diff --git a/Examples/Example Calibration Files/LiquidCalibration.json b/Examples/Example Calibration Files/LiquidCalibration.json
index aedfe91f..ecc5773e 100644
--- a/Examples/Example Calibration Files/LiquidCalibration.json	
+++ b/Examples/Example Calibration Files/LiquidCalibration.json	
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   "metadata": {
-    "modification_datetime": "2000-01-01T00:00:00"
+    "modification_datetime": "2000-01-01T00:00:00",
+    "COM": "example data"
   },
   "ValveDatas": [
     {
diff --git a/Functions/+BpodLib/+BpodObject/+setup/updatePathAndSettings.m b/Functions/+BpodLib/+BpodObject/+setup/updatePathAndSettings.m
index f51d533e..8186cf8c 100644
--- a/Functions/+BpodLib/+BpodObject/+setup/updatePathAndSettings.m
+++ b/Functions/+BpodLib/+BpodObject/+setup/updatePathAndSettings.m
@@ -103,7 +103,8 @@ function updatePathAndSettings(BpodSystem, varargin)
 %% -- Calibration Files
 calFolder = BpodLib.path.getPath('calibration', BpodSystem, 'LocalDir', LocalDir);
 
-if ~isfile(fullfile(Path.SettingsDir, 'LiquidCalibration.json')) && ~BpodLib.path.compatibility.isLegacySettings(Path.LocalDir)
+freshSetup = ~isfile(fullfile(Path.SettingsDir, 'LiquidCalibration.json')) && ~BpodLib.path.compatibility.isLegacySettings(Path.LocalDir);
+if freshSetup
     fileNames = {'LiquidCalibration.json', 'SoundCalibration.mat', 'Readme.txt'};
     for idx = 1:numel(fileNames)
         fileName = fileNames{idx};
diff --git a/Functions/+BpodLib/+calibration/+liquid/+compatibility/createDummyData.m b/Functions/+BpodLib/+calibration/+liquid/+compatibility/createDummyData.m
index ac420917..80b67674 100644
--- a/Functions/+BpodLib/+calibration/+liquid/+compatibility/createDummyData.m
+++ b/Functions/+BpodLib/+calibration/+liquid/+compatibility/createDummyData.m
@@ -52,10 +52,8 @@
 valve3.addMeasurement(35, 3.5);
 valve3.addMeasurement(66, 8.5);
 
-% todo: these dates are different to the .JSON in Examples/
-% Update LastDateModified to reflect the dummy data
-valve1.LastDateModified = '2016-11-17T16:08:26';  % original from Bpod_Gen2
-% valve3.LastDateModified = char(datetime('2024-07-17 09:22:28'));  % the date of this function's creation
-valve3.LastDateModified = "";
-
+% Original MATLAB struct file had LastDateModified equivalent to 2016-11-17T16:08:26
+dateString = "2000-01-01T00:00:00";
+valve1.LastDateModified = dateString;
+valve3.LastDateModified = dateString;
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Functions/+BpodLib/+calibration/+liquid/+utils/checkCOM.m b/Functions/+BpodLib/+calibration/+liquid/+utils/checkCOM.m
index 1cc701c0..a1d27605 100644
--- a/Functions/+BpodLib/+calibration/+liquid/+utils/checkCOM.m
+++ b/Functions/+BpodLib/+calibration/+liquid/+utils/checkCOM.m
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@
     return
 end
 
