The 16-020 heat exchangers are used with the older Physical Electronics (PHI) 5100 through 5400 X-ray photo-electron spectrometer (XPS) systems.The 16-020 has a built-in deionizer cartridge (and a particle filter) which keeps the water in the closed loop system clean and it also keeps the resistance of the water high.
The original deionizer cartridges were blue and had a recess in the bottom of the filter that matched up with a plastic guide on the bottom of the Millipore housing. Those blue deionizer cartridges are no longer available. The new replacement deionizer cartridges do not have a recess on the bottom.
When a new deionizer cartridge is used with the original Millipore housing the plastic guide on the bottom of the housing will push up on the bottom of the deionizer. This makes it difficult if not impossible to fully screw on the housing. It also puts pressure on the bottom of the deionizer cartridge which can rupture the bottom of the deionizer and cause the media particles to leak out, potentially causing an issue with the water flow and or damage the pump and lead to a catastrophic anode melt down. There are two ways to solve this fit issue. One is to cut and grind out the top part of the guide on the original Millipore housing. To do that you need to remove the plug on the bottom of the housing and then use a drill or cutting wheel that is mounted on a drill extension. The pictures below show a housing before and after modification.
The other option is to replace the original Millipore housing with new housing that correctly fits the new deionizer cartridge. But if you replace the housing you will also need to replace the manifold as the new manifold will not fit into the original Millipore manifold.
RBD Instruments provides both deionizer cartridges and housings. If you have the original Millipore housing on your 12” deionizer cartridge then I recommend that you inspect it to see whether the guide on the bottom has been cut down or not. If not, you should cut it down or replace the housing.
If the deionizer is ruptured then the entire cooling system (reservoir, pump, water lines and source) needs to be inspected and flushed out.This problem is an issue only with the 12″ deionizer cartridge on the 16-020 heat exchangers.
The 16-050 heat exchanger that is used on the 5600 and up XPS systems has a 10″ deionizer cartridge.
Not sure if you need to replace your deionizer cartridge? Just run up the high voltage on your X-ray source to 15kV but do not set an power to the X-ray source. Observe the emission current reading on the HV supply. If the deionizer is good the reading will be 1-2 mA. Once the leakage current gets up to 3-4 mA at 15kV you should plan on replacing the deionizer cartridge and particle filter soon. If the leakage current at 15kV is 5 mA or higher you should replace the deionizer and particle filter and also flush out the water with new distilled water from a grocery store. Lab distilled water does not always work but grocery store distilled water works every time.
Contact RBD Instruments to order the deionizer and particle filter.
