Chapter 15
