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PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE [MAINTAINING EXO SONDE & SENSOR WETMATE CONNECTORS]
GENERAL: Developed by YSI Repair Center using "Best Known Methods" to prevent Sonde WETMATE and SENSOR pin
damage caused by galvanic corrosion. Users in Brackish/high salinity/turbidity water seem to be the most prone to this.
BE SURE TO WEAR PROPER EYE PROTECTION WHEN CLEANING AN EXO SONDE!
TOOLS
BRUSH – UTILITY OR TOOTHBRUSH
Q-TIPS SMALL/MEDIUM TIPs
VINEGAR FOR CLEANING – SQUIRT BOTTLE VERY HANDY
ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL FOR CLEANING
REPAIR CENTER TECH BIT
YSI REV A 8/18
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Summary of Contents for Exo SONDE
- Page 1 PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE [MAINTAINING EXO SONDE & SENSOR WETMATE CONNECTORS] GENERAL: Developed by YSI Repair Center using “Best Known Methods” to prevent Sonde WETMATE and SENSOR pin damage caused by galvanic corrosion. Users in Brackish/high salinity/turbidity water seem to be the most prone to this.
- Page 2 1. Cleaning residual lubricant and water contamination from the connectors each and every pre-deployment is as important as applying lubricant! This can be accomplished using a toothbrush with vinegar [corrosion] & alcohol [old lubricant]. We recommend flushing all SONDE bulkhead ports out using vinegar between deployments to remove any contaminates before reinstalling sensors.
- Page 3 REPAIR CENTER TECH BIT BEFORE AFTER Battery compartment threads and WETMATE connectors before and after clean and lubricated. All cleaning done with a toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol. YSI REV A 8/18...
- Page 4 2. Both connectors male/female must be lubricated using Kyrtox and a small brush – your fingers can not reach between WETMATE pins [refer to page 123 in EXO User’s Manual] 3. Keeping WETMATE port connectors clean is very important. Putting a sensor back in a contaminated port could likely lead to a port failure.
- Page 5 REPAIR CENTER TECH BIT EXO Bulkhead with Typical Contaminates YSI REV A 8/18...
- Page 6 REPAIR CENTER TECH BIT Vinegar soak fill ports for ~10-min, this will help in removing old Kyrtox and any contaminates that got past the sediment O-ring on the sensor. YSI REV A 8/18...
- Page 7 REPAIR CENTER TECH BIT A small pointed tipped Q-Tip can help in cleaning contamination out of port pins. DO NOT FORCE THE Q-TIP INTO THE PIN HOLE JUST LIGHTLY ROTATE IT AROUND AND THE CONTAMINATES SHOULD COME OUT! YSI REV A 8/18...
- Page 8 REPAIR CENTER TECH BIT Nice and clean after vinegar treatment. Properly Kyrtox’ed sensor WETMATES will apply a small amount into the pin cavities. YSI REV A 8/18...
- Page 9 REMOVAL OF ALL SENSORS AND PORT PLUGS! This Port Pin looked normal at first glance and then caused a Sensor Fault error 0020 on the SONDE when a sensor was installed for functional check. After looking through a Borescope we discovered this corroded pin where an unremoved Port plug had been left in for multiple deployments.
- Page 10 REPAIR CENTER TECH BIT YSI REV A 8/18...
- Page 11 REPAIR CENTER TECH BIT 4. Wiped CT configurations must use proper port selection and binding procedure [refer to page 69 in EXO User’s Manual] [THIS WILL ALSO MINIMIZE MOVEMENT OF THE SENSORS WHICH COULD ALLOW WATER SEEPAGE INTO NON-PROPERLY MAINTAINED WETMATE CONNECTORS]...
- Page 12 REPAIR CENTER TECH BIT YSI REV A 8/18...
- Page 13 REPAIR CENTER TECH BIT EXO field cable connectors need to be properly maintained in order to prevent expensive repairs to Sonde or cable connector failure! Clean off all previous lubricants and water contaminates then lubricate using same procedure as SONDE WETMATES at EVERY...
- Page 14 EXO CABLE MAINTENANCE CHECK The following is an easy check for testing your EXO cables. This can prevent damage to the SONDES wet-mate connector should a cable have an internal short. CHECK PIN 3 TO ALL PINS USING THE FEMALE SIDE AS SHOWN BELOW. THERE SHOULD BE NO READINGS! MAKE SURE THE CABLE IS FULLY DISCONNECTED AT BOTH ENDS.
- Page 15 REPAIR CENTER TECH BIT GOOD CABLE READING BAD CABLE READING YSI REV A 8/18...
- Page 16 Sonde repair – battery compartment replacement and down time. SUMMARY: EXO WETMATE connectors do a wonderful job in protecting the connections of EXO SONDES if properly maintained. Cleaning them prior to lubricating is a must and this must be done before every deployment.
- Page 17 ANTIFOULING: if your site has bio-fouling issues YSI has developed heat shrinkable sleeves P/N 599663 for the SONDE, sensors and wiper. These can then be covered by copper tape P/N 616189 on the sensors and Duct Tape on the SONDE body per lower right picture.
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