Test equipment is one of the material bases of quality inspection. This paper introduces the management and maintenance of laboratory instruments and equipment from two aspects of type selection and demonstration in the process of equipment purchase and maintenance in the process of equipment use.
Test the characteristics of equipment
1. has high technology content and complex structure.
With the continuous improvement of national requirements for product quality, detection technology has also developed rapidly, with advanced instruments and equipment constantly emerging and old equipment constantly upgrading; At the same time, modern experimental technology is developing in the direction of interdisciplinary infiltration and multidisciplinary intelligence-intensive. Many large-scale precision instruments and equipment are the concentrated expression of multi-disciplinary intelligence such as chemistry, machinery, electronics, optics, biology and computer, such as GC-MS and AAS. . .
2. There are many varieties and large quantities.
Such as various ultrasonic oscillators, vacuum drying boxes, ultraviolet-visible spectrometers, optical microscopes, scales and the like. . . This kind of instrument has low unit price, many varieties and large quantity, which is suitable for basic detection tasks. Frequent use will lead to aging, bring a lot of workload to maintenance personnel, and it is difficult to repair in time, thus affecting the detection. The number of professional testing equipment and large-scale precision instruments and equipment is small, but there are many varieties and high unit price. Users need to attend the training of instrument manufacturers and on-the-job training of test operation. If there is a fault, it is difficult to repair it only by the maintenance force of the unit, and the manufacturer must be contacted to deal with it, which will inevitably lead to a long maintenance cycle, high maintenance price and delay the completion of the inspection task. . .
Main existing problems
1. The equipment was neglected for maintenance.
Most chemical testing equipment belongs to precision instruments, which requires testing operators to know not only how to use it, but also the basic principles, precautions and storage environment of the instrument, so that the failure rate of the instrument will be reduced [1]. For example, the single yarn strength machine commonly used in textile laboratory, the universal material testing machine used for peeling and bursting test, and the screw of mechanical part all need to be oiled and maintained frequently, but in actual use, it is often because of the low frequency of use. Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer is a kind of optical precision instrument, which is easily neglected in maintenance and widely used. The optical lens should be positioned accurately, and the storage environment should be dustproof, shockproof and moisture-proof. The environmental requirements are that the room temperature should be kept at 15℃ ~ 35℃, without direct light, strong vibration or continuous micro-vibration, strong magnetic field, relative humidity of 40% ~ 80%, and without corrosive gases and organic substances causing ultraviolet absorption. If the optical instrument is stored in a general laboratory, the mirror will be damp and moldy in a humid environment. In some laboratories, there are devices such as placing optical analysis instruments near centrifuges or oscillators, so that operators can perform optical analysis on samples after centrifugation procedures. However, when the optical analysis instrument is near the high-speed instrument for a long time, the lens may be shaken off or broken. Many such problems were found in the process of maintenance, and the instrument management was slightly neglected [2], which had a great impact on the test and increased the workload and maintenance costs of maintenance personnel.
2. The instrument lacks maintenance documents.
When testing instruments are used normally after purchase, installation and acceptance, all relevant data should be classified and filed, and instrument files should be established. Archives mainly include technical data such as contracts and work instructions. After the equipment arrives at the corresponding department, there should be corresponding instrument use records, maintenance records and maintenance records. But sometimes it will form a "heavy purchase, light maintenance; Pay more attention to use than management, and pay insufficient attention to use, maintenance and repair records. For example, ultrasonic oscillation instruments are widely used in the laboratory. During the maintenance, it was found that due to improper maintenance, the operator failed to dry the spilled water or chemicals in time after use, which corroded the circuit board of the instrument, resulting in the need to replace the whole circuit board, which not only prolonged the maintenance time, but also delayed the use and increased the cost. Because of the tight maintenance time and many tasks, many repaired instruments often neglect to record the maintenance situation, which is not conducive to the statistical utilization rate, and it is not convenient for new maintenance personnel to inquire about faults and replace parts, which affects the maintenance efficiency of repetitive faults or related faults.
