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Gamry ECM8 Operator's Manual

Electrochemical multiplexer
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ECM8
Electrochemical Multiplexer
Operator's Manual
Copyright 1991-2005 Gamry Instruments, Inc.
Revision 5.0
September 26, 2005

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  • Page 1 ECM8 Electrochemical Multiplexer Operator's Manual Copyright 1991-2005 Gamry Instruments, Inc. Revision 5.0 September 26, 2005...

  • Page 3: If You Have Problems

    We will be happy to provide a reasonable level of free support for registered users of the ECM8 Electrochemical Multiplexer. Reasonable support includes telephone assistance covering the normal installation, use and simple programming for the ECM8 on standard AT compatible computer hardware.

  • Page 4: Limited Warranty

    Limited Warranty Gamry Instruments, Inc. warrants to the original user of this product that it shall be free of defects resulting from faulty manufacture of the product or its components for a period of two years from the original shipment date of your purchase.

  • Page 5: Disclaimers

    Disclaimers Gamry Instruments, Inc. cannot guarantee that the ECM8 will work with all computer systems, operating systems, and third party potentiostat hardware. The information in this manual has been carefully checked and is believed to be accurate as of the time of printing.

  • Page 7: Table Of Contents

    Appendix C -- I/O Connections for the ECM8.................4-5 The Cell Connectors......................4-5 Normal Cell Cable Connections ..................4-6 The Potentiostat Connector....................4-7 Cabling the ECM8 to a Gamry Instruments PCI4 Potentiostat ..........4-7 RS232 Connector ......................4-8 Appendix D -- RS232 Commands ....................4-9 General Hardware Description..................4-9 Register Map ........................4-9...
  • Page 8 Disabling the ECM8 Local Potentiostats ................4-15 Comprehensive Index ........................5-1...

  • Page 9: Chapter 1 -- Safety Considerations

    The ECM8 is supplied with a line cord suitable for use in the United States. In other countries, you may have to replace the line cord with one suitable for your electrical outlet type. You must always use a line cord with a CEE 22 Standard V female connector on the instrument end of the cable.

  • Page 10: Line Voltages And Fuses

    Before plugging in your ECM8 Electrochemical Multiplexer you must check that its AC line voltage selector is set for the voltage of your AC power line. The ECM8 can be set for one of four voltages - 100 Vac, 120 Vac, 220 Vac and 240 Vac.

  • Page 11: Changing The Line Voltage Selection

    1 Amp 1/2 Amp 1/2 Amp Step by step instructions for changing the AC line fuses in an ECM8 are shown in the section of this chapter titled Changing the AC Powerline Fuses. Changing the Line Voltage Selection This section of the ECM8 manual gives step-by-step instructions for changing the AC power line voltage setting used by the ECM8.

  • Page 12: Replacing The Ac Power Line Fuses

    1) Unplug the AC power line cord from the back of the ECM8. The fuses cannot be changed with the AC line cord plugged into the ECM8. 2) Locate the AC input module on the upper left hand corner of the ECM8 rear panel. It can be identified by the line cord connector built into it.

  • Page 13: Ventilation

    • It has been subjected to environmental stress (corrosive atmosphere, fire, etc.). Do not use your ECM8 or any other apparatus if you think it could be hazardous. Have it checked by qualified service personnel. Note that there are limit conditions on the storage, shipping and operation of this equipment. The ECM8 has not been designed for outdoor use.

  • Page 14: Cleaning

    Clean the outside of the ECM8 enclosure with a rag dampened with either clean water or water containing a mild detergent. Do not use a wet rag or allow water to enter the ECM8 enclosure. Do not immerse the ECM8 in any type of cleaning fluid (including water). Do not use any abrasive cleaners.

  • Page 15: Ce Compliance

    CE Compliance The European Community has instituted standards limiting radio frequency interference from electronic devices and mandating several safety requirements. Gamry Instruments, Inc. has modified its instruments, including the ECM8, to comply with these standards. The relevant CE regulations include EN55022 Class B and EN60950.

