Elcometer SCM400 User manual

English

Elcometer 130 SCM400

Salt Contamination Meter

Operating Instructions

English

The Elcometer 130 SCM400 Salt Contamination Meter has been

tested in acccordance with EU regulations governing Electro-magnetic

compliance and it meets the required directives.

is a registered trademark of Elcometer Limited.

All other trademarks acknowledged.

transcribed, stored (in a retrieval system or otherwise) or translated into any

language, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, magnetic,

optical, manual or otherwise) without the prior written permission of

Elcometer Limited.

Doc.No. TMA-0125 Issue 05

Text with Cover No: 4373

English

CONTENTS

Section Page

1 About your meter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.1 Standards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.2 What the box contains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 Principle of operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3 Specification of salt levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4 Taking a reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4.1 Before you start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4.2 Taking samples using standard sample papers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4.3 Taking samples using smaller sample papers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4.4 Interpreting the readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

5 Care and maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

5.1 Checking calibration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

5.2 Checking water quality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

5.3 Checking purity of sample papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

5.4 Removing and cleaning or replacing the electrodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

5.5 Removing discolouration from electrode surfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

5.6 Replacing the pressure plate support pads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

5.7 Replacing the battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

5.8 Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

6 Fault diagnosis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

7 Spares and accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

8 Related equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

9 Technical specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

English

hank you for your purchase of this Elcometer 130 SCM400 Salt

Contamination Meter. Welcome to Elcometer.

Elcometer are world leaders in the design, manufacture and supply of

inspection equipment for coatings and concrete.

Our products cover all aspects of coating inspection, from development through

application to post application inspection.

The Elcometer 130 SCM400 Salt Contamination Meter is a world beating

product. With the purchase of this product you now have access to the

worldwide service and support network of Elcometer. For more information visit

our website at www.elcometer.com

1 ABOUT YOUR METER

The Elcometer 130 SCM400 Salt Contamination Meter measures salt

contamination levels on metallic and non-metallic surfaces and is particularly

useful on areas such as bends and welds.

1.1 Standards

The instrument can be used in accordance with the following International

Standard :

• SSPC Guide 15.

1.2 What the box contains

• Elcometer 130 SCM400 Salt Contamination Meter

• Carry Case and nylon Shoulder Strap

• High Purity Sample Papers (pack of 100)

• Plastic Tweezers (2 off)

• Self-Seal PVC Bags (pack of 20)

• Replacement Pressure Support Pads (pack of 8)

• Disposable Gloves (pack of 20) in nylon holdall

• Pack of Tissues

• 9 V Alkaline Battery

• 2 ml Syringes (3 off)

• Bottle of High Purity Water (250 ml)

• Plastic Sample Bottle

• Operating Instructions

English

2 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

Soluble salts on the surface are taken into solution by placing a wetted 110 mm

diameter Elcometer 130 SCM400 High Purity Sample Paper on the area to be

sampled.

By leaving the paper in contact for a timed period, salt removal from the surface

is maximised. Using a paper of known size allows contamination to be

expressed in terms of surface area.

These papers retain a known amount of water because of their consistent

absorbency characteristics and therefore the concentration of the solution

formed is related to the quantity of soluble salts removed.

The sample paper containing the salt solution is placed over the electrodes on

the Elcometer 130 SCM400 and its resistivity is determined. This is achieved by

measuring the minimum resistance of the solution over a fixed solution path

length and cross section, governed by the electrode spacing and paper

thickness respectively.

The solution concentration is inversely proportional to its resistivity. The

Elcometer 130 SCM400 relates the latter to a calibration with known

English

concentrations of sodium chloride solution and the known surface area

sampled, to give surface salt levels in µg.cm

-2

Figure 1. Elcometer 130 SCM400 Salt Contamination Meter

3 SPECIFICATION OF SALT LEVELS

Ideally, the salt level remaining on a steel surface after surface cleaning and

prior to painting or any other construction operation, should be zero.

In practice it is not possible to achieve this due to various environmental factors

and a working salt level needs to be specified. In the case of painting, this level

is a matter for discussion between the Client, the Applicator and the Paint

Manufacturer and it will depend on the working conditions, the paint system

used, the required service life and what can be economically achieved.

Consequently, it is not possible to specify in these Operating Instructions which

salt standards are best suited to all industries. However, during the

development of the Elcometer 130 SCM400, the effect of salt contamination on

the life of coatings under a range of realistic and accelerated environmental

conditions for a number of common generic coating systems was assessed.

English

Although Elcometer would not wish to recommend this as a specification, the

work has shown that a salt level of better than 4 µg.cm

-2

is a sensible working

limit.

