1.2.3 Acoustic noise caution ......................11 Solid waste ........................12 Mercury iTC BASICS ......................13 MercuryiTC front and rear panels ................. 14 Display and touch-screen ..................... 15 Electrical power supply ....................15 Temperature sensor circuits ..................15 Heater circuits ......................15 Optional cooling circuit control ..................
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GETTING STARTED ......................23 Checking the electrical supply ..................23 Mounting the equipment ....................23 Connecting electrical power..................24 Powering up the MercuryiTC for the first time ............... 24 The MercuryiTC touch screen ..................25 3.5.1 The home page ........................26 3.5.2...
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5.2.3 Basic check of board operation..................... 74 Connecting the level probe ................... 74 Configuring MercuryiTC for helium level meter ............. 74 Configuring MercuryiTC for nitrogen level meter ............76 Setting up liquid nitrogen auto-fill .................. 78 MANAGING YOUR MERCURY ..................80 General ........................
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Configuring USB ......................... 100 7.4.2 USB Cabling requirements ....................100 7.4.3 USB drivers ......................... 100 Switching MercuryiTC control between local and remote ..........100 Testing remote connections..................101 Programming examples ....................101 COMMAND REFERENCE GUIDE ..................102 Nomenclature used in this section ................102 SCPI and legacy command sets ..................102 SCPI commands ......................102...
The MercuryiTC is intended to be installed, used and operated only for the purpose for which the MercuryiTC was designed, and only in accordance with the instructions given in this manual and other accompanying documents.
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Revision history This is issue 03 of the MercuryiTC Handbook, as shown in the header at the top of each page. The changes made to this document and a summary of previous issues are listed in the table below.
MercuryiTC Customer support Oxford Instruments Omicron NanoScience has global customer support facilities that provide a coordinated response to customer’s queries. All queries are recorded on our support database and are dealt with as quickly as possible. If we are not able to answer the query immediately, we will contact you promptly.
MercuryiTC Health and safety information The MercuryiTC contains hazardous areas. Before working with the iTC, all personnel must read and become thoroughly familiar with the information given in chapter 1. In particular, users must read, understand and strictly observe all: •...
Feb 2015 / UMC0071 MercuryiTC Disclaimers Oxford Instruments Omicron NanoScience assumes no liability for use of this document if any unauthorised changes to the content or format have been made. The policy of Oxford Instruments Omicron NanoScience is one of continued improvement. The Company reserves the right to alter without notice the specification, design or conditions of supply of any of its products or services.
Operator's Manual Issue 05 Feb 2015 / UMC0071 MercuryiTC Certification compliance statements The MercuryiTC cryogenic environment controller has been tested to the following standards and certifications: • CE • IEC61010-1: 2010 3 edition: Safety requirements for electrical equipment for measurement, control and laboratory use.
Oxford Instruments Omicron NanoScience Limited Oxford Instruments Omicron NanoScience creates high performance environments for low temperature and high magnetic field applications in physical science research and process development down to the atomic scale.
EQUIPMENT VENTILATION If the MercuryiTC is to be rack mounted, to ensure an adequate airflow around the iTC, it is important that the back of the rack is open and the rack is not placed less than 30 cm from a back wall.
The iTC can be configured to control the application of heat to a cooling medium, as this method provides better control than adjusting the refrigeration process. The MercuryiTC can also control sample cooling by fitting an auxiliary I/O board, which can control the flow of gas in a continuous-flow cryostat.
The On/Off button illuminates blue when the iTC is powered up. Figure 2 shows the rear panel of a MercuryiTC. This photo will not look exactly like your iTC as it depends on the number and type of boards fitted.
MercuryiTC 2.2 Display and touch-screen The MercuryiTC contains a 4.3 inch full-colour liquid crystal display (LCD) with a touch-screen. The touch screen is the main input device to the iTC. The front panel is also fitted with an ambient-light sensor. The iTC can be configured to change the display brightness automatically to match ambient light conditions.
Feb 2015 / UMC0071 MercuryiTC 2.9 Main components This section gives a brief description of the internal components of the MercuryiTC. Figure 3 shows how these components are arranged inside the MercuryiTC enclosure. Figure 3 View of internal layout of MercuryiTC The MercuryiTC consists of: •...
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A maximum of eight of these boards can be fitted. Chapter 12 gives a full technical description. The iTC automatically identifies every daughter board present. Figure 4 Layout of MercuryiTC expansion slots The location of daughter boards is subject to certain constraints, as given in the following table. Board...
Configuration is described in section.4.5. 2.10 Alarms and interlocks The MercuryiTC is designed to identify common faults, such as wiring errors that produce open-circuit or short-circuit conditions. For errors that require immediate user intervention, the MercuryiTC sounds a 1kHz buzzer. The buzzer sounds intermittently, with the repetition rate increasing for more serious errors.