  • Page 17: Chapter 2 -- Introduction

    The ECM8 Electrochemical Multiplexer was developed to increase the throughput of your electrochemical testing program. It allows one potentiostat/galvanostat/ZRA to drive up to eight electrochemical cells. Under the control of an external computer, the ECM8 connects one cell at a time to the potentiostat, which makes an electrochemical measurement on that cell.

  • Page 18: Operation Overview

    Chapter 2 -- Introduction--Operation Overview Operation Overview Figure 2-1 shows a "typical" electrochemical test system built around an ECM8 Electrochemical Multiplexer. Only four cells are shown in this figure, although up to eight cells can be connected simultaneously. The label on the block marked as a potentiostat is slightly misleading. Most potentiostats can also be used as a galvanostat or as a ZRA (zero resistance ammeter) in an ECM8 system.
  • Page 19 The most important function of these commands is to select which cell is active (connected to the system potentiostat). You can think of an ECM8 as a complex switch. One of the 8 cell cables on the ECM8 is switched so that it connects to the potentiostat's cell cable. All of the wires (including sense leads and shields) in the cell cable are switched.

  • Page 20: Keyword Definitions

    Aux A/D The term Aux A/D is used to describe an optional switch in each ECM8 channel. This switch allows connection of two BNC connector contacts associated with that channel to a common BNC connector.

  • Page 21: Switching And Inactive Cell Control

    Switching and Inactive Cell Control In the Operation Overview, we said you can think of the ECM8 as a complex switch. This section of the manual describes the ECM8 switching in some detail. In addition, control modes for inactive cells are discussed.
  • Page 22 The inactive control mode labeled "open" is the simplest. In this mode the cell is disconnected and isolated from both the system potentiostat and the ECM8. No cell current can flow between any electrodes. This is the most common inactive mode in corrosion studies, where the cell behavior at open circuit is of interest.

  • Page 23: Communications Overview

    ECM8 to your computer. The ECM8 comes with an RS232 cable suitable for connection of an ECM8 to the 9 pin COM port on an IBM AT compatible computer. If you need to connect the ECM8 to a 25 pin COM port, you can use this cable with a 25 to 9 pin adapter.

  • Page 25: Chapter 3 -- Installation

    ECM8. Power Cord and Line Voltage Selection Before you plug your ECM8 into the AC power line make sure that the ECM8 line voltage selector is set for the AC power line voltage in your area. Looking at the ECM8 from the rear, the line voltage selector is located on the upper right corner of the ECM8 rear panel.

  • Page 26: Power Up Test

    The AC line cord plugs into the AC power entry module on the upper right corner of the ECM8 rear panel. Once you are sure that the AC line voltage selection is correct, you may plug the ECM8 into a source of AC power.

  • Page 27: Connection To Gamry Instruments Reference 600

    Instruments supplies a standard cable (P/N 985-00080) that properly connects the cell wires. This 1.5 m long cable is equipped with a male 9 pin D connector on the ECM8 end and a male 25 pin D connector on the Reference 600 end.

  • Page 28: Software Installation

    3 terminal corrosion-monitoring probes. Contact us for more information. If you need to design a cell cable for your specific needs, refer to the pin out of the ECM8 cell cable in Appendix C of this manual.

  • Page 29: Appendix A -- Ecm8 Specifications

    Measured versus ECM8 chassis ground. Channel Isolation Current Leakage < 2 nA max To active channel pin from any source. Impedance > 500 M Equiv. impedance to ECM8 chassis ground. < 20 pF Local Potentiostat Compliance- Current  20 mA 500  load Compliance-Voltage ...
  • Page 30 Appendix A -- ECM8 Specifications-- 4 - 2...

  • Page 31: Appendix B -- Changing The Baud Rate Setting

    ECM8 from its AC power source before removing any panel or cover. 2. The ECM8 top cover is held in place by one screw at the middle rear of the cover. Remove this screw, making sure that it does not get misplaced.
  • Page 32 Appendix C -- I/O Connections for the ECM8-- 4 - 4...

