Tech 60 Operation*
* This information is provided in addition to the manual included with the instrument and not to be considered all inclusive. Do read the manual.
Once the Tech 60 has been configured to your preferences, you are ready to run through it's operation.
Before turning the instrument on, the probe assembly and thermocouple must be plugged in.
On the bottom of the instrument you will see a thermocouple outlet and a gas sample port.
To obtain stack temperature readings, plug the yellow thermocouple plug into the yellow port on the left hand side labeled ' T-Stack'. The thermocouple port on the right hand side labeled 'T-Air' is for an auxiliary thermocouple. This is normally used when testing a "sealed" combustion unit which pulls combustion air from the outside.
Remember, the Steady State Efficiency (SSE) calculation is determined by the net stack temperature. The instrument records the temperature of the probe's thermocouple during the 60 second warm up period and assumes this is the combustion air temperature.
You will notice that the right spade plug is slightly larger than the left one and corresponds with the slightly larger connection on the outlet. You may want to put a mark on the topside of the plug to make it easier to determine which way the plug goes in.
You are now ready to turn the instrument on. To do this, press the I/O button in the lower right hand corner below the display.
Note: the instrument will also start when new batteries are installed - this was designed into the instrument to let the user know the batteries are good before replacing the battery cover and boot. Simply press the I/O button to turn it off.
Warning: do not place the probe in the sample location until after the instrument has gone through the 60 second warm up period. Doing so will not damage the instrument but will result in meaningless test results.
Immediately after pressing the I/O button, the display will read "Tech 60", an identification number, and then begin a 60 second countdown during the warm up period.
Once the warm up period is completed a fuel selection screen will appear.
Press the scroll up (or down) buttons to select the type of fuel being tested.
F1 - Natural Gas
F2 - Fuel Oil #2
F3 - LPG
F4 - Kerosene
Press the ENTER button to choose which fuel is being tested.
Note: should you forget which fuel corresponds to the which 'F' number, the information is on the back of the instrument.
Once the ENTER button is depressed you should hear the pump come on and the screen should look like this:
Bacharach engineers designed the instrument so that the Carbon Monoxide (CO) reading comes up first. When configured in the 'manual' calibration mode, this provides the operator a warning should the instrument be turned on in a CO contaminated environment.
It also makes sense that this will be the screen first used during combustion testing to evaluate burner light off. Typically, CO readings should be well under 400 ppm's on light off. Less than 50 ppm's is indicative of very smooth ignition.
Note: to turn the backlight on or off, press the LIGHT button.
By pressing the scroll up/down buttons, you can access the rest of the displays.
Pressing the scroll down button once will bring up the CO air free reading.
Keep in mind that unless flue gases are being sampled, several of the screens in the display will show dashes where the readings should be. Until the O2 reading gets below 15%, the instrument will not make a number of calculations.
For more information on the importance of CO air free readings, click here.
Pressing the scroll down button again will display the ambient temperature reading.
Pressing the scroll down button again will display the Stack Temperature and Steady State Efficiency (SSE) Readings.
Pressing the scroll down button again will display the CO2 and Excess Air calculations.
Pressing the scroll down button again will display the original O2/CO screen.
Pressing the HOLD button during any of the screens will shut off the pump and allow the user to view the other readings by pressing the SCROLL UP or DOWN buttons.
To resume sampling, press the ENTER button.
To print out the test results, place the printer approximately 18" in front of the IR transmitter on top of the instrument and press the HOLD button twice. Leave the instrument and printer in the same location until the print process is completed.
To turn the instrument off, press the I/O button.
It will countdown for 5 seconds and turn off. If you hit the I/O button accidentally, press the ENTER button (before the 5 second is up) and the instrument will return to operation.
Return to Instrument Set Up
Find out more about where to test and what results you should expect see, go to Application Information.
For information about interpreting test results and troubleshooting, go to Combustion Test Interpretation.