Laboratory instrument maintenance skills

Laboratory instrument maintenance skills

一、①The metal sliding surface and mirror chrome surface of laboratory instruments should be kept smooth and rust-free. After the finish experiment,  the device should be coated with new protective oil and put on dust cover, and check once half month.

     ②The paint on all instruments should be kept clean and dust free. Check once a week.

     ③All electrical instruments should be always powered on. Regulated power supplies, lasers, signal generators, etc, monthly electricity for 1 hour, other equipment at least once a month electricity.

     ④Dust removal and moisture protection are the main and most commonly used methods for conventional laboratory equipment. The dust is mostly electrostatic particles that can easily adhere to the instrument to affect its color, increase friction and accelerate wear, which makes the device unusable, even worse, the instrument will burn out and scrap.

     ⑤All containers should be kept clean and free from dust. Check once every two weeks.

     ⑥All transmission wires should be stored in a matched manner and the welding head of tin should be soldered in time.

     ⑦All ammeters should be kept clean and dry.

     ⑧Maintain the equipment centralized and regularly, electricity, inspection, repair.

二、Maintenance of Glass Instruments

The main weakness of glass instruments is that they are easy to break. So, they should be kept in cabinet carefully, scientifically and in good appearance. Condenser and constant pressure funnel should be lying on special frame. Small parts which cannot be upright should be in the drawer. Foam or soft stuff should be lined under the parts to prevent rolling if needed. Ground glass and glass stopper are coupled, so one set cannot be applied to another set. They must be connected with strong thread or rubber band to avoid clutter. A piece of paper should be placed between Ground glass and glass stopper—it will prevent them stick together with time went by. (If it is difficult to open the glass parts, do not unscrew them hard by hand, it will be damaged. Alcohol lamp is helpful to solve this problem based on principle of expansion and contraction)

A General washing steps for glassware：

Glassware Instruments → Remove Stains → Tap Water washing(Flush) → Dry (Dry)

B glassware common stains washing:

(1) Grease: Wash with hot soda solution or sodium hydroxide solution, wash with washing powder,

(2) Iodine stains: Wash with alcohol or sodium hydroxide solution

(3) Sulfur: Hot NaOH Solution Boiling Wash

(4) Calcium carbonate: wash with dilute hydrochloric acid

(5) Iron oxide or iron hydroxide: wash with dilute hydrochloric acid

(6) Manganese Dioxide: Concentrated hydrochloric acid is heated,boiled and then washed