{"id":1874,"date":"2017-01-30T16:57:34","date_gmt":"2017-01-31T00:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/?p=1874"},"modified":"2017-02-03T02:42:15","modified_gmt":"2017-02-03T10:42:15","slug":"endoscopic-ion-pump-inspection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/endoscopic-ion-pump-inspection\/","title":{"rendered":"Endoscopic ion pump inspection"},"content":{"rendered":"

An easy way to determine whether or not an ion pump needs to be rebuilt is to perform an endoscopic ion pump inspection. The hard way is to drop the ion pumps.<\/p>\n

In the last few years the prices have really come down on USB and android\/iPhone endoscopes. If you do a search on EBay for USB endoscope you will see a lot of choices for under $20.00. The one used in this blog post is 7mm in diameter, which is small enough to fit into a 1.33\u201d CF flange hole.<\/p>\n

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For this example we inspected a PHI 660 scanning auger system equipped with a 220 l\/s ion pump. This system has been in use for about 10 years primarily for depth profiling using Argon gas.<\/p>\n

Since there is a shield below the TSP filaments the only way into the ion pumps was thru the un-used 1.33 CF flange that is opposite the ion pump high voltage connector.<\/p>\n

This video link shows what it looks like as you move the endoscope around inside the ion pump – https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5DQVW3DCG9A&feature=youtu.be\u00a0 <\/a>Note that the video has a blue tint to if from the built in LED camera lighting.<\/p>\n

The color corrected pictures below show that the ion pump elements are pitted, the insulating ceramics are coated and there are some flakes in the bottom of the pump well.\u00a0\u00a0 The conclusion was that the pump elements have another year or so left on them and so we will plan on replacing them in 12 to 18 months.<\/p>\n

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An easy way to determine whether or not an ion pump needs to be rebuilt is to perform an endoscopic ion pump inspection. The hard way is to drop the ion pumps. In the last few years the prices have … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[164],"tags":[237,31],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/coating_on_ceramic.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2DEXo-ue","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":606,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/tnbx-ion-pump\/","url_meta":{"origin":1874,"position":0},"title":"Servicing a P-E TNBX Ion Pump Well","author":"Joe Caterinicchio","date":"February 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"RBD Instruments provides all of the parts that you need to rebuild these TNBX ion pump wells.\u00a0 Contact us for more information.\u00a0 For best results, read this entire post and then look at the pictures at the bottom of the post. The P-E (Perkin Elmer) TNBX style of Ion Pump\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Optics and Vacuum"","block_context":{"text":"General Optics and Vacuum","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/general-optics-and-vacuum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"poppet-valve-scissors-assembly-installed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/poppet-valve-scissors-assembly-installed.jpg?fit=486%2C324&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":231,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/how-to-align-the-04-303-ion-gun\/","url_meta":{"origin":1874,"position":1},"title":"How to align the 04-303 ion gun","author":"Randy","date":"November 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This post explains how to align the Physical Electronics 04-303 ion gun typically found on PHI Auger electron spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy systems. The alignment principles explained here will apply to just about any surface analysis ion source. First, here is a video that explains all of the alignment\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ion Sources"","block_context":{"text":"Ion Sources","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/ion-sources\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":381,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/ion-plasma-to-clean-ion-pumps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1874,"position":2},"title":"Ion Plasma to clean ion pumps","author":"Randy","date":"March 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"If you try to start an ion pump when the vacuum in the chamber is in the mid 10-4 range, the gas load will be high enough to produce a visible ion plasma. \u00a0Normally you don\u2019t start the ion pumps until the vacuum is pulled down to the low 10-5\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Optics and Vacuum"","block_context":{"text":"General Optics and Vacuum","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/general-optics-and-vacuum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ion pump element","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/DI-Ion-pump-element.png?fit=510%2C595&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":187,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/ion-pump-element-rebuild-procedure\/","url_meta":{"origin":1874,"position":3},"title":"Ion pump element rebuild procedure","author":"Randy","date":"October 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Ion Pump Element Tech Tip - Flip the plates After a number of years it becomes necessary to replace the ion pump elements used on surface analysis instrumentation such as X-ray Photoelectron spectrometers (XPS), Auger (AES), and Secondary Ion Mass spectrometers (SIMS). But what if you can\u2019t afford the cost\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Optics and Vacuum"","block_context":{"text":"General Optics and Vacuum","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/general-optics-and-vacuum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ion pump element","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/DI-Ion-pump-element.png?fit=510%2C595&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":992,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/ion-pump-rejuvenation-procedure\/","url_meta":{"origin":1874,"position":4},"title":"Ion Pump Rejuvenation Procedure","author":"Randy","date":"March 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"After prolonged periods of sputtering with Argon gas, the ion pumps can become saturated, resulting in occasional \"belches\" of Argon during which the ion pumps overheat and release large amounts of gas. These belches usually result in a snowball effect that can dump the system. Rejuvenating the ion pumps once\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Optics and Vacuum"","block_context":{"text":"General Optics and Vacuum","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/general-optics-and-vacuum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Ion-pump.jpg?fit=243%2C207&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3860,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/ion-pump-elements-flip-the-plates-part-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":1874,"position":5},"title":"Ion pump elements \u2013 Flip the plates part II","author":"Randy","date":"October 25, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog post will explain how you can modify the ion pump element Tantalum and Titanium plates to expose a fresh surface area which functionally is the same thing as replacing the plates.","rel":"","context":"In "General Optics and Vacuum"","block_context":{"text":"General Optics and Vacuum","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/general-optics-and-vacuum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"new sputter area","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/new-sputter-area.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/new-sputter-area.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/new-sputter-area.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/new-sputter-area.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1874"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1889,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874\/revisions\/1889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}