Safety Tips: Ambient Air Electronics

July 8, 2015Environmental Instruments BlogBy Mesa Labs

When using your ambient air instruments, following safety and maintenance protocols will lengthen the life of your instruments. We recommend the following electronic safety tips:

Electronics are sensitive to water. Keep water away from electronic boards when they are exposed.

Be aware of electrostatic discharge, commonly referred to as ESD. We recommend wearing an anti-static wrist band connected to a bare metal part of the metal case by an alligator clip, when doing any electronic work. If you do not have a wrist band, be sure to touch a large metal grounded object or the air sampler case to discharge any static electricity build up on your body before touching the boards.
On the PQ200, after you transport the unit or perform any maintenance requiring you to open the instrument panel, check all board connections. Connections can become dislodged during transport or by maintenance activity. Remember to take ESD precautionary measures before checking these connections.

Do not perform any maintenance or open any equipment while the unit is running or the AC power is connected. Always disconnect AC power before opening instrument panel.
Always take caution when attaching AC power. Examine the plug and wire for any cracks or other visible wear. Do not connect AC power if the cord, lead, or outlet is wet.
Check that that the battery polarity connections are correct before connecting to the electronic board and turning on the instrument.

Note that these tips are not complete safety and maintenance recommendations for all of our instruments. For further guidance, please refer to the instruction manual for your instrument or contact our consultants.