AUTOMATE SCIENTIFIC ThermoClamp-3 User Manual

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- 3 and -3.2

ThermoClamp

Temperature Controller

User's Manual

Joe Cordes and David Barton

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Summary of Contents for AUTOMATE SCIENTIFIC ThermoClamp-3

Page 3: Table Of Contents
- 3 and -3.2 ThermoClamp ® Temperature Controller User’s Manual The ThermoClamp is intended for research use only. ® Table of Contents ................3 Introduction Packing List ..........4 Features and specifications Electronic specifications ......5 Acronyms, abbreviations and definitions ................6 Components Controller unit Perfusion Pencil ®...
Page 4 Table of Contents Continued ............27 LED Display error codes ......28 Updating firmware over the USB Port ..............29 Switching fluids ........30 Operating without the bath sensor ................31 Maintenance ............31 Cutting the Pencil tips ...............31 Max Temp LED ..................32 Sensors ..............33 Replacement Parts ..............34 Safety Instructions .................36...
Page 5: Introduction
Introduction FOR RESEARCH USE ONLY The ThermoClamp is designed for solution-switching use in research applications ONLY. AutoMate Scientific, Inc. cannot be responsible for injury or death resulting from medical or pharmacological use. Packing List Item Quantity ThermoClamp -3 or -3.2 ®...
Page 6: Features And Specifications
Features and specifications ThermoClamp-3 Controller • Auto-tuning PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) temperature control accurate to <1.0°C (often ±0.1˚C) with fuzzy logic • Extremely low noise (analog heating) designed for electrophysiology • Over-temperature protection • Three types of user-configurable thermal runaway protection (patent pending) with fuzzy logic constraints •...
Page 7: Acronyms, Abbreviations And Definitions
Acronyms, abbreviations and definitions ThermoClamp Controller unit Isopotential Grounding (earth) point Proportional Integral Derivative Thermocouple (temperature sensor) This equipment must be earth grounded using the post on the back of the controller.
Page 8: Components
Pencil. If you only use one sensor, connect it to "Safety." Power entry USB port module Isopotential (grounding) post Figure 2. Controller Unit, rear view. NOTE: The ThermoClamp-3 and its heated Perfusion Pencil should both be grounded for high-gain electrophysiology.
Page 9: Perfusion Pencil
Perfusion Pencil® The Heated Perfusion Pencil (Pencil) manifold is shown in Figures 3, ® 4 and 5. The actual heating of the solutions happens in the Pencil. The optional bath solution is also heated as it flows through the Pencil. Chamber Power cables Thermal...
Page 10: Perfusion Pencil Placement
Figure 5. Heated Perfusion Pencil schematic. Perfusion Pencil Placement Your Heated Perfusion Pencil must be placed as close as possible to the perfusion chamber. If it is too far away, the liquid in your tubes will lose all of its heat before it reaches the chamber. The maximum distance between the Pencil and chamber depends on a number of variables including: tubing material (thermal conduction), fluid dripping versus flowing into the perfusion chamber via submerged tube, and ambient...
Page 11: Bath Perfusion / Water Jacket Feature
Bath Perfusion / Water Jacket Feature The Heated Perfusion Pencil includes an extra tube for heating a flowing bath solution. This heated high-flow line will maintain the bath temperature while quickly washing-out drugs applied through the tip. The Pencil can maintain at least 37˚C with flow rates of 5cc/min. This extra line can also be used with a water jacket on certain perfusion chambers.
Page 12: Chemical Information
Chemical Information The tubing inside the manifold body is polyimide (nylon) coated with PTFE. Additional connection tubing is silicone. The removable tips include a medical-grade polypropylene Luer-lock fitting with a fused silica (quartz) needle coated with polyimide outside and PTFE inside. These materials are resistant to most acids, bases and organic solvents.
Page 13: Making Sure The Device Works Properly
Making sure the device works properly 1. Connect the Pencil connector to the ThermoClamp control box (CU). 2. Connect the Pencil thermocouple plug to the Safety TC socket. 3. Connect the bath thermocouple plug to the Control TC socket (if used.) 4.
Page 14: Getting Started