4 TAKING A READING

4.1 Before you start

•Is the electrode (Figure 1) clean?

See “Removing and cleaning or replacing the electrodes” on page 14.

•Is the sampling water to the correct specification, i.e. BS 3978 (ISO 3696) -

Water for Laboratory Use, Grade 3?

See “Spares and accessories” on page 18 for replacement water

If the sample area is larger than the Elcometer 130 SCM400 High Purity Sample

Paper, follow procedure 4.2.

If the sample area is smaller than the Elcometer 130 SCM400 High Purity

Sample Paper, follow procedure 4.3.

4.2 Taking samples using standard sample papers

1. Put on a pair of clean disposable gloves.

2. Fill a 2 ml syringe with precisely 1.6 ml of high purity water.

3. Using tweezers, remove an Elcometer 130 SCM400 High Purity Sample

Paper

from the pack.

If the standard 110 mm diameter sample paper is too large for the area to

be sampled, smaller papers may be used - see “Taking samples using

smaller sample papers” on page 8.

a. Use only Elcometer 130 SCM400 High Purity Sample Papers. Commercial filter

papers are not suitable as they can contain excessive salt levels.

English

4. Using the tweezers to hold the sample paper, eject 1.6 ml of water onto its

surface (Figure 2), taking care to retain as much water as possible on the

paper..

Figure 2. Applying Water to Elcometer 130 SCM400

High Purity Sample Paper

5. Place wetted paper on the area to be sampled, pressing it firmly into its

contours and surface irregularities.

6. Press out as much entrapped air as possible from beneath the paper. If

hand pressure is required to exclude air, the gloved hand should not be

used. Instead, turn one of the plastic bags provided inside out, place it over

the gloved hand and press the surface, discarding the plastic bag when

finished.

7. Switch the Elcometer 130 SCM400 on by pressing the red pushbutton

once

. The display will show:

8. When the sample paper is in position, press the red pushbutton again to

start the 2 minute timer

. The display will show:

b. When ‘SCM Ready’, ‘SALT LEVELS TOO LOW’ or ‘SALT LEVEL>20 µg.cm

-2’

displayed, the instrument will automatically switch off if not used within 20 seconds.

SCM........Ready

TIMER STARTED

English

9. When 2 minutes have elapsed the Elcometer 130 SCM400 emits an

intermittent bleep and the display shows:

10.Remove the sample paper from the surface.

11.Place the sample paper over the concentric copper electrodes (Figure 3)

ensuring that the outer ring is completely covered. All air must be excluded

from beneath the paper.

Figure 3. Placing Elcometer 130 SCM400 High Purity Sample Paper onto

the Electrode for Measurement

12.Close the lid, ensuring that the magnetic catch is fully engaged.

13.Within 5 seconds, press the green pushbutton and a reading will be

displayed:-

or:-

c. The Elcometer 130 SCM400 cannot be switched off when the timer is operating or

when measurements are being made.

SAMPLE READY

SALT LEVEL 9 µg.cm

-2

SALT LEVELS TOO LOW > 20 µg.cm

-2

If Salt Level <0.1 µg.cm

-2

If Salt Level >20 µg.cm

-2

English

14.Lift the lid and remove the sample paper. The sample paper may be kept in

one of the resealable bags for further chemical analysis.

15.When all samples have been taken, switch the instrument off by pressing

the red pushbutton twice in quick succession.

16.Close the lid and ensure that the magnetic catch is fully engaged.

4.3 Taking samples using smaller sample papers

If the standard 110 mm diameter High Purity Sample Papers are too large for

the area to be sampled, half size, quarter size or 22 mm wide strip papers can

be used as follows. Care must be taken to ensure that sample papers do not

become contaminated.

1. Put on a pair of clean disposable gloves.

2. Using tweezers, remove an Elcometer 130 SCM400 High Purity Sample

Paper from the pack.

3. Fold paper as follows:-

For half size paper fold standard paper in half and cut into two along fold

line.

For quarter size paper fold standard paper into quarters and cut into

quadrants along fold lines.

For 22 mm wide strip fold standard paper into half and cut 11 mm either

side of fold line.

4. Fill a 2 ml syringe with an appropriate amount of high purity water:-

For a half size paper use 0.8 ml

For a quarter size paper use 0.4 ml

For a 22 mm wide strip use 0.4 ml

5. Holding sample paper in tweezers, eject the correct amount of water onto

its surface. Take care to retain as much water as possible on the paper.

6. Follow Steps 5 to 10 (inclusive) in Section 4.2.

7. Using the central marker on the inner electrode to aid positioning, place the

sample paper over the concentric electrodes as appropriate, ensuring all

entrapped air is removed:

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