Have a Question? Talk to a Specialist! Call 800.739.7706Contact Us Now!

How to Maintain Environmental Equipment

products-1[1]

Environmental professionals and non-scientists alike do important work with the tools available through 21st-century technology, and they all want to produce accurate results. Those people rely on different kinds of equipment and instruments to achieve their goals, which usually involve some kind of test, analysis, reading, measurement or gauge.

They meticulously gather data and may never realize the difference between accurate and inaccurate results can be as simple as how that instrument or equipment is maintained, cleaned, stored and repaired. Real people’s jobs, livelihood and credibility can be affected by faulty data, and nobody wants to be the person whose analysis was flawed due to dead batteries, a clogged filter or improper storage conditions of the testing equipment.

Test results might affect court cases, financial transactions, land development deals, many kinds of businesses and neighborhoods. They might touch people, plant or animal life and any number of things considered important, not the least of which are relationships and money.

It makes sense to have best management practices for vital environmental testing and other equipment including water or air monitors; meters and gauges; water bailers and submersible pumps; air movers; and other items that measure, protect, probe, analyze or interpret the environment. Best practices protect you and your reputation, your coworkers, your company and even your neighborhood, too. 

Proper maintenance such as calibration, regular cleaning, correct storage and professional repair of the environmental instruments and equipment will lead to what everybody wants: Accurate, reliable results and top performance for the longest possible life of the equipment.

Equipment Ranges From A-Z

The list runs long of potential probes, gauges, meters and other equipment used by professionals and average people. The tools might be used out of curiosity or more likely to test for businesses applications such as mining, agriculture, waste management, marine or industrial or oil and gas.

There are several popular kinds of equipment to use as examples, such as these for water analysis or management and air control:

  • LevelTROLL 400: A non-vented instrument that measures and records water level, pressure and temperature, plus logs data.
  • LevelTROLL 500: A vented and gauged instrument that measures water level, pressure and temperature and records data, plus is available in six different pressure ranges and compensates for barometric pressure.
  • LevelTROLL 700: A vented and gauged instrument that measures and records water level, pressure and temperature and logs the data faster than the other models, as well as having the choice of a selection of gauged or absolute ranges.
  • Horiba U-52: A water quality analysis meter that detects and measures up to 11 parameters, including PH, ORP, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, salinity, total dissolved solids, specific gravity, turbidity and temperature.
  • Novatek air movers and blowers:  Air controllers that remove hazardous dust, mold, asbestos and other airborne particles in construction shops, hospitals and other settings.
  • Submersible and jet pumps: Do numerous jobs for many applications, including well, peristaltic, DC, environmental, sump, commercial and constant pressure.
  • Air monitors/gas detectors: A line of contaminant-detection devices that can sense everything from carbon monoxide to radiation, including wireless and handheld devices and ones that can test for multiple gasses simultaneously.
Whatever equipment you might be using, it’s safe to assume there is a preferred schedule of preventative maintenance and cleaning plus specific standards for storage, calibration and repair. The guidelines for good maintenance and care, known as best practices, can be found in the owner’s manual of the instrument or equipment, through the manufacturer, at the company where you bought the equipment, or through an authorized dealer.

Environmental Equipment and Supply offers expert calibration and other maintenance services. Our techs receive the latest training and coordinate with manufacturers to have necessary information available when servicing your equipment.


Environmental Equipment Preventative Maintenance

list-2[1]

Preventative maintenance can save you great expense later on. Whether the environmental equipment you use is a stainless steel meter the size of a pen or a big air blower, it contains vulnerable parts like sensors, filters and electronics. There are guidelines and standards for everything from water meters and pumps to fisheye cameras and data collectors that measure conductivity and magnetic susceptibility.

A few rules apply universally as preventative maintenance for environmental equipment:

  1. Keep or get a copy of the instrument or equipment manual
  2. Familiarize yourself with the recommended service schedule
  3. Create a log book of maintenance and calibration
  4. Know what you are comfortable doing yourself
  5. Plan on expert service every six months or at least once a year
  6. Clean the instrument or equipment after each use
  7. Follow equipment and storage guidelines
Best practices advise keeping your instrument or equipment clean since anything left on it has the potential to decrease the effectiveness of the sensors or affect accuracy. Generally you don’t want anything from the last test sticking to the instrument and interfering with the next measurement.

When it comes to how to clean a LevelTROLL 300, a LevelTROLL 500 or a LevelTROLL 700, best practices include several things to avoid with all three models:
  • Do not submerge the twist lock part of your instrument
  • Do not bump or tap it against something to loosen dirt or particles
  • Never insert anything into the sensor portion of your instrument, as it can damage your equipment and void its warranty
  • Avoid damage to the plastic conductivity cell
Preventative Maintenance for LevelTroll Devices: Cleaning

Several options for how to clean a Level TROLL water meter enable you to remove just about any kind of mess your work may involve. The cleaning techniques start with the most basic and end with the most aggressive.

First, agitate it under running water or in a clean bucket of water to loosen particles. Use a soft swab (ideally the one that comes with the instruments), plastic scrubber or cotton pipe cleaner to dislodge materials and gently scrub. Start with a mild soap such as diluted dish soap.

Remove more stubborn deposits or dirt with Alconox detergent. Soak in a solution of 10:1 water and white vinegar or acetic acid. Apply a solution of <27% phosphoric acid or Lime-A-Way to take off iron or calcium deposits.

You’ll want to rinse the equipment thoroughly after any cleaning process. Equally important is calibrating the instrument following any kind of maintenance or procedure and doing it before you need the instrument again. You want it to be ready to go and in top working order as you enter the field, because that is probably the worst time to discover your device is not properly calibrated.

