GE Kaye

MIRCS · 04-19-2006 -- 06:42:07

Yeah we have data tracers...........the problem though is when the battery dies you have to send it back to them for a hefty sum.

Yeah we download after the runs, out of the first 10, 5 said low battery.............we replace the batteries every cycle.

MIRCS · 04-19-2006 -- 07:06:57

I am sorry.....the problem with the data tracers are that they are not field calibratable and at $1200 per calibration............well that buys a ValProbe.

I will say the ValProbes are very stable........(If they work)........compared to the data tracers.

Well out of the first 30...............2 will not read.

MIRCS · 04-19-2006 -- 07:23:44

Well make that 3 out of the first 40. 18 with low voltages..........(*&(*)&^)*&^$&*^*&@

MIRCS · 04-19-2006 -- 07:58:51

Well make it 4 out of 50 and now upto 23 with low voltage.

Tough I do love my Hart 6024 bath...........that is one stable and uniform

Hmmmm.....................seems I have a bad socket in the reader.....put the 4 in that didn't read in different sockets and they are programming as I type.

OlDave · 04-19-2006 -- 09:59:26

What does "low voltage" mean? Since we don't have the ValProbes I'm not familiar with them so don't really know what the problem was. The 4 that read on a different socket....I guess they were OK then? Does that mean they all survived?

MIRCS · 04-19-2006 -- 10:53:51

Quote from: OlDave on 04-19-2006 -- 09:59:26
What does "low voltage" mean? Since we don't have the ValProbes I'm not familiar with them so don't really know what the problem was. The 4 that read on a different socket....I guess they were OK then? Does that mean they all survived?

Don't know yet. They are cooking at 125C right now. The lowvoltage is the batteries. When the reader reads them it also reads the battery power. All probes just had battery replacements.

Can I say again how much I love this Hart 6024...............it is holding the bath at 125C stable by 0.004C and that has lasted for a total of 15 minutes as I type...............amazingly there is about 11 gallons of Dow 710 in there...which makes the 0.004 stability amazing

OlDave · 04-19-2006 -- 19:06:13

I've got to agree with you MIRCS. Hart makes some dandy temperature baths. I can't say I've ever really had a problem with one and they are as stable as they claim.

A little update on our Kaye LabWatch saga. It was determined by their field service engineer that at least 75% of our input cards are exibiting excessive drifting. (Remember this is on a 250 point system with 20 channels/card so you do the math.) To Kaye's credit they are manufacturing, burning in, calibrating, sending out a team of technicians to replace our input cards (all of them) and recalibrating the sensors on each channel. Not an easy task. ALL AT NO COST. I will tip my hat to them for this outstanding resolution of a major problem.

While I will still withhold any future recommendations for Kaye equipment, I feel they are really working hard to rectify this problem. Time will tell if the new cards are stable

Hoopty · 04-19-2006 -- 21:22:06

Hope ya'll don't mind, but I moved this topic to a more appropriate forum...

MIRCS · 04-20-2006 -- 06:13:03

Quote from: Hoopty on 04-19-2006 -- 21:22:06
Hope ya'll don't mind, but I moved this topic to a more appropriate forum...

Hmmm........is it the more appropriate, cause now I'm going to talk about the Validator 2000 we have here that is calibrated with mV, mA, ohms and Volts

Okay I'm now reading the first 10 probes from yesterdays verification and already had one not record any data and faulted as unstable..............more to come

MIRCS · 04-20-2006 -- 08:52:18

I have now read 40 and have had an additional 4 fail accuracy

OlDave · 04-20-2006 -- 19:11:48

So the 5 that failed accuracy. How far out were they? Was it significant? I don't know what the specs are for the ValProbes but lets say they are spec'd at ±0.1°C and you found a few off 0.13°C then sure, they failed cal, but was it a significant out of tolerance condition that impacted the test?

Of the 54 you had in the run, how many do you classify as providing valid data? Was there enough overlap in placement that you can declare the sterilizer validated?

I'm really interested because I want to go with wireless probes because of the convenience. But if I take a reliabiltiy hit I'll have to rethink.

MIRCS · 04-21-2006 -- 00:14:56

Oh yeah there was enough overlap.

1 failed cause it read 10C at 50 and 45C at 125

The tolerance we gave was 0.5

The others failed about 0.1 to 0.7 from that....all the other probes were about 0.02 of the IRTD

OlDave · 04-21-2006 -- 14:42:21

QuoteI will say the ValProbes are very stable........(If they work)..

Let me follow along on this one then. 5 failed accuracy, but they all survived and you didn't burn up any boards.

It doesn't sound like I want to invest too much time or money buying ValProbes. Maybe Ellab will demo me a set of probes that I can stick in the autoclave for a few cycles and see if they survive.

MIRCS · 04-21-2006 -- 15:37:34

Quote from: OlDave on 04-21-2006 -- 14:42:21
QuoteI will say the ValProbes are very stable........(If they work)..

Let me follow along on this one then. 5 failed accuracy, but they all survived and you didn't burn up any boards.

It doesn't sound like I want to invest too much time or money buying ValProbes. Maybe Ellab will demo me a set of probes that I can stick in the autoclave for a few cycles and see if they survive.

Only 4 failed not 5. so 50 were good. Of the 4 that failed only one had lost it's mind, the others were just barely out of the tolerance.

The ValProbes are way more stable than the Mesa Data Tracers. Also if these were Data tracers that failed they would be back on their way to em at $1200 each for adjustments as they cannot be adjusted in the field. So that would be $3600 for calibration right there about the same price of a new ValProbe.

Also the ValProbes will start recording when you tell em and at whatever interval you wish. I sincerly do NOT like the Data tracers, they are nowhere near as stable as the ValProbes. Also sometimes when these fail I will blame the Validation department for mishandling.

What kind of autoclave are you using??? Does it rotate???

OlDave · 04-22-2006 -- 10:20:34

$1200 seems pretty steep for a recalibration. What is their logic of making them non-field supportable? Other than a steady income stream. Propietary calibrations like that really tend to pi** me off for the most part.

We've got 2 autoclaves, a Primus and a Getinge. Both non-rotating, fairly good sized. And neither one is wonderfully reliable it seems. We use them to decon everything coming out of our BSL-3 labs.