3. The old equipment can't meet the requirements of capability verification.
The CNAS Laboratory's competency certification program has different projects almost every year. The strength of the device is tested by comparison between laboratories. Usually, large-scale laboratory instruments are expensive, and they are usually the key objects in maintenance, so the service cycle is long, so there is a problem whether they can meet the requirements of instrument inspection standards. However, for the data after capability verification, the old equipment usually gets unsatisfactory conclusions.
3. Cause analysis
1. Users despise equipment maintenance.
When repairing equipment, we will find that many faults are caused by human beings. There are two reasons for human failure:
(1) The operator is not familiar with the operating rules of instruments and equipment or violates the operating rules;
(2) The operator's sense of responsibility is not strong, and these two situations often account for the majority of the latter. For example, when maintaining the constant temperature and humidity treatment box, some faults are found because the operator's sense of responsibility is not strong when using it, and the water in the heating box does not pass through the heating tube, so it begins to heat up, resulting in dry burning and bursting of the heating tube or circuit burning out. The same problem exists with magnetic stirrers.
2. It is particularly necessary to establish equipment maintenance files.
With more and more testing items, the types and quantity of testing equipment are increasing year by year, and the value of equipment is getting higher and higher. However, the number of equipment maintenance personnel is limited to the establishment or personnel cost, and has not increased. How to get familiar with these various kinds of equipment as soon as possible, understand the principle and operation method of the equipment, and deal with various faults quickly is a difficult problem faced by every equipment maintenance personnel. Establish and improve equipment maintenance files, and file each equipment. According to the requirements of the maintenance application, the maintenance personnel can know the instrument through the file information, deal with the fault in time, and save the reasons, treatment methods, required quantities and other information of the fault phenomenon in text form. It is convenient for laboratory administrators to check the equipment usage and maintenance costs when necessary. Doing a good job of maintenance records can provide reference for the technical transformation and scrapping identification of instruments [3].
3. Different laboratories are under pressure to update their equipment.
Different from scientific research and testing units, pure third-party testing laboratories often do not have the support of scientific research projects and cannot use scientific research funds to purchase advanced testing instruments, resulting in a long service life of large-scale equipment, but at the same time, capable laboratories often update advanced equipment with higher precision. The ability to verify this and test whether the test data of multiple laboratories are discrete often leads to a large number of deviations from the average data due to the mismatch between the previous production technology and the current test [
4. Countermeasures and suggestions
1. Management when purchasing test equipment.
The purchase of test equipment is a purposeful purchase according to the needs of testing, not a lot of equipment. According to the needs of laboratory testing, on the basis of adding basic testing equipment, carefully select the equipment to be purchased. Test the parameters of the equipment. This is a hard index when purchasing ―― the technical parameters and accuracy of testing equipment are related to the final result of testing. If there is an accident caused by the test equipment during the test, the test will fail. Therefore, when purchasing testing equipment, they must be required to meet the relevant national parameters in quality before the next operation.
There are three aspects to determine the performance parameters of equipment selection:
(1) Compared with the general models on the market. Through market research, we can get whether the parameters of the general model meet the test requirements.
(2) According to the requirements of technical parameters of instruments in inspection standards. The requirements of instrument performance and accuracy in the standard are important parameters for testing purchased equipment.
(3) Compared with instruments purchased in similar quality inspection institutions.
You can consult the instruments with similar testing items purchased by peer laboratories, because you have a period of experience in using them, and you can have a more comprehensive understanding of the performance and after-sales of the instruments. In addition, you can also consult metrological verification institutions, because such institutions often issue calibration reports, so they can provide more accurate data support for the performance of a product.
Choose a manufacturer with excellent reputation and quality, and both parties can reach a long-term cooperative relationship if conditions permit. Choosing such a manufacturer not only ensures the product quality, but also can find the supplier independently when there are some problems in the product, and the two sides can solve the problems through friendly negotiation, which reduces the probability of problems in the test. The general equipment of the laboratory, such as constant temperature water bath pots, scales and other instruments, should be supplied by excellent distributors. Because of the large supply of such products, manufacturers have dealers in the laboratory to be responsible for the supply and after-sales problems. Through this channel, we can get better price concessions by using the sales volume of dealers. In addition, in after-sales maintenance, large-scale dealers generally have local spare parts warehouses, which can quickly solve instrument failures. When buying expensive instruments, you usually contact the manufacturer directly to buy them, which can save unnecessary middleman links. When purchasing expensive imported instruments, scientific research and public welfare institutions often have tax-free qualifications, and generally entrust professional instrument import and export companies to handle relevant procedures to improve work efficiency.