Pick a clean, dry place to store the water-quality meter that doesn’t exceed the extreme at either end of the tolerance range. A general best practice for environmental equipment and instruments is to choose a storage place that falls right in the middle of its tolerance range.

For example, the Level TROLL meters are rated for storage between -40 and 176 degrees Fahrenheit. You might think it would be hard to exceed those temps, but it can happen when an instrument is left in a closed, sun-exposed vehicle or sitting in extreme cold for an extended period.

The Horiba U-52 meter also gives such guidelines for temperature tolerances and, for another example, humidity. It is best stored in a place with less than 80% relative humidity and with no dust, strong sunlight or corrosive gases. Preventative maintenance for water quality meters requires you to unscrew the sensor guard to clean the instrument with a soft cloth and remove any oil with an alcohol-dipped cloth.

Environmental Equipment Repair Process

tools-3[1]

Many users prefer to leave water quality meter repairs to the service professionals, and most companies that provide maintenance and repair service make it easy to do. Equipment and instrument manuals advise users to “contact a professional” for many of the maintenance, service and repair situations that arise. Equipment and instrument manuals advise users to "contact a professional" for many of the maineance, service and repair situations that arise. Full-service companies such as Environmental Equipment & Supply have an online repair page where you can initiate the process and ship your instrument for repair.

When you select a company to handle your environmental equipment maintenance or service needs, be sure they are an “authorized dealer” of the brand of instrument or equipment you have. Ask about their years of experience and see if there is information available about their rates for different services.

The experts’ range of skill and knowledge leads to a more comprehensive and thorough check than most people can do at home, from button batteries and calibration gases to glow plugs and Teflon retrofitting for pumps in contaminated applications. While most people can do basic cleaning themselves, it’s advisable to allow the professionals to service, maintain or repair your instrument. Depending on the kind of equipment you use, it has a number of needs that range from simple to complex:

  • Calibration
  • Sensors
  • Electronics
  • Rewiring
  • Filters
  • Cables
  • Seals
  • Testing
  • Parts
  • Lights
  • Fans
  • Wires
  • Wheels
  • Fluids
Maintenance and service of the LevelTROLL 300, LevelTROLL 500 and LevelTROLL 700 requires cleaning, testing, and replacing the desiccant — this is the casing that protects the electronic components of the water quality meter. The desiccant absorbs moisture from its black cap down and changes color from blue to pink. The idea is to change the desiccant before it becomes completely pink.

Calibrating a Horiba U-52 water quality meter to avoid future repairs would require you to be diligent about thoroughly rinsing the solution cup after calibrating each sensor. Doing environmental-equipment calibration might involve anything from using multiple solutions to a simple pressing and holding a button. Most manufacturers recommend professional calibration every six months or at least once a year.

The air monitoring and gas-detection equipment such as the ToxiRAE II and III systems and RKI instruments all have recommended schedules for calibration, new filters or cartridges, cleaning and new sensors. Making fresh-air adjustments, changing the alarm points, and installing fresh batteries will also keep monitors and detectors working well.

MultiRAE air monitors, for example, require precise calibration and knowledge of the sensors so the equipment continues to do the important work of filtering out harmful particles. Well pump repairs, submersible-pump repairs, 2-inch Grundfos pump repairs or service, and other well equipment maintenance might call for a replacement pipe or parts and even repositioning the pump to function correctly and reliably for the full length of its practical life. Those lives can be interrupted with such things as lightning strikes or impaired by improper sizing or selection of pump type.

It’s worth saying in the context of environmental equipment repair, service and maintenance: Take care with submersible pumps. They come in many types and sizes and are ideal for outdoor water projects, such as:

  • Water wells
  • Irrigationfish-pond-4[1]
  • Remediation
  • Fish ponds & Frog ponds
Think about whether you will need a regular pump or a corrosion-resistant one for salt water. Stay safe by paying special attention to the power-supply situation for your pump, which should connect to an exterior outlet. If needed, use only a weather-resistant extension cord approved for outdoor use. Some people like to get a magnetic-drive pump, which eliminates the use of coolant and with it the chance coolant will spill into the water.

Well pumps are typically either a submersible pump, which sits below the water level and pushes water up, or a jet pump that sits above the water level and pulls water up. Both types have seals, valves, casings and switches that typically last for 20 or more years, yet a number of factors may find you in need of parts or repair.

It is important to carefully select the correct kind of pump for your needs, then make sure it is installed properly and maintained well. Those steps lead to a longer life for the equipment and few to no problems for you.

Plan for Consistency

The best practices of maintaining environmental equipment presumes most people would rather plan and schedule professional maintenance and calibration than pay for repairs or a new instrument too soon. Nobody likes wondering if they’re doing the maintenance or service correctly when they rely on that instrument to yield accurate data.

Professionals want to maintain high standards so they can trust in their test results, their readings and their multi-faceted analyses. Their jobs, livelihoods, quality of life, money, relationships or any number of important things might be tied to keeping their instruments and equipment in top working condition.

Some people might want to do it themselves and be perfectly qualified to do so. But trusting service and repairs of your environment equipment to the experts can save you time and worry. Either way you choose to do it, it’s advisable to create and keep a schedule and a log for maintenance and regular services.

Proper care of your instruments and/or equipment will extend their life and help prevent failure or problems. Once you invest the money for good tools, it only makes sense to follow the best care guidelines for those tools to ensure you get the maximum possible return on your investment.

While it would be easy to fall into a less-than-desirable maintenance routine, it can be just as easy to establish a log and stick to it for calibration, service, sensor replacement and other points of service. Many of these best practices will help you avoid repair or replacement expenses, make the most of your environmental equipment, and generate the accurate results everyone needs and wants.