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Ocean Lab Instrument HousekeepingGo to the Oceanographic Instrument Check Out Calendar From your BML marine technicians Megan Sheridan and David Dann When checking instruments out using the equipment calendar: Make sure you enter your first and last name, and designate which instruments you’ll be using by serial number, even if you have to do it retroactively. This provides a supplementary usage record (see logs below). Logs: We have created some usage and maintenance logs, so that when you finish with an instrument, you can record deployment duration (and sampling interval), maintenance notes, steps taken to troubleshoot, etc. Not only will this help keep track of battery voltages, but it will help us to keep track of when instruments were last serviced, what problems they’ve had, how often they’ve been deployed, or whether they’re due for service. The logs are located at in the Largier Lab folder on ZOEA. This was done quickly, so questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome. The better everyone is about logs, the easier it will be for future users. Batteries: Routine borrowers: you are responsible for making sure you have fresh batteries. Unfortunately, the microcats do not output battery voltage, so there is no easy way, aside from keeping detailed logs for each instrument, to tell how much power is left. I recommend that you either 1) always start with new batteries at the beginning of a deployment, especially long deployments, or 2) keep track of the instruments you are using (if using them for multiple deployments), and the battery power usage—microcats and high-res thermistors can last for a long time depending on your sampling parameters (and even longer now with the new microcat battery packs**). Feel free to leave a note on your instruments asking others to coordinate with you before taking. Short deployments (i.e. few days-week at 1 sample/min) are especially safe with what we carry over in terms of power. As always, Dave or I can easily help point you in the right direction (where to purchase them/assistance with installation), but making sure they’re here is up to you. I don’t make it a habit to store batteries, unless I know we’re using them very soon. Battery usage calculators are located as follows: SBE instruments-manual, rdi adcps-planADCP.exe, wetlabs fluorometers- batt calc sheet in the Wetlabs folder on the Ocean lab computer. For any others, see me. The third option is to read about logs (below) and trust that everyone is keeping it up to date—so you can see what the deployment history of your particular instrument is. Note that the old lithium battery packs that we have been using for the microcats (sbe 37) are being discontinued. From now on we’ll be using lithium AA batteries, which will be housed in a new battery pack, all of which we have in hand now. For future use, the new batts will be available at other commercial retailers besides Seabird (see http://www.seabird.com/application_notes/AN89.htm). I believe that all of the microcats have new batt packs installed now. Battery usage calculators are available in the manuals, but the battery capacity has changed. Now plan deployments using a conservative value of 8.8 Amp-hours as opposed to 5 amp-hours, which is what was available with the old batteries. Troubleshooting: If you have problems with an instrument, it’s best if you troubleshoot the problem—first by chatting with one of us, and then by talking to the company directly. You know its recent history best, and are the most familiar with the issue. If you have any qualms with this, see us and we can help. Whatever you do, don’t leave the instrument with the rest of the instruments, hoping that one of us will keep track of it. If you have to, physically hand it to one if us, along with a detailed description of the problem and a sample datafile (which is why going straight to the company saves us all some time---this is what they ask for too). Cleaning: Most of you know this, but please be sure to clean all instruments after recovery/before storage. If you need to know the appropriate procedure for your particular instrument, consult the manuals (it’s all in there), or see one of us if you have a question. All of the manuals are in the cabinet above the computer in the Ocean Field Lab. Most importantly, everything should be rinsed with DI asap after being exposed to salt water. A note about Microcats: Be extremely careful when handling, stowing, and cleaning these instruments. The conductivity cells are mostly glass, and are incredibly fragile. Try not to bump them on anything when handling or deploying them, and be careful how you stow them when on boats. When cleaning, avoid putting anything in the cell (brushes, q-tips, whatever) and we recommend leaving the guards on at all times- the spaces under the guards can be carefully cleaned with them in place, be careful around the thermistor. We have multiple small cleaning implements to make this easier. If you attach any tubing (such as the syringes that we use to flush them with triton), use carefully and when you’re finished, pull it off carefully. When pulling connectors off of the bulkheads, pull carefully and straight out - do NOT pull to one side or the other. This can damage the pins. Data: Be sure to offload your instruments asap and back up the data. We generally don’t offload anything before setting them up for new deployments. You don’t necessarily have to erase the recorders (because it’s nice to have the data there, at least for a bit, just in case), but when it gets used again, I would assume that everything old will go. If you’re having any problems with offloading data, or can’t do it right away, just let us know. |
