Ventacon UK

SAFE OPERATION

All VENTACON cells operate with your instrument's sample area with the sample area lid CLOSED. It is unsafe to operate F-T Raman instruments with the lid open and interlocks normally protect the user by making it impossible for the laser to enter the sample area with the lid open.

Most VENTACON cells are connected to a power supply or other facility by cables ot thin metal tubing and clearly these must pass through the wall of the sample area in some manner. The Perkin Elmer instruments are supplied with a light trap built into the base of the sample chamber and hence there is no problem, cables tubes etc are fed through the light trap and plugged into the external, bench mounted supply.

Early Nicolet instruments have a closed hole about 2¼" in diameter in the right hand wall of the sample chamber. VENTACON can supply a light trap for these instruments. Later instruments have no hole in the wall of the sample chamber and Nicolet recommend that cells are fed through the closure of the lid where the elastomer seal will crush as the lid is closed hence allowing safe operation.

Bruker instuments have a small 'bite' removed from the closure of the lid. This 'bite' is closed with a metal plate which is normally removed when the user is employing Bruker's fibre optic system. VENTACON recommends that cables from its cells are allowed to pass through this small 'bite' in the sample chamber closure.

Bio-Rad instruments have no provision to pass cables out of the sample chamber. The problem can be solved by modifying the lid. VENTACON has experience in carrying this out.