Monroe 288 Specifications download pdf (Page 5)

What this instrument does —

As Ionizers were introduced to control static charges there became a need to test those

ionizers to verify their performance. In about 1985 Ion Systems introduced the first charged

plate monitor, followed by Monroe Electronics’ Model 268 and several other companies.

These all used a fieldmeter sensing technology and became part of the ESD Association

Standard 3.1. This standard spelled out the plate size, 6” x 6” and charge decay voltages,

5000V to 500V for room ionization and 1000V to 100V for bench top ionization. These

worked well for years but the new technologies in the semiconductor and disk drive

industries have created a demand for lower work environment voltages. Many companies

now want a test instrument that will accurately measure ionizer performance to less than

10V. The fieldmeter style charged plate monitors are not capable of doing this with the

degree of accuracy required.

The other issues driving the demand for new instrumentation revolve around documentation

and labor. With all of the instruments available today, a manual record of the test results

must be created. This is the only way to provide the documentation required in an ESD

audit. The sheer volume of ionizers has created an additional pressure in the modern

manufacturing facility. At one time a factory may have had just a few critical areas where

ionizers were being used. Today many companies have hundreds of ionizers, all of which

need periodic testing. All of the instruments available require manual testing for each decay

and balance sequence, an enormous amount of labor hours.

With the Model 288 we have continued a design direction that we began with the Model 287

Ionizer Performance Analyzer. For those of you not familiar with the 287, it is a small,

portable charged plate instrument that not only allows the user to program several key

operating parameters and store the results in memory, but uses a contacting electrometer

measurement technique for vastly improved performance at low levels. However the bigger

advantage to this device is the ability to pre-program a series of decay and balance tests

which can then be initiated by pushing a single button.

With the Model 288 we have taken these advances to a higher level. The user no longer has

to design tests around the limitations of the instrument. Because almost all parameters of

this instrument are adjustable, the tests can be designed for optimal results and the Model

288 programmed to perform those tests. In addition this unit is completely portable, with up

to six hours of operation on the internal battery and memory for storage of over 1000 tests.

Physical Description:

The Model 288 Charge Plate Monitor has a black powder coated metal case. The display is

a large (240 X 60 Character/graphic), back-lit LCD. With this large display all pertinent test

information can be shown simultaneously. All operations are controlled via the five switches

on the front panel. Switch function varies depending on the selected mode and is labeled

using the LCD screen (soft keys). On the right hand side of the front panel is a vertical row

of LED’s which track and display the plate voltage. The range switch located below allows

the user to select the voltage span of the LED’s. The charge plate is detachable and has a

variety of mounting options. An RS232 port on the rear of the unit allows connection to a PC

for the transfer of information.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ... 14 15

No comments

Monroe 288 Specifications Page 5