OES MAINTENANCE & CALIBRATION

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT AND HOW WILL IT SAVE YOU MONEY

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OES MAINTENANCE & CALIBRATION:

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT AND HOW WILL IT SAVE YOU MONEY

Periodic maintenance (PM) and calibration are essential tasks that you
need to do on a regular basis to ensure that your equipment continues
to function as intended. This is one of our primary Optical-Emission
Spectrometers (OES) services, and it provides a verification process to
ensure your spectrometer is operating at optimal performance levels.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN AND CALIBRATE YOUR OES

PM/Calibration reduces the likelihood that your spectrometer will

malfunction or cause delays in quality inspection in your company.
OES are instruments that utilize the electromagnetic spectrum to
analyze metal content and determine levels of elements such as carbon,
phosphorous, manganese, sulfur, and silicon. These analyses assist
companies in identifying the composition of metal alloys so that they
can make the correct decisions about which material will work best
for different needs. This identification process is often referred to as
Positive Material Identification (PMI).

Without periodic maintenance of the spectrometers, companies run

the risk of experiencing unexpected equipment failures that can lead to
production issues. Ultimately, unexpected downtime is both costly and
causes loss of quality control.

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Your OES is made of various systems, such as:

• Electronic excitation

• Optics

• Energy Management

• Protective Devices

• Computer Hardware and Software.

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As the collection of system components move through various life
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If each component is not working properly, the spectrometer can be

unreliable, returning inaccurate readings without you having any
obvious indications that the readings are wrong, or at least inaccurate.

All equipment requires some level of PM; the more specialized your
equipment is, the more vigilant you have to be about ensuring it
continues to function as intended. Since spectrometers provide analysis

them to operate at an optimal performance level, so you can make the

right decisions.
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There are four primary factors that contribute to the degradation in

your OES’s performance.

1. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Even in a controlled environment, equipment will have small shifts

in performance. For OES, environmental conditions contribute to

outside of your OES unit annually or semiannually reduces the risk

of unscheduled service and missed opportunities within the
organization.
Cleaning the inside of the instrument also maintains quality light
grading for accurate analysis results. The optical system should only be
cleaned by a factory-trained service technician because of the fragility
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2. TRACE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

OES instruments used to analyze light elements such as carbon,

phosphorous, sulfur, or boron, need periodical maintenance on either
an annual or biannual basis so that the instruments continue to provide
accurate data.

If you need the carbon difference to be between 316 and 316L

materials, then you don’t have room for your spectrometer to be out of
range before it even starts the analysis.

If you are trying to differentiate high strength, low-alloy steels on

manganese and carbon content along with phosphorus, sulfur, and
silicon, you need your machine to be running at optimal performance to
ensure you have reliable results.

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Consumable parts of every spectrometer, such as windows and optical

fibers, degrade over time. That is just part of regular wear and tear. As
a result, the amount of light that can travel through the optical system
slowly diminishes, changing the analytical results ever so slightly.

The longer the degradation goes on, the larger the gap between
accurate results and results from worn parts. Periodical maintenance
ensures the optical system is carrying the greatest amount of light
through the system.

3. THE INSTRUMENT’S AGE

The areas of importance include:

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• The argon system that dries out and cracks over time,
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causing leaks and poor analytic performance.
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• Computer hardware voltage that is a primary indicator of a
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hardware component reaching the end of its useful life.

• The optical system that degrades over time because of use

and environmental conditions.

• Vacuum systems that aid the pass through of UV

wavelengths such as C, P, & S within the optic.

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All equipment is affected by how it is handled, but this is particularly
true for equipment that is often moved to different locations.

Mobile and handheld OES experience more vibration and jarring in

comparison to laboratory units. These bumps and vibrations cause
fasteners and computer components to come loose, which then cause
intermittent performance issues.

The best way to avoid these issues is with an annual or semiannual PM/
calibration where a trained technician will inspect the hardware and
repair any issues or replace any problem components. This ensures
that your OES continues to perform at full capacity after a year of
frequent travel.
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Ensuring that your OES is clean and functioning as expected is critical
to decision making about your products and path forward. Annual or
semiannual Periodical maintenance and calibration are the best way
to ensure that you don’t have to worry about your OES providing
accurate results.

• Periodical maintenance makes sure that there is no dust, dirt,

or other outside influences interfering with the results or worn
components causing calibration to be inaccurate.

• Calibration ensures that the OES is working correctly and providing

accurate results.

• Verification - Trained engineers will provide verification to ensure

calibration is completed.

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There are specific tasks that are required for a successful periodical
maintenance and calibration:

• Conduct general cleaning both inside and outside of the instrument.

o Cleaning the inside of the instrument also maintains

quality light grading for accurate analysis results. While
reducing particulate build up on sensitive electronics, that
can cause overheating and component failure.

o Cleaning the outside of the instrument reduces the

amount of dirt and debris that can contaminate
samples and be pulled into the fans, clogging filters and
endangering components.

• Create a backup of the software in case of computer failure.

o When you are dealing with computers, it is always best

practice to have a backup of your software, so it can be
re-installed if needed.

• Clean and polish the optical system while paying special attention
to windows and any fiber optics themselves.

o Cleaning the windows and optics ensures maximum light

transfer from the sample to the detectors; without which
the instrument will not hold a stable calibration.

• Check the light intensity and ensure that the light intensity is
maintained or increased in luminance.

o Light intensity and luminance is important because it is

the most important factor by which the instrument will
determine the amount of any given element.

• Calibrate the instrument by analyzing several certified standards

and making adjustments to alignment and the calibration curves.

o This will ensure that the instrument is operating within

specification and that the results can be relied upon as
true and accurate.

• Affix calibration sticker to instrument

o This allows auditors and employees to verify that your

instrument has been properly maintained and calibrated.

These tasks are required to earn and maintain

the ISO 17025:2005 accreditation certificate.

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SPECIALIZE MAINTENANCE SERVICES

Spectrometers are highly specialized tools, so you need to make sure
that you use the right company for your PM/calibration. You will want a
company that can provide OES services for the spectrometers that you
have.

For instance, here at Verichek, we have expert technicians that can

service any of the following products

- Oxford Instruments OES line

- Hitachi Hi-tech OES line

- GNR

- RMG Minisort

- SpectroPort

- SpectroPort CCD

- Test and Test Jr.

- M5, M7, M10 Spectro Lab

- Max and MaxX Spectro Lab

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We send technicians to your site to perform periodic maintenance and
calibration services across the United States, Canada, and Mexico on
either an
seat to the entire process so that you can gain a better
understanding of how the equipment works.
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VERICHEK’S PERIODICAL MAINTENANCE / CALIBRATION SERVICES

An added benefit from an on-site service visit is that while our
technician is there, you can include a scheduled on-site training for your
personnel on how to better maintain your instrument or as a refresher
course for both new hires and veteran users.

If you are looking to have maintenance and calibration performed

on a mobile or handheld spectrometer, you might prefer sending the
instrument to our main office.

There are four main advantage of sending the instrument to us:

• The technician performing the process is in a controlled

environment

• Has direct access to parts

• Has extra support if an issue arises

• There is no added cost for the engineers travel.

Once we are done, we will give you a service report that details what
we did and notes about future needs for the spectrometer, which also
doubles as a receipt.

Click Here for More Details on PM/Calibration Services

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