+if strcmp(LiquidCal.metadata.COM, "example data")
+    % If the file's COM is example data, the liquid cal is just placeholder
+    % so we count that as "unknown"
+    return
+end
+
 if strcmp(LiquidCal.metadata.COM, BpodSystemCOM)
     matchingCOM = 'yes';
 else
diff --git a/Functions/+BpodLib/+calibration/+liquid/+utils/createDefaultFile.m b/Functions/+BpodLib/+calibration/+liquid/+utils/createDefaultFile.m
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5677e282
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Functions/+BpodLib/+calibration/+liquid/+utils/createDefaultFile.m
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+function createDefaultFile()
+% Create the default LiquidCalibration.json file in Examples/
+
+LiquidCal= BpodLib.calibration.liquid.compatibility.createDummyData();
+rootPath = BpodLib.path.getPath('root');
+filePath = fullfile(rootPath, 'Examples/Example Calibration Files/LiquidCalibration.json');
+
+% Insert data
+dateString = "2000-01-01T00:00:00";
+saveData = LiquidCal.createSaveData();
+saveData.metadata.modification_datetime = dateString;
+saveData.metadata.COM = "example data";
+
+if verLessThan('matlab', '9.10') % R2021a is 9.10
+    writeData = jsonencode(saveData);
+else
+    writeData = jsonencode(saveData, 'PrettyPrint', true);
+end
+fid = fopen(filePath, 'w');
+fwrite(fid, writeData, 'char');
+fclose(fid);
+
+
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Tests/BpodLib/calibration/liquid/test_dataWarning.m b/Tests/BpodLib/calibration/liquid/test_dataWarning.m
index 614bd305..e721f5d8 100644
--- a/Tests/BpodLib/calibration/liquid/test_dataWarning.m
+++ b/Tests/BpodLib/calibration/liquid/test_dataWarning.m
@@ -55,4 +55,15 @@ function test_loadFailure(testCase)
     % These should "fail" silently if the startup failed to load data
     BpodLib.calibration.liquid.io.checkDefaultData([]);
     BpodLib.calibration.liquid.io.report([])
+end
+
+function test_load_fresh(testCase)
+    BpodSystem = BpodTest.MockBpodObject('EMU');
+    filepath = fullfile(BpodLib.path.getPath('root'), 'Examples/Example Calibration Files/LiquidCalibration.json');
+    LiquidCal = BpodLib.calibration.liquid.ValveDataManagerClass('filepath', filepath);
+    
+    BpodSystem.CalibrationTables.LiquidCal = LiquidCal;
+    LiquidCal.metadata.COM
+    BpodLib.calibration.liquid.utils.checkCOM(BpodSystem)
+    testCase.verifyTrue(strcmp('unknown', BpodLib.calibration.liquid.utils.checkCOM(BpodSystem)));
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Tests/BpodLib/calibration/liquid/test_liquidcalibration.m b/Tests/BpodLib/calibration/liquid/test_liquidcalibration.m
index faf0feb6..ca49aec2 100644
--- a/Tests/BpodLib/calibration/liquid/test_liquidcalibration.m
+++ b/Tests/BpodLib/calibration/liquid/test_liquidcalibration.m
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ function setupOnce(testCase)
     OriginalLiquidCal(3).Coeffs = [0.0479777954004750,5.72402854877083,13.6002180808882];
 
     testCase.TestData.OriginalLiquidCal = OriginalLiquidCal;
-%     testCase.TestData.expectedJSONPath = fullfile('testData/ExpectedLiquidCalibration.json');
     [testFolder, ~, ~] = fileparts(mfilename('fullpath'));
     testDataFolder = fullfile(testFolder, 'testData');
     testCase.TestData.expectedJSONPath = fullfile(testDataFolder, 'ExpectedLiquidCalibration.json');
@@ -34,33 +33,6 @@ function teardownOnce(testCase)
     rmdir(testCase.TestData.rootPath, 's');
 end
 
-
-function test_JSONWrite(testCase)
-    % Test that the JSON format being saved by ValveManagerClass is correct
-    
-    % Create test data and write JSON
-    dummyValveManager = BpodLib.calibration.liquid.compatibility.createDummyData();
-    dummyjsonPath = fullfile(testCase.TestData.rootPath, 'test.json');
-    dummyValveManager.saveData(dummyjsonPath);
-    
-    % Read both files
-    jsonData = fileread(dummyjsonPath);
-    expectedData = fileread(testCase.TestData.expectedJSONPath);
-    
-    % Normalize both JSON strings
-    jsonData = normalizeJSON(jsonData);
-    expectedData = normalizeJSON(expectedData);
-    
-    % Compare the normalized versions
-    testCase.verifyEqual(jsonData, expectedData, 'JSON content does not match expected');
-    
-    % If still failing, provide diagnostic output
-    if ~isequal(jsonData, expectedData)
-        fprintf('\n=== JSON COMPARISON FAILURE DETAILS ===\n');
-        showDiff(jsonData, expectedData);
-    end
-end
-
 function test_JSONRead(testCase)
     % Test ValveDataManager's reading, ensuring values are in the right
     % places