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February 10, 2018

Aquatest 2010 Base Unit

  1. Unpacking the Instrument-Assembling the Titration Vessel:
    1. Ensure that all parts listed in the manual for the titration vessel are in the shipment. Refer to Figure2 and 6 of the Aquatest Manual. (All references to Figures and Text will be from this Manual).
    2. Lightly grease all the ground-glass joints of the titration cell and assemble according to Figure 6. If you have the AQUATEST VAPORIZER, there will be an additional opening in the vessel. This accepts the gas delivery tube for the VAPORIZER or a glass stopper if not using the VAPORIZER.
    3. Drop the magnetic spin bar in the vessel and place the vessel in its holder.
    4. Position the detector (sensing electrode) in the hole that will keep the platinum tips farthest away from the spin bar. Rotate so that the tips are parallel to the vessel wall. Always ensure that the pins are well separated.
    5. Position the drying tube, filled with silica gel desiccant and plugged at each end with a small plug of glass wool, into one of the openings.
    6. Place the cathode solution cell (generator) into the largest opening. Observe that the cathode (inside platinum gauze) is flat on the top of the frit and that the anode (bottom platinum gauze) is flat against the bottom of the frit.
    7. Insert a septum into the red screww cap for the injections port.  The needle of the sampling syringe is inserted through this fitting. The septum is soft enough to close completely after an injection, but should be inspected and replaced when needed.
  2. Adding Reagents to the Titration Vessel:
    1. Pour about 150 cm^3 of anode (vessel) solution in the vessel using a small plastic funnel.
    2. Snap off the top of the cathode (generator) solution ampoule. Use the same funnel to pour the solution into the cathode solution cell. Invert opened ampoule in funnel and tap lightly to encourage flow.
    3. While standing in front of the AQUATEST 2010, connect the cathode solution cell to the BNC connection on the left-hand fitting and the detector BNC connection to the right-hand fitting on the AQUATEST 2010 case.
  3. Power-Up:
    1. Plug in the power cord to an appropriate outlet. Adjust the stirrer speed control (Figure 4), located on the lower left side of the case, to its lowest setting.
    2. Switch on the AQUATEST 2010 with the power switch (FIGURE 3) located on the lower right hand side of the case.
    3. Slowly raise the stirrer speed control so that the stir bar rotates at the fastest speed possible without “tumbling”. Adjust this speed cautiously so that the bar does not hit the detector pins. Turning off the stir speed control before turning off the AQUATEST 2010 is good practice to prevent the above. Proceed to 4 and 5 until DRY, RDY or ADD SAMPLE appears.
  4. Setting Date & Time:
    1. Press OPTION**. When SET CLOCK appears, press ENTER if the date is correct. If incorrect, enter the correct date by pressing the (>) key to underline the numbers to be changed. Change the numbers by “keying” the correct number from the keypad. Change the date in the same way. The time is on a 24 hour clock. 2:28:38 is 2 p.m. 28 min, 38 sec. The AQUATEST prints this as: 14:28:38. Press ENTER after selection.
  5. Thermal Printer Paper Installation:
    1. While the vessel is equilibrating, prepare the printer, which is located on the right front of the case under the removable cover. Remove the cover before inserting paper. Cut the end of the printer paper so that you will have a sharp point and then gently “coax” this end into the slot under the “saw-toothed” edge of the paper cutter while holding down the print feed button. When the paper is feeding smoothly, slide the roller into the roll of paper and drop into slots in the printer compartment. (If cutting does not allow for easy insertion, clip off the sharp point to a blunt end and try again).
  6. Titration:
    1. When the AQUATEST 2010 was turned on, the display read AQUATEST 2010 version 1.1 (as of January 1999). Later versions will have differing numbers. The letter STBY (STANDBY) now appears. Press the STANDBY key and the numbers will rapidly change to: Example:    0.12   *   RDY   35.1 µg Or:             0.10   *   DRY   42.6 µg Or:             0.08   *   ADD SAMPLE When any of the above appear, press START and inject a sample. The titration will proceed automatically until you hear an audible signal (three “beeps”) at the end of the titration.
    2. Depending on the FILE settings, a number of “prompts” will appear on the screen that will be filled in before the final result appears. These range from a full report, as in FIGURE 13, to a minimum amount of information as contained in FIGURE 10.
  7. Setting The File Program (After each selection, press ENTER)
    1. FILE NUMBER (8 files available): User’s choice. When this file is called up in the future, all the entered information will be contained under this number. See MANUAL, Section 8 Pg 31.
    2. DELAY: Time is entered in minutes and seconds. The titration will not start until this time has elapsed but the water will accumulate in the cell.
    3. MINIIMUM TITRATION: The titration will precede for the time entered regardless of the status of the sensing electrode.
    4. TITRATION STOP: The titration will stop at the set time even if all the water has not been titrated.
    5. END POINT: Variable – 0.3 is a good starting point. See MANUAL, Section 8, Page 33.
    6. PRINT FORM: See MANUAL, Section 8, Page 33. Simplest format would be 1.
    7. PRINT INTERVAL: This will not appear unless you have selected PRINT FORM 4. See Section 8, Page 36, especially the NOTE.
    8. CALC FORM: See MANUAL, Section 8, Page 37.
    9. UNITS: Selection can be micrograms, part/million or percent. See MANUAL, Section 8, Page 40.
    10. SAMPLE MASS: See Manual, section 9. Sample mass may be added anytime during or after a titration or when the “prompt” asks for total wt. * NOTE: Turning off the 2010 erases all sample data but file settings are retained.
  8. Sample Titration:
  1. If you have followed all the above, you should be able to inject 2 microliters of water from a 5 microliter syringe and obtain 2000 micrograms ± 100 micrograms. Follow the PHOTOVOLT TECHNICAL NOTE ON VERIFICATION OF ACCURACY.
  2. If the titration for water is successful, you should be able to use the PHOTOVOLT water standard and get the stated water content. A 1000 microliter syringe (1 mL) can be used and injections of 100 or 200 microliters are satisfactory. Follow the PHOTOVOLT TECHNICAL NOTE that is packed with your reagents.