Getting Started 1. The Bath sensor (if used) is plugged-into the “Control” TC port, and the thermocouple built-into the heated Perfusion Pencil™ manifold or QuickStage™ heated perfusion chamber (with brown wire) connects to the “Safety” TC jack. The blue LED display (left) shows the bath temperature.
Page 15 This ThermoClamp-3 detects when runaway is happening (perfusion stops or the sensor is removed from the chamber), and it holds the heater temperature constant until the bath sensor starts warming up again.
Page 16 This second graph shows the temperature controller with thermal Figure 8. runaway protection turned ON. Again, the blue line shows the Control sensor in the bath at the desired 37˚C Setpoint temperature until it is removed around time 340 seconds. The temperature controller again believes that the bath temperature has dropped, and rapidly increases the heater output.
Page 17: Settings Menu
8.1 If you start testing with the default settings and too many errors are being triggered in your test setup, then the first step is to decrease ESF until you no longer get unwanted “stopped flow” errors, since this is the most sensitive of the three error detection algorithms. 8.2 If low-temperature errors persist after stopped flow errors have been reduced, then increase the “E LO”...
Page 18 leave settings mode. It will also leave settings mode if the “Sel” button is used to cycle through all of the available parameters and the end of the settings menu is reached. 4. The following parameters can be adjusted, with the format of [parameter name]:[value] (value with *asterisk is the default): 4.1 [SPED]:[FAST, *NORM, SLOW, AUTO] This Speed setting adjusts the parameters (gains) used for PID...
Page 19 4.5 [ESB]:[0,1,2,*3,4,5] The ESB (Error Sensitivity Bath) setting sets the error sensitivity level for bath sensor runaway detection. This is designed to detect when the bath sensor accidentally falls out of the bath, or is removed while changing cells/dishes. Setting it to 0 disables the error detection completely, and 1 is the least sensitive setting (so errors will not show up unless the bath sensor cools significantly when it’s not expected to.) Setting the value to 3 results in nominal sensitivity, and setting to 4 or...
Page 20 is a large time delay between the heater being powered and the bath sensor warming, but setting Curr too low will increase the chance that the system detects overcurrent and displays errors over the serial port as it adjusts its output to stay below the maximum current level. 4.9 [E LO]:[3.0…15.0] The “E LO”...
Page 21: Monitoring The Thermoclamp From Your Computer
Monitoring the ThermoClamp from your computer The ThermoClamp can be monitored by your computer and software using either the front-panel BNC port (temperature only) or the USB port (much more information). To use the BNC output, simply connect the BNC to your recording hardware (i.e. analog input on your digitizer) and record it alongside your other data.
Page 22 Stopped_Flow_Sensitivity_ESF 3 Verbose_Errors On Max_Current 0.80 Max_Hot 0.50 Max_Norm 0.62 Ch1_Max_(A) 0.65 Ch2_Max_(A) 0.61 Firmware_Version: Indicates the current firmware running on the controller Setpoint: digital setpoint, in °C units Divergence_Limit: This is used for error detection and will be updated when the controller gains are autotuned from the settings menu.
Page 23 keep the actual current slightly below the max. It can be adjusted in the settings menu. Max_Hot: This is the maximum software command determined from a power-on test of the controller’s hardware that is expected to keep the current below maximum when the safety temperature is toward the high end of its range.
Page 24 If the system is in an error state, then the word “Error” will be added on to the end of each line of data to make it obvious that something is going wrong. If that happens, you’ll see something like this: 21.2 24.9 32.0 0.55 0.63 0.59 1 Error 22.8 25.0 32.0 0.54 0.63 0.59 1 Error 23.7 25.1 32.0 0.53 0.61 0.57 1 Error...
Page 25 6.4 Runaway detected @ divergence = xx.y This error occurs when the controller detects that the bath sensor may have fallen out, or the flow rate may have changed unexpectedly and caused the bath sensor to cool rapidly. The sensitivity of this error detection mode can be adjusted via the “ESB”...
Page 26: Autotuning
Autotuning 1. The ThermoClamp includes its own autotuning routine to pick control parameters (gains) that are well-suited to each particular test setup. If both the control (bath) sensor and safety sensors are being used, then it autotunes the system using the control sensor temperature. If only the safety sensor is plugged in, then it uses that to perform the autotuning.
