Articles focused on equipment tips and tricks that our technicians use in the field. Use these to help elevate your lab to the next level!
The lift test is a powerful tool that you can use to keep your NCAT’s burn time short. It can tell you if you have faulty components, and can even impact your results. Our technicians use this test to determine what they need to do when they start service, and often it’s the first thing …
Many of you might remember when the square-designed NCAT baskets were the only baskets available. This was before the angled cornered baskets became the standard thanks to some clever marketing and adoption of the asphalt industry. Well, in true Gordon Technical fashion, we have revisited the original design, and are surprised by the results. Warping …
You don’t need to know the inner workings of an NCAT ignition furnace to understand how it works. You fill a basket with material, you put that basket into the NCAT, you press start and 20-40 minutes later (hopefully) you pull out the aggregate with all the liquid burnt off. But what do you do …
If you have ever called in for maintenance, you’ve been asked this question. Do you know which series you have? It’s your typical deer in a headlights situation. There’s always an audible silence before the caller ends up saying, “no” and “how can I find out”? Today, we are going to tell you the difference …
The T209 rice test is the worst possible situation for a vacuum pump. By design, vacuum pumps need to be free of contaminants and never EVER allow water in. So what do we do? We put a container of water and hook it up in line with our pumps. Because we don’t have time to …
“NCAT maintenance”, Mike said matter of factly. “What?” I said because his statement came out of nowhere. “Do a blog on NCAT Maintenance, and call it something cool” Mike was looking at me expecting me to completely understand what was going on. “ Call it the 10 commandments of NCAT Maintenance or something like that.” …
Chemicals Clean Glassware It’s a basic belief that most of us were taught when we were growing up. Your glassware got dirty, you would grab some type of cleaner, and then you would scrub it until it was clean. This hasn’t changed for centuries. Labs today are no exception. They clean most of the compounds …
There is a metal box that sits inside of your NCAT Ignition Oven. It’s rectangular and sits directly under the burn chamber. That box is the reason why your oven can perform the burn-off method so accurately, but that same box also has the potential to ruin hours, days, or even months of testing if not installed …
The NCAT ignition oven has been at the forefront of mix design since the late ’90s. In that time there have been a few improvements over the form and function of the unit, but for the most part, the NCAT ignition oven has stayed the same. You put your mix in the chamber and the …
The fate of new molds I cannot tell you how many times I go into a lab and see old gyratory molds sitting on shelves doing nothing but collecting dust. At one point in time, someone came in with a gauge and checked out their measurements. Sure enough, the mold didn’t pass and so a …