The Gauging Times – Issue 29 – July, 2009 - Advanced Gauging Technologies

Personal Profile

It’s not often that someone leaves the A.G.T. family but unfortunately for us, we must bid one of our employees a fond farewell. Some of you may remember Dave Caddell from issue 15, back in 2005. At the time, Dave was attending Devry University, majoring in Networking and Communications Management.

Dave was hired in July of that year as a part-time employee to help us build circuit boards, cables, and sub-assemblies. Through the four years of his employment, Dave has taken on a much greater role. While still working part-time and attending classes, Dave’s responsibilities continued to grow to include a major role in most production, troubleshooting and repairing computers, building gauges, and testing new software releases.

Dave is now one semester away from graduating with his Bachelor’s degree, and has accepted a full-time position in his chosen field at Reps Resources near his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. Dave’s new position will be Technical Writer/Web Designer.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Dave for his many years with us and wish him the best in his new career. It is our hope that the skills and experience gained while working with us will help him to achieve his career and life goals.

Potential X-Ray Alternative

This newsletter’s technical tip is about saving your Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) battery. The AGT400 Thickness Gauge & S.P.C. Reporting System uses a very robust industrial computer to power the operating system. The UPS battery backup is an important part of your gauge and it is usually the most overlooked. Clean power is crucial to a stable measurement and for the computer to operate correctly and reliably. The UPS provides surge protection, AC filtering, and AC power to the gauge if the main power cuts out for a brief period of time.

Historically, all isotope thickness gauges in the service center market were limited to <.250″ since the only viable source type available for processing lines was Americium-241. To measure beyond this, an x-ray gauge used to be required. Now, if you have a processing line (not recommended for mill control) that you would prefer to have an isotope gauge on instead of an x-ray gauge, one is available. This gauge uses a Strontium-90 radioisotope and ion chamber detector, and operates similar to other absorption-based thickness gauges.

If you are interested in this product, please let us know and we’ll put you in touch with the people that can help you out. Just give us a call at (614) 873-6691.

Technical Tip

It is very important that the power to the computer not be interrupted as this can lead to data loss and/or computer damage. All AGT400’s come equipped with the latest in UPS technology in order to allow for the proper shutdown of the system in the event of a power loss in your facility.

To maintain your battery life, the AGT400 shutdown procedure should be followed. A more detailed description is located in your AGT400 manual, but as a quick reminder, here are the steps for the proper shutdown:

Turn the MODE key to PROGRAM.
In the upper right hand corner of the gauge screen, click the Exit button twice.
Perform a proper shutdown of Windows by clicking the Start button, then selecting shut down.
Once the Computer shuts down, turn off both circuit breakers on the electronics shelf. While powered up, they will emit an orange light.
After flipping the two breakers, power down the UPS.

Completing these simple steps each time will prevent your UPS battery from draining down, which would shorten its lifespan. If your battery dies, it should be replaced immediately. As with any piece of equipment, proper maintenance and care will go a long way in how your equipment performs.