Temperature Issue

from Gregor

Good news everyone :) I just got a reply for the manufacturer. My email first, followed by the response:

Dear Picarro,

My name is Gregor, I'm a post-grad student at McGill university. Our department recently received your CO2 isotope analyzer (G1101-i) and we were about to start work when we noticed that the suggested operating temperature for the machine is 10-35 degrees C. We were wondering how flexible that temperature range is since our study would take us outdoors, potentially down to temperatures around 3-5 degrees C? Is the suggested temperature range a matter of calibration for the device or will it malfunction under temperatures outside that range? Reason why I am asking is because I heard that one of these machines is being taken down to Antarctica.

and the response:

Hi Gregor,

You can probably use it that low, but we don't guarantee the specs. The pump and hard drive may have a hard time starting up when it's that cold, but no real worries -- we do have analyzers all over the world and I'm sure people have done this. We do test them down to about 5C for startup and generally it's not a problem, but I'd recommend keeping them running when it gets that cold to avoid startup issues. 

Cheers,

-Aaron  


So yeah .... it's doable, as long as we don't start it up to often in the cold. So if we keep it running for longer periods of time ... the machine can stay outdoors. (keep in mind rain)

work hard ;)
-g