When purchasing instruments, we should also pay attention to their service life and precautions, make corresponding records, and conduct verification or calibration before putting them into use. For large-scale test equipment, there may be some troubles in maintenance. When purchasing these instruments and equipment, we should pay attention to their precautions and send people to study and train accordingly, so as to reduce their damage in future use and prolong their service life. Some experimental equipment can't be put together, for example, some equipment will be magnetic, while some measuring equipment requires higher accuracy. Therefore, when placing equipment, we should pay attention to whether they affect each other. For the service life, managers must have a clear record, which is of great significance to the accuracy of the test. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly check and maintain the test equipment, and at the same time establish the use files and manuals.
Actively make use of the preferential policies for the introduction of advanced equipment issued by the local science and technology commission and science and technology bureau, and apply to the local customs for tax exemption for qualified scientific research institutions to purchase instruments, so as to reduce the cost of purchasing advanced imported instruments.
2. Reasonably configure the process layout of the laboratory.
Laboratory construction, including the renewal of testing instruments and equipment, has attracted widespread attention. In the process of maintenance, it is found that the investment in environment and space use can not be ignored. In summer, when the weather is humid, instruments are prone to mildew and damage. Especially when optical instruments are equipped, they should be placed in a constant temperature and humidity laboratory or dehumidifiers and air conditioners should be purchased as basic instruments to reduce air humidity and reduce maintenance and management costs. In addition, it is often found that a large number of instruments are piled up in a laboratory during maintenance, and the importance of interference between instruments has not been paid attention to. In addition, due to the influence of the house layout, the laboratory space allocation is unreasonable, and some laboratories have limited space. It is necessary to put the testing instruments, pools and precision electronic instruments of a certain testing project in one laboratory, which will easily lead to serious corrosion of electronic instruments. Some laboratories used to have sewer pipes, which were relatively humid, and placed electronic balance and other testing equipment, which had a great influence on the accuracy of the balance; For another example, some laboratories line up the mechanical and electrical equipment used, and the instruments are in close contact, regardless of interference and heat dissipation. Therefore, when placing equipment, the space should be considered comprehensively to prevent the influence between the equipment and the environment and reduce the maintenance cost.
Safety, efficiency and comfort are the three elements of an ideal laboratory environment. The construction of the laboratory is not only the simple construction of the laboratory and the purchase of reasonable instruments and equipment, but also the overall planning, rational layout and plane design of the laboratory, as well as equipment and basic conditions such as water supply, power supply, ventilation, safety measures and material transfer. For precision instruments, it can be considered to face north to avoid light, which can save the refrigeration capacity of air conditioning. Precision instruments should be placed perpendicular to the north window to prevent shadows or dizziness; The console is built on the east side; Chemicals should be placed on the west side to avoid direct sunlight. Instruments with seismic requirements, such as mechanics room, balance room and precision instrument room, can generally be placed on a console. Precision instruments should reduce interference such as vibration and dust. . . The layout of the laboratory should be convenient for operators to operate and fill in the original records conveniently and quickly.
3. Strengthen the cultivation of operators' hands-on ability
There are generally three reasons for the failure of instruments and equipment, namely, misoperation of operators, poor storage environment and poor quality of instruments and products. From the author's experience, the actual situation is that the fault caused by user's misoperation is the main factor of equipment operation, and the other two are controllable factors. Therefore, cultivating the operator's practical ability is an important factor to reduce instrument failures. In order to improve the hands-on ability of operators, laboratory managers should first organize after-sales engineers or maintenance managers of instrument suppliers to conduct practical training before operation. Before the test, carefully check the main components of the instrument and equipment, and carefully observe and operate whether the connectors of the instrument and equipment are well connected, loose and worn. , and remove dirt, dust, corrosion and liquid leakage in key parts of instruments and equipment to prevent failures. Secondly, the operator must master the contents of the manual and all kinds of technical data and data attached to the instrument, and operate carefully as required. Professional engineers should train the operators in the use of the instrument, and explain in detail the use methods and precautions of the instrument and the structure of the instrument to prevent the instrument from failing due to misoperation.
