Also that year, as a result of Michael’s leadership, the LAC-1000 was redesigned and released as the LAC-2000 with significant upgrades such as having a modern PC operating platform instead of the previous micro-processor. Since its inception, the LAC-2000 has become an industry standard for measuring “Percent Bulk Light Transmission” in louvered fins. The ready acceptance of this technology into the world of high-volume mobile air-conditioning components has led to an installed equipment base at virtually every OEM in the world where automotive heat-exchanger components are manufactured.

Due to our extensive experience in the industry, testing and measuring the various components used in heat-exchangers, we have learned that the fins are not always the fault in these designs. In order to correct these and other faults, we soon developed other systems to measure other components of heat-exchangers. In 1998 the CPS-2000 was developed to profile entire fin strips, and in 1999 the TPS-2000 was developed to profile heat-exchanger tubes.

To maintain a sole focus on the heat-exchanger industry, in 2008 all laser and holographic products were discontinued. Eventually we produced the sub-systems LAM and PPS to measure individual louvers as well as heat-exchanger plates all on the same CPS-2000 system just using different sample holders.

Jodon continues to modify and reimagine our systems in light of new developments in the industry. We are constantly working to upgrade our systems to more precisely and accurately measure and profile whatever types of new designs are crafted. In addition to the automotive heat-exchanger industry, Jodon is also becoming a presence in the tooling industry, the micro-channel industry, chemical processing, and in mechanically expanded heat-exchangers with louvers.

Feel free to Contact Us or schedule a visit to our Location in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.