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Your first port of call should be the support center. You will find lots of information in the form of technical notes, tutorials, video tutorials and Frequently asked questions on this site. Each instrument has its own dedicated support area (above) that should give you the answer that you need.

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Click onto the contact page at the top right of this website and select “Register my instrument” in the Contact tab.

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We will get back to you with an access code, which will enable you to access a personal space, which includes information otherwise unavailable on the site.

Answer: For all EC-Lab instruments (premium and essential ranges)

• Do not block the airflow of the instrument, as the electronics depend on the fans and vents for proper cooling and operation. Ventilation blockages may occur when the instrument is placed too close to the wall or another instrument. Similarly, if a piece of paper or plastic is placed under the instrument this can get lifted towards the bottom-mounted fans.
• Keep the lab or working area clean so that dust does not build up inside the unit.  Again, the fans run continuously, so dust in the air will find its way inside the instrument over time, and this can cause issues or potentially even failures that require repair.  If dust accumulates, it can be cleaned by opening up the instrument chassis and blowing it off the electronics and chassis with compressed air.
• Do not place systems inside a fume hood where strong acidic, basic, or organic fumes can damage the electronics. Again, the fans run all the time, and whatever is in the air will find its way into the electronics.
• Do not let any liquids spill onto the instrument or cell cable, but if this does happen, power off the instrument as soon as possible and clean the spill thoroughly.  Spills on the cell cable can run down the leads and get into the electronics of the small blue box and cause short circuits and/or corrosion. Spills onto the banana plugs themselves can form precipitates that block the flow of current, resulting in measurements that are offset, or result in overloads.  Should this occur, the banana pins can be cleaned with some isopropyl alcohol if (please ensure that the cable is disconnected from the instrument). In order to avoid spills do not store liquids above the instrument (either right on top of the chassis, or on the shelves above) and use a solid ring/clamp stand to hold the cell cable when connected to the tested cell.
• Use a good surge protector for power source, or better yet, an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that is of the online double-conversion type.  Do not use a cheap UPS as these can actually damage the system’s power supply with non-true sine waves, or spikes when the UPS is activated due to an outage.
• Make sure the cell you are connecting to is suitable for testing, using the equipment. If you are unsure, please ask us first. Some cells like high power batteries and supercapacitors have the capability to damage the electronics if connected to and tested in a manner that would cause severe high current spikes.
• Avoid static electricity near the end of the cell cable. Static charges accumulate in most dry environments (e.g. inside a glove box or dry room) and with airflow (e.g. in a fume hood) and can easily reach tens of thousands of volts. Static discharge can damage the cell cable and/or the potentiostat board. ESD (Electro Static Discharge) is the second most common cause of electronics failures after dust. When the channel is not being used, short all the leads together (including ground), or plug the leads into the dummy cell. Doing so ensures that the cable lead pins are prevented from touching charged surfaces, keeping the internal electronics safe.
• BioLogic instruments generally do not drift out of calibration, however, it is a good idea to run the calibration routine annually, and possibly save the results in a text file for future reference. Make sure to calibrate the unit after it’s been moved to another location or has experienced a large temperature swing or mechanical shock. Before you run the calibration, make sure the unit gets a chance to fully warm up by keeping it turned on for ~30min.

Answer: For premium range instruments only:

• Do not connect or disconnect the cell cable to the main body of the instrument while the instrument is powered on (there is a warning label on the cell cable/potentiostat interface stating this) as this will damage the electronics inside the small blue box of the cell cable.