Exploiter l'équipement avec une tension incorrecte peut l'endommager de manière permanente. The MercuryiTC automatically configures itself to match the supplied electrical power supply. If the voltage and frequency are within the specified ranges (see section 17.2), no user intervention is required.
The back panel contains an IEC C14 connector for the main electrical supply to the MercuryiTC. Section 17.2 gives mains electrical requirements. 3.4 Powering up the MercuryiTC for the first time Operate the switch on the rear panel of the Mercury so that the 1 is depressed.
Issue 05 Feb 2015 / UMC0071 MercuryiTC Press the Power button on the left of the front panel. The button illuminates blue. The MercuryiTC initialises, then the Home page appears on the touch screen. widget button • This screenshot shows the default home page. A different home page will appear if Oxford Instruments has pre-configured the iTC for your system.
Tap Home to return to the Home page. 3.6 Plotting signals on the MercuryiTC touch screen The MercuryiTC touch screen allows the user to monitor up to 6 signals as a function of time. 3.6.1 Plot Configuration The Plot Configuration page is used to set up which signals are to be plotted. When the plot page has been configured, the trace updates in real time.
4.3 Setting heater properties This page displays a set of values for every configured heater, in particular voltage limits for individual heaters. If your MercuryiTC is supplied as part of a system, this page will be set up already. Tap Heater on the Home page to view the heater properties page.
4.5.2 Configuring automatic heater control The MercuryiTC uses a PID table to control the heater. For a detailed description of the principles involved, please consult chapter 14. If you selected Auto control, tap PID and select either Manual or Auto PID operation. Auto PID means that the PID values for the control loop are automatically loaded from a PID table.
4.11 Types of temperature sensor The MercuryiTC can use several types of temperature sensor. 4.11.1 Thermocouples A thermocouple comprises two junctions of dissimilar metals held at different temperatures. This acts as a voltage source, based on the Seebeck effect, the output voltage of which increases Page 60...
Calibration tables can be saved as files. The MercuryiTC accepts calibration files with .dat or .prn extensions. • A calibration file contains a number of discrete data pairs, each mapping a sensor reading on to a temperature value.
470R Speer 0.25 to 9.999K Your MercuryiTC may not have all the above calibration files pre-loaded. The Lin and Null ranges are general purpose ranges that may be configured for any required span and zero. Both ranges provide a linear relationship between input and display. The Lin range is unipolar while the Null range is bipolar.
For these reasons, a resistance thermometer normally provides better performance, especially at low temperature. 4.12.2 Configuring for thermocouples The Home page below shows a MercuryiTC configured for a Au-Fe/chromel thermocouple with a liquid nitrogen reference. The widgets have been configured as follows: Page 65...
MercuryiTC 4.12.3 Reference junction compensation The MercuryiTC configuration options permit an internal or external reference junction to be used. Each iTC temperature sensor circuit has a built-in temperature reference chip (ADT7310) adjacent to the 9 way D-connector. The real-time temperature reported by this chip is used to compensate the thermocouple voltage measurement.
The MercuryiTC assumes that the temperature of the reference junction is fixed so the voltage reduction is interpreted as a reduction of the temperature of the measurement junction.
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Feb 2015 / UMC0071 MercuryiTC The MercuryiTC auxiliary I/O daughter board is used to detect if the voltage from the semiconductor device (typically 1.8V) is exceeded, which it will if the device warms above about 85K. This switches the state of the digital signal on input line 2 of the auxiliary I/O board which is then used as an interlock for the heater.
5.2.2 Fitting the board The level-meter board can be fitted in any expansion slot. Only one level meter board can be fitted in a MercuryiTC, because of power consumption limitations. Choose a slot for the level meter board. Remove the two screws that secure the top clamping bracket (Figure 5). Remove the board clamp.
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Issue 05 Feb 2015 / UMC0071 MercuryiTC Figure 6 MercuryiTC daughter board blanking plate Using appropriate ESSD precautions, including wearing an anti-static wrist strap, fit the board in the allocated expansion slot. Align the board with the appropriate slot. Slide the board faceplate inside the iTC back plane.
Replace the top cover on to the iTC, reversing the procedure for removal. 5.2.3 Basic check of board operation Power up the MercuryiTC. If fitted correctly, the iTC will detect the board and may request permission to use it. Put the iTC in Local mode by tapping the local/remote toggle button on the iTC Home page.
16 Tap Assign to save the changes and return to the Home page. The level meter widget now reads the helium level (%). 5.5 Configuring MercuryiTC for nitrogen level meter Tap an unconfigured widget on the Home page to display the Channel Display Configuration page.
6 MANAGING YOUR MERCURY This chapter describes • general operation of the MercuryiTC, and how this can be configured to suit the user. • how to manage software updates • how to Save and Load files, such as PID and calibration files.
