How to maintain your SCS Ionograph... and keep your testing on track
Your ionograph plays an important role in monitoring ionic contamination and supporting quality control across a range of electronics manufacturing and cleaning processes. Reliable contamination testing helps you identify unwanted ionic residues before they have the opportunity to affect product performance or reliability.
Proactive maintenance is key to protecting measurement consistency, reducing the risk of unexpected downtime and extending the working life of your equipment.
With regular care and the right support, you can keep your ionograph ready to perform when you need it.
Expert guidance for your SCS Ionograph
PI-KEM has distributed SCS Ionographs since 2018. During this time, PI-KEM’s Head of Operations, Adam Gadsby, has been responsible for ionograph technical support, performing verification checks on every SCS Ionograph supplied through PI-KEM, and working directly with SCS engineers.
In this video guide, Adam shares his experience to demonstrate the calibration and verification process, along with best practices for keeping your SCS Ionograph performing reliably. Whether you carry out day-to-day testing, or are responsible for equipment maintenance within your facility, we’ve created this guide to share practical knowledge that can help you get the most from your equipment.
Why proactive ionograph maintenance matters
Your ionograph may form an important part of your quality control process, so an unexpected equipment issue can mean more than an inconvenient repair. It can interrupt testing and create delays for the work that depends on those results.
Taking a proactive approach to maintenance can help you:
- Maintain consistent equipment performance
- Identify potential issues before they lead to downtime
- Reduce the risk of avoidable repairs
- Extend the working life of your ionograph
- Keep your equipment ready for when testing is required
Overall, regular maintenance supports consistent performance while helping to reduce unexpected downtime.
Your maintenance routine at a glance
- Check the IPA concentration - Use a hydrometer to confirm the extract solution is between 73% and 77% IPA, and adjust if needed.
- Run a chemical verification - Use standardising solution with a pipette to confirm the system is reading correctly.
- Recalibrate when required - Recalibrate after adjusting the IPA concentration, if a verification fails.
- Inspect hydraulics and fittings - Look for leaks, loose hose clamps and worn connections.
- Replace the DI columns - Do this every 12 months, or sooner if you see warning signs, such as an unstable baseline.
Keep the right ionograph consumables to hand
Maintenance is easier when you have the correct consumables available when you need them.
PI-KEM supplies a range of consumables for SCS Ionograph maintenance, including:
- Deionisation (DI) columns
- Hydrometers
- Test fluid, 75% IPA / 25% DI water
- Standardising solutions
- Pipettes and bulbs
- Conductivity sensors
Most of our ionograph consumables are held in stock for immediate despatch, helping you keep routine testing and maintenance moving smoothly.
Visit our webstore to explore ionograph consumables
Looking for more ionograph maintenance resources?
Alongside the video, our downloadable Maintaining Your Ionograph guide provides additional resources to support your maintenance process, including a step-by-step DI column replacement process, a full maintenance schedule and a test procedure flowchart.
Review our 'Maintaining Your Ionograph' Guide
Support throughout the life of your ionograph
Looking after specialist equipment involves more than supplying replacement parts and consumables.
PI-KEM has supported SCS Ionographs since 2018, providing technical guidance and ongoing support to customers throughout the working life of their equipment.
From initial equipment selection and pre-despatch testing, to set-up support, training, maintenance advice and ongoing consumables, you have access to our team’s experience whenever you need it.
Whether you have a question about maintenance, need help identifying the right consumable or require technical support with your SCS Ionograph, our team is available to help.
📞 Call PI-KEM on +44 (0)1827 259250
📧 Email sales@pi-kem.co.uk