4. Improve the technical files of instruments and equipment.
(1) Establishment and storage of files.
Equipment manager should assist the data manager to establish the equipment files, and the pre-sales research data, purchase contracts, equipment acceptance sheets, random instructions and other materials processed in equipment manager should be handed over to the file management department in time to ensure that the procedures in the files are complete. Only by correctly managing and analyzing these documents can we make better use of these equipment and extend its service life. Therefore, after each test is completed and the test equipment is cleaned, corresponding records should be made. This practice is not only a maintenance of the equipment, but also provides convenience for finding the cause of the problem in the future. After the file is established, managers need to manage it by categories to facilitate the search for relevant information in the future.
(2) the file should have content.
Technical files of large-scale precision instruments, including project demonstration data, instructions, operation steps, daily operation of auxiliary instruments, etc. In order to ensure the normal operation of large-scale instruments and equipment, we must first do a good job in the file management of instruments and equipment. Large-scale instruments are used normally after purchase, installation and acceptance, and relevant data are filed. The establishment of instrument files mainly includes technical files, instrument use record books, maintenance records, etc. This is the basis to ensure the efficient operation of the instrument and technical transformation. In order to ensure that the instrument is in the best technical condition, every time you use the instrument, you need to register the details in a special notebook, recording the user, use content, start-up time, operation, maintenance, troubleshooting, damage and reasons. , and save the test data in a file. Only by strictly managing archives can we ensure the intact rate of instruments and equipment and improve the efficiency of use. File borrowing must be recorded in writing, and the responsibility should be carried out to people to avoid loss.
(3) Equipment files should have maintenance records.
Every maintenance and repair should be recorded in writing, such as problems found in equipment maintenance, fault phenomena in equipment maintenance, solutions, final diagnosis conclusions and treatment methods. Pay attention to the study of electrical and mechanical schematic diagram of equipment. For frequently used drawings, cover them with plastic film to ensure that they are clean and visible, and will not be polluted by oil pollution from on-site maintenance. Each instrument and equipment must also be equipped with an instrument maintenance record book and an instrument use record book. When and what faults and maintenance happened to the instrument should be recorded in the instrument maintenance record to provide detailed files for the normal operation and daily maintenance of the instrument in the future.
5. Maintain team building
In order to ensure the normal operation of test instruments and equipment, we should not only have enough maintenance funds, but also ensure the timeliness of equipment maintenance. It is time-consuming and expensive to rely on manufacturers for maintenance. Therefore, this unit should gradually cultivate its own maintenance team and maintain the equipment regularly. The competent department of equipment should make an annual instrument and equipment maintenance plan according to the actual situation every year, which not only saves money, but also ensures the real-time maintenance. Therefore, based on this unit, a fine and efficient maintenance team should be formed. Conduct regular technical training for technicians and managers, improve maintenance skills and management level, and accumulate maintenance experience through practice.
6. Pay attention to the procurement of consumables and maintenance spare parts.
Consumables matched with imported instruments are often imported original consumables. On the premise of ensuring the accuracy of test data, domestic consumables and spare parts can be used as much as possible to reduce the test cost. For example, the element lamp for atomic absorption and the injection tube in the thermal desorption instrument for sample injection of analytical instruments all have domestic alternative consumables with stable performance, and the price is much lower than that of imported consumables. For frequently used maintenance spare parts, spare parts should be available to reduce the time cost of procurement when problems occur.
The management and maintenance of laboratory equipment can not only improve the standardization of laboratory equipment management, but also further improve the effective utilization of laboratory equipment; It can also strengthen the safety management of laboratory instruments and equipment, which plays an important role in the smooth completion of the test. It is of great significance to formulate strict rules and regulations for the management and maintenance of laboratory equipment and instruments and to ensure the inspection quality [5]. Improving the comprehensive quality of managers, strengthening the sense of responsibility of operators and perfecting the instrument maintenance files not only solve the problems of high maintenance requirements, heavy tasks and tight time, but also save the testing cost, improve the use efficiency of testing instruments, and provide a strong guarantee for building a scientific, fair, accurate and efficient testing service platform.