Tap once to return to the Home page. Tap once in any row to switch to the appropriate configuration page for the device. 6.4 Clock Select the Clock tab to reset the MercuryiTC internal clock. The page contains the following parameter boxes and controls: • Time Tap the part of the displayed time that you wish to edit and use the buttons.
Users are able to take advantage of software developments without the need to return the MercuryiTC to the factory. The terminology used is as follows. The Mercury application is software that runs on the MercuryiTC and allows the user to interact with the instrument using the touch screen GUI. It translates and communicates user commands to the appropriate device (board).
Feb 2015 / UMC0071 MercuryiTC 6.8 Factory This page allows the user to save the configuration of the MercuryiTC. The user can then restore a previously saved configuration. The page contains the following parameter boxes and controls: • Save configuration To save the present system configuration, enter a filename in the Enter Name parameter box and tap Save Configuration.
Dans cette opération ne doit pas se produire au-dessus d'un niveau d'humidité de 91% à 20 ° C. The MercuryiTC can be remotely operated using any of the following interfaces: • RS232 or ISOBUS • GPIB (IEEE-488) •...
Since USB is a one-to-one connection, no addresses are required. 7.4.2 USB Cabling requirements The MercuryiTC rear panel is fitted with a standard USB type B receptacle. Use a standard USB A to B cable between PC and iTC. 7.4.3 USB drivers USB drivers for Windows OS are available to download from the Mercury support website www.mymercurysupport.com.
• NI LabView VIs. This is a library of Vis for National Instruments LabView version 8.6 and later. • Communication with MagLab over ISOBUS. This document is a guideline on how to establish communication between MagLab software and MercuryiTC over the serial ISOBUS interface. • Teslatron (OxSoft) Installer. This is an installation package including executable installer, source code, MercuryiTC driver and an operation manual.
Each input can be read at a maximum rate of 10 Hz. The iTC can detect short-circuit inputs, open-circuit inputs, and inputs that are shorted to ground. The MercuryiTC contains a temperature sensor that is used to compensate for fluctuations in ambient temperature.
MercuryiTC 9.2.2 Basic check of board operation Power up the MercuryiTC. If fitted correctly, the iTC will detect the board and may request permission to use it. Put the iTC in Local mode by tapping the local/remote toggle button on the iTC Home page.
The procedure for fitting a daughter board has already been described in section 5.2. 11.2.2 Basic check of board operation Power up the MercuryiTC. If fitted correctly, the iTC will detect the board and may request permission to use it.
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The circuit is powered from the CPU board 12 Volt supply. This enables the board to be used in both MercuryiTC and iPS systems. The transducer interface is individually isolated on this board. An isolated, low noise DC-DC converter is implemented by a LT3439EFE power supply and transformer.
The procedure for fitting a daughter board has already been described in section 5.2. 12.2.2 Basic check of board operation Power up the MercuryiTC. If fitted correctly, the iTC will detect the board and may request permission to use it.
GPIB board is as described in section 5.2. 13.2.2 Basic check of board operation Power up the MercuryiTC. If fitted correctly, the iTC will detect the board and may request permission to use it. Put the iTC in Local mode by tapping the local/remote toggle button on the iTC Home page.
Feb 2015 / UMC0071 MercuryiTC 14 THEORY OF CONTROL LOOPS This chapter describes the general principles of the control loops used in the MercuryiTC. 14.1 General information on control loops The iTC uses control loops to control the heater and optional gas valve.
4.3), and is multiplied by the gas flow scaling factor (see section 4.9.2), to obtain the final target heater voltage. The user can select which Heater Target Table to use, but can not edit a Heater Target Table. Contact Oxford Instruments Omicron NanoScience to obtain a Heater Target Table to suit your application.
Feb 2015 / UMC0071 MercuryiTC 15 PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE The MercuryiTC requires minimal maintenance. It is recommended that the following maintenance tasks are performed every six months, unless stated otherwise. 15.1 Cleaning the touch-screen The touch-screen is a sensitive item that is easily scratched. Only use recommended cleaning products to clean the screen.
16.2 Troubleshooting It is useful to distinguish between internal and external alarms. Some alarms arise because of an event internal to the MercuryiTC; other alarms are triggered by a fault in the system being controlled. The next two sections summarise good practice when attempting to diagnose and correct faults.
Operator's Manual Issue 05 Feb 2015 / UMC0071 MercuryiTC 17 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS This chapter lists the technical specifications of the MercuryiTC. 17.1 Physical specification Item Specification Width 426 mm Depth 272 mm Height 131 mm Weight 6.5 kg 17.2 Electrical power supply...
Output resolution 16 bit The output is filtered with co-wound inductors and decoupling capacitors. The output is protected against short-circuits. The MercuryiTC has a “dead-man’s-handle” timer that disables the heater outputs if the control loop stalls. 17.5 PC interfaces Item...
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