  • Page 33: Appendix C -- I/O Connections For The Ecm8

    The Cell Connectors The 8 cell connectors (one for each channel) are located on the ECM8 rear panel. Each cell connector is a 9 pin female D shaped connector. The pin out of all 8 connectors is identical. The signal assignment for each pin is shown in Table C-1.

  • Page 34: Normal Cell Cable Connections

    Normal Cell Cable Connections Normally you can use one of Gamry Instruments' standard cell cables to connect each channel's connector to its cell. Gamry supplies cables that are 1.5 m, 4.5 m or 9 m in length. Special purpose cables are also available.

  • Page 35: The Potentiostat Connector

    Appendix C -- I/O Connections for the ECM8--The Potentiostat Connector The Potentiostat Connector The ECM8 potentiostat connector is used to connect the ECM8 to the system potentiostat. The pin out of this connector is very similar to that of the cell connectors.

  • Page 36: Rs232 Connector

    Data Carrier Detect A control input to the ECM8. The ECM8 will not transmit data if this line is not asserted. The ECM8 has been found to work with cables designed for connection of a computer to a modem. 4 - 8...

  • Page 37: Appendix D -- Rs232 Commands

    A secondary I/O read or write to an UPDATE address updates all the D/A converters simultaneously. In total, the ECM8 requires 32 bytes for its registers. It also uses one additional location to update the D/A converters simultaneously. The location of the registers in the microcontroller's address space is controlled via a programmable logic device.
  • Page 38 Channel Register scaling is 2.5 mV/bit, so the allowed range D/A LSB in 12 bits is  5.12 volts. The ECM8 does D/A MSB not do any error checking on the D/A Relays value other than the number of hex Spare characters.

  • Page 39: General Ecm8 Firmware Description

    General ECM8 Firmware Description On power up, the ECM8 will output zeros to all 32 hardware registers, clear the error flags, and access the D/A Update address. The net result is to open all cells and set all the D/A converters to zero volts. It will then issue a Ready prompt and await commands as described below.
  • Page 40 With the exception of the E (error) command and the V (version) command, commands do not generate output from the ECM8, other than the Ready (*) or Error indications (?). The E and V commands generate a hex number, which is terminated with a carriage return linefeed combination. After the carriage return line feed, the normal Ready indication is output.

  • Page 41: Commands

    RS232 input has exceeded the buffer size in the ECM8. Initialize The initialize command resets the ECM8 to the power on condition. Zeros are output to the I/O registers, the error flags are cleared, and a ready prompt is output.
  • Page 42 YY is the new register contents in ASCII hex. Its allowed range is zero to FF. Both digits must be transmitted. The register command does not actually write to the ECM8 hardware. It simply stores the new value in a RAM shadow of the hardware.

  • Page 43: Appendix E -- Grounds And Floating Operation

    Some autoclaves use the earth grounded wall of the autoclave as the counter electrode. You should be able to use the ECM8 with cells that have an earth grounded working electrode, as long as the potentials of the ECM8's earth ground and the cell's earth ground are reasonably close together.
  • Page 44 ECM8 from its AC power source before removing any panel or cover. 2. The ECM8 top cover is held in place by one screw at the middle rear of the cover. Remove this screw, making sure that it does not get misplaced.
  • Page 45 LED indicators, 3-2 cable line voltage, 1-2, 1-3 ECM8 to PC3, 3-2, 3-3 local potentiostat, 2-4, 2-6, 4-1 ECM8 to PC3 and PC4, 4-7 to 3rd party potentiostats, 4-8 modem cable, 2-7, 4-8 CE Compliance, 1-7 CE compliant, 3-4 noise, 4-6...
  • Page 46 Comprehensive Index-- serial port, 2-7 service, 1-6 shipping, 1-5 shorted inactive mode, 2-6 specifications, 4-1 static electricity, 1-6 storage, 1-5 support, i system computer, 2-3 definition, 2-4 system potentiostat, 2-3, 2-4 Update RS232 command, 4-14 ventilation, 1-5 Version RS232 command, 4-14 Visual Inspection, 3-1 voltage AC line, 1-2...

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