SERVICE & SUPPORT
Calibration Services
GE Kaye maintains two temperature calibration laboratories: NIST-traceable at the company headquarters in Billerica, MA and DKD-certified at GE Kaye Europe in Pforzheim, Germany. Calibration at either facility provides certification with traceability to NIST or PTB standards, respectively.
GE Kaye's temperature calibration laboratories operate two sets of fixed-point baths. Before calibration, each IRTD standard is annealed at 400°C for up to 100 hours to relieve stress that has built up through normal use.
The Temperature Calibration Laboratory at company headquarters, Billerica, MA, was expanded in 1998. The lab can calibrate up to 40 IRTD probes at the same time, with a three-day turnaround time from receipt to shipping.
The GE Kaye Europe Laboratory is accredited by the Deutscher Kalibrierdienst (DKD), the German organization responsible for testing of instruments and accreditation of facilities according to Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) standards. The Calibration Certificates issued by DKD laboratories provide traceability to national standards as required in the ISO 9000 and EN 45 000 series of European standards. GE Kaye's certification data makes it the most accurate temperature facility using baths in Germany. At the high and low ends of the calibration range, the lab is two times more accurate than other laboratories. During a full calibration cycle of an IRTD secondary temperature standard (-196°C to 420°C), Kaye measures its performance at 4 points so the customer can see how accurate it was before the calibration. The calibration cycle documents 6 points.
GE Kaye recommends that you calibrate your IRTDs annually. Because all data is traceable to the measurement standard used for sensor calibration, it is critical that your standard is reading accurately. The cost of calibration is very low in comparison to the cost of repeating validation studies or sensor calibrations because of suspect temperature data.
- The baths used for calibration ensure the highest uniformity and stability. The IRTD location in the bath is tightly controlled and monitored. Operating continuously at a single point, each bath is monitored with its own IRTD Standard, as well as a PC-based LabWatch system. The LabWatch system collects data 24-hours a day, can plot stability, detect changes in temperature, and notify personnel of problems.
- The annealing process ensures that all thermal and physical stresses have been relieved from the IRTD. Other labs may only check the IRTD at specific points while any build-up of stress from previous use still remains. This increases the potential for going out of calibration sooner when the IRTD is subjected to additional thermal stress. Our annealing process relieves the stress before the IRTD is calibrated essentially reseting the stress level to zero and ensuring that the calibrated IRTD will operate properly over its published range.
- Data collected during the annealing process can determine if the sensor has been damaged from mechanical shock. Laboratories that perform annealing do not typically collect data and monitor what happens during this period of extended heating. Consequently, they are not able to identify other problems that can occur shortly after the IRTD is sent back to the customer. We gather data throughout the annealing stage. A graph of the readings shows whether the IRTD is following the behavior consistent with a healthy product. By understanding these characteristics, we can often identify damage to the sensing element. We can repair the damage and return a properly calibrated IRTD to the customer without long delays.
To obtain an RMA number, call our customer service department at any of the numbers below. We will process your order and provide you with an RMA number.
1100 Technology Park Drive
Billerica, MA 01821
tel. +1 800-833-9438
tel. +1 978-437-1000
fax +1 215-953-2569
e-mail sensing@ge.com
Sinsheimer Strasse 6
D-75179 Pforzheim, Germany
tel. +49 (0) 7231-14335-0
fax +49 (0) 7231-14335-29
e-mail kaye-europe@ge.com
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