When it’s cold outside ……

November 8, 2012

When it’s cold outside – put on the layers and don’t forget to keep your equipment warm and dry too!

Most of the equipment we supply has a minimum operating temperature so when the weather turns cold remember to consult your product manual for precise temperature specifications.  All our equipment is field ready but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s impervious to cold weather:

–       pH probes can freeze and break

–       Environmental pumps can freeze up and you may not even know about it because they may still work once thawed out, but they will not work as well

–       Water sampling equipment; if not completely purged and dried, can freeze, split and break

–       PID lamps fog-up when moved from warm to cold environments

Take some simple steps to ensure your environmental equipment is kept in peak working condition by following some simple steps:

–       Never leave or store your equipment outside overnight, for example in your car or van

–       Keep equipment clean and dry

–       Keep your PID inside for about 12 hours before use

–       Remember to use the PID moisture filters in damp conditions

–       Do not store damp equipment – dry thoroughly before returning to its case.

An example of a customer with a winter weather related problems: after sampling groundwater all day a customer stored an electrical submersible pump in the back of a truck. Next day they had problems getting the pump to work and were surprised and unhappy to hear that the pump could be frozen.

Please don’t learn these expensive lessons the hard way, protect yourself and your equipment from the winter cold.