Catalyst Dx (Melt down - literally!)

RE: Catalyst Dx (Melt down - literally!)

Keely Young — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 11:01:11 GMT

I agree with the above - we keep the air con on in the room where all our machines are and *TOUCH WOOD* we seem to be running along alright...even in the heat of last week, they seemed to behave

RE: Catalyst Dx (Melt down - literally!)

PSA-David — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 11:31:14 GMT

most of the heat in your lab will be aloe caused by the power packs. I had a lot of trouble in my previous practice with overheating and false results. we had a few old display stands laying around that had the grid bottom, I paced all the machines on these to allow more air to circulate under the machines and also to move the cables out to reduce the heat. never a problem later.

RE: Catalyst Dx (Melt down - literally!)

emmaj_davy — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 08:32:22 GMT

Thanks for all your input everyone, I already have a mobile fan & the extractor fan on in there, I had a go at rearranging our lab as the catalyst was in a corner below a shelf & figured it wouldn't hurt, I also found the filter, needless to say it was desperate for a clean (I've only recently taken over looking after the lab & still learning), all being well it seems to be running ok at the moment.

RE: Catalyst Dx (Melt down - literally!)

Tania Ford — Mon, 25 Jul 2016 15:22:20 GMT

I concur with all of the advice being given. I used to work in a very old building with no air conditioning etc, and even had the windows constantly open. The only way we solved the constant meltdown was to have fans on it constantly. Have to say though that the fans did do the job and we rarely had any problems after that.

RE: Catalyst Dx (Melt down - literally!)

melanie lavender — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 16:13:42 GMT

in a previous practice that i worked at we had our lab machines in a room with no air or windows.

the machines were constantly over heating etc.

i bought fans out of my own money and installed them.

i used to turn the machines off when not needed to help.

once i got the temperature under control they worked without a problem.

keep daily room temperature chart and record if the machines are having melt down or not.

then put this in front of your bosses and have words.

RE: Catalyst Dx (Melt down - literally!)

Ben Ogden — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 09:31:04 GMT

Steph has a valid point, I've used multiple machines through the years and one thing that is consistent with a high percentage of them is temperatures outside the norm cause them to throw up odd errors. In the past i've had to wrap machines in vetbeds with heaters near by, raise machines off the work top with tins of food, surround machines with fans etc.

Keep an accurate temperature log of your lab for patterns of extreme temps, if the bosses are reluctant to change machines perhaps they will consider working towards a more ambient lab temp?

RE: Catalyst Dx (Melt down - literally!)

Steph Worsley — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 02:36:36 GMT

if your lab gets hot then yep this can cause hissy fits with the machines, we had to install air con into our lab and the machines do still throw he occasional tantrum when someone switches it off!!!