Page 27 At any time during autotuning, you can press the “Down” button to immediately exit back to normal operation without setting new control gains. After successfully completing the autotune routine, the system will no longer display the “A” before each temperature on the segment LED displays, and it will go back to normal operation.
Page 28 9.3 Autotune error: control warming during cool-down phase. This will be printed over the USB serial port if the system aborts the autotune process because the control sensor was warming up when it should have been cooling, likely due to changing flow rates or the sensor moving to a different sampling location.
Page 29: Led Display Error Codes
LED Display error codes 1. As previously mentioned in this manual, the ThermoClamp will display an “E” on the Control LED display if it is currently in an error state, and the “E” will go away when the control sensor warms and the system leaves the error state.
Page 30: Updating Firmware Over The Usb Port
Updating firmware over the USB Port 1. The controller’s firmware can be updated over the USB port by dragging and dropping a new .bin file onto the device when it is connected to a computer and appears as a COM port (Windows) or a removable drive on your Desktop (Mac): 1.1 Connect the ThermoClamp’s power supply and turn it on.
Page 31: Switching Fluids
Switching fluids While fluid remains stagnant within the Heated Pencil, its temperature will climb higher than the setpoint. When you switch liquids, there will be a small temperature overshoot like the one shown in Figure 8 below. When all solution flow is stopped, the ThermoClamp tries to maintain the desired bath temperature by increasing heat to the Pencil.
Page 32: Operating Without The Bath Sensor
Operating without the bath sensor When using an inline heater like the Perfusion Pencil, the bath thermocouple allows the ThermoClamp controller to monitor the bath temperature and heat your solutions in order to maintain the overall bath temperature. If you are using another controller to warm your bath (with stage, chamber or objective heaters, etc.), then you may not want the ThermoClamp to use the bath temperature for deciding whether to heat your solutions.
Page 33: Maintenance
Maintenance You can expect several years of useful lifetime for your tip if you wash it daily. Use a syringe or vacuum to pull water, then alcohol three times through the tip. If the Perfusion Pencil tip is filled with pure salt solution, leaving it in the syringe overnight will not usually cause the tip to block.
Page 34: Sensors
Sensors Several problems can arise with your ThermoClamp sensors. One of the simplest problems is having the bath sensor fall out of the bath. The bath sensor (if used) must be in good thermal contact with the bath solution. The insulation on the bath sensor can also degrade until the bath solution makes electrical contact with the thermocouple.
Page 35: Replacement Parts
360 µm Removable Tip 04-250 250 µm Removable Tip 04-100 100 µm Removable Tip 03-08-xxx Heated Perfusion Pencil [8-channel with xxx size tip] 03-08 Replacement Heated Perfusion Pencil [8-channel] 03-01-j ThermoClamp-3-1 Control Unit 03-22-j ThermoClamp-3-2 Control Unit 03-sensor Bath thermocouple sensor...
Page 36: Safety Instructions
Safety Instructions The following instructions pertain to the risk of fire, electric shock, or bodily injury. Please read all of these instructions carefully. 1. Follow all the instructions and warnings marked on this product and included in this manual. 2. Do not use this product on an unstable cart, stand, or table. This product may fall, causing serious damage to the product.
Page 37 Unplug this product from the main power outlet and call for service under any of the following conditions: A. If the power cord or plug is damaged or frayed. B. If liquid has been spilled into the ThermoClamp controller. C. If the product has been exposed to rain or water. D.
Page 38: Warranty
AutoMate Scientific, Inc. has been advised of the possibility of such damages or if this warranty is found to fail its essential purpose. AutoMate Scientific, Inc’s liability is limited to the reimbursement of the cost of the...
Page 39 AutoMate Scientific, Inc. 812 Page Street Berkeley, CA 94710 U.S.A. (800) 998-MATE -6283 international (510) 845-6283 fax (510) 280-3795 e-mail info@autom8.com http://www.autom8.com...

This manual is also suitable for:

Thermoclamp-3.2