{"id":206,"date":"2012-11-09T15:27:29","date_gmt":"2012-11-09T23:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/?p=206"},"modified":"2014-11-06T09:03:10","modified_gmt":"2014-11-06T17:03:10","slug":"preventive-maintenance-rbd-techspot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/preventive-maintenance-rbd-techspot\/","title":{"rendered":"Preventive maintenance"},"content":{"rendered":"

While performing preventive maintenance on an X-ray photoelectron spectrometer recently I was reminded of how important the simple tasks are in preventing problems. On this particular system the card rack air filters were relatively clean and as a result of that, all of the boards in the card rack were dust free and clean. When we inspect the boards as part of a PM visit we often find that some of the components have attracted dust and dirt which in turn can cause arcing and damage on high voltage boards.<\/p>\n

Here are some easy preventive maintenance tasks that you can perform yourself which will help to keep your X-ray photo electron, Auger electron spectroscopy or Secondary Ion Mass spectroscopy system running smoothly:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Clean the air filters on a regular basis. Depending on how dusty your lab is, that could mean once a month or once every 6 months.\u00a0 Be sure to turn the card rack power OFF and the fans OFF before you remove the air filters.<\/li>\n
  2. Keep the temperature in the room that your system is located cool at all times. For older surface analysis systems, 68 degrees F (20C) or lower is ideal.\u00a0 If the room temperature gets up to the mid to upper 70s F you can expect to have more component failures.<\/li>\n
  3. Vacuum out the back of the electronics console and the inside of the electronic units the same time that you clean the air filters.<\/li>\n
  4. Check the cooling fans in the electronics rack and inside any electronic power supply or control. If the fans are spinning slowly or not at all, replace them. Keeping air moving is very important for older electronics and can help to extend the lifetime of the electronic components inside.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These 4 simple tasks can prevent more serious problems from occurring. Then \u00a0hopefully the only maintenance that your system may need will be the occasional replacement of consumable parts such as ionizers, filaments and electron multipliers.<\/p>\n

    RBD Instruments always performs these simple tasks as part of a PM visit.\u00a0 If you service your system yourself or have it serviced by another company, always insist that these tasks are performed during the preventative maintenance visit.\u00a0 The pictures below filters that were removed from a system that had been on service contract with another company. Obviously they had not been cleaned in a long time!<\/p>\n

    \"dirty

    As the old Fram oil filter commercial in the 80\u2019s said, you can pay me now or you can pay me later. The idea being that if you don\u2019t change your automotive oil filter on a regular basis that it will end up costing you a lot more to fix your engine later. The same thing applies with any piece of expensive equipment. Do the simple preventive maintenance tasks on a regular basis and you will avoid most of the severe time consuming problems.<\/p>\n

    \"air

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    While performing preventive maintenance on an X-ray photoelectron spectrometer recently I was reminded of how important the simple tasks are in preventing problems. On this particular system the card rack air filters were relatively clean and as a result of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[162],"tags":[33,32,19],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2DEXo-3k","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":556,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/x-ray-photoelectron-spectroscopy-tutorial\/","url_meta":{"origin":206,"position":0},"title":"X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Tutorial","author":"Randy","date":"May 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Information on XPS (X-ray Photo-electron Spectroscopy) that is great not only for beginners but as a reference for experienced XPS users.","rel":"","context":"In "Software for Surface Analysis Systems"","block_context":{"text":"Software for Surface Analysis Systems","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/software-for-surface-analysis\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Physical Electronics XPS system","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Physical-Electronics-XPS-system.jpg?fit=390%2C306&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":113,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/surface-analysis-techniques\/","url_meta":{"origin":206,"position":1},"title":"Resources for Surface Analysis Techniques","author":"Randy","date":"September 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"ASTM International, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), is a fantastic resource for Surface Analysis techniques including Auger Electron spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and Energy-dispersive-ray spectroscopy. Using the search tool on the ASTM website you can easily find standards for anything\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Theory"","block_context":{"text":"Theory","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/theory\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/lab-directory.png?fit=836%2C585&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/lab-directory.png?fit=836%2C585&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/lab-directory.png?fit=836%2C585&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":523,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/card-rack-power-supplies\/","url_meta":{"origin":206,"position":2},"title":"Card rack power supplies","author":"Randy","date":"May 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"RBD Instruments recommends that you measure and also document the voltages on your card rack power supplies (located on the back right-hand electronic bay on most PHI systems) at least once per year. By monitoring these voltages you can notice trends that can indicate a problem with the card rack\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Operation and Calibration Procedures"","block_context":{"text":"Operation and Calibration Procedures","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/operation-and-calibration-procedures\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"card-rack-power-supplies-mounted-on-door-in-back-of-electronics-console","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/card-rack-power-supplies-mounted-on-door-in-back-of-electronics-console.jpg?fit=486%2C324&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1553,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/xps-pm-procedure\/","url_meta":{"origin":206,"position":3},"title":"XPS PM Procedure","author":"Randy","date":"August 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"5400\/5500\/5600 System XPS PM procedure Preventive Maintenance Guide This post lists the common tasks that are completed as part of a preventative maintenance on a PHI 5400\/5500\/5600 XPS X-ray photo electron spectrometer. XPS PM Procedure - OPTICS *Discuss System performance and issues with system operator prior to servicing. *Inspect system,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Operation and Calibration Procedures"","block_context":{"text":"Operation and Calibration Procedures","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/operation-and-calibration-procedures\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"5600 XPS system with mono","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/5600-XPS-system-with-monochromator.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1597,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/pm-sequence-on-xps-and-aes-systems\/","url_meta":{"origin":206,"position":4},"title":"PM sequence on XPS and AES systems","author":"Randy","date":"December 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Performing regular Preventive Maintenance on surface analysis systems such as X-ray Photo Electron spectrometers (XPS) and Auger Electron spectrometers (AES) is a very important step in keeping the systems functioning properly and reliably. But performing the necessary steps in the correct PM sequence will make sure that you maximize the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Operation and Calibration Procedures"","block_context":{"text":"Operation and Calibration Procedures","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/operation-and-calibration-procedures\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"electronics console air filters","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/GMBH-filters.jpg?fit=704%2C470&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/GMBH-filters.jpg?fit=704%2C470&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/GMBH-filters.jpg?fit=704%2C470&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":879,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/32-100-electron-multiplier-supply-digital-mode\/","url_meta":{"origin":206,"position":5},"title":"32-100 electron multiplier supply digital mode","author":"Randy","date":"November 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The model 32-100 electron multiplier supply is used on older Physical Electronics Auger electron spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy surface analysis systems to control the electron multiplier voltage. When using the 32-100 electron multiplier supply in the digital mode (the software automatically sets the electron multiplier voltage)\u00a0 the auto-ems box\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Operation and Calibration Procedures"","block_context":{"text":"Operation and Calibration Procedures","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/operation-and-calibration-procedures\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"32100-switch-positions","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/32100-switch-positions.jpg?fit=546%2C564&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206"}],"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=206"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":940,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206\/revisions\/940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}