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!
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 ...
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 …
The buck boost transformer has existed for many years, but many people don’t understand what this device can do. Most people assume that the power coming into your building limits you on what equipment you can use. I say assume because most of the time there are workarounds to help you out and the 208v …
Let’s face it — the blower motor on an NCAT ignition oven is often an afterthought. It sits in the back of the unit, mostly covered, mostly discreet, mostly out of the way. Out of sight, out of mind, right? You know it’s there and that it blows air out of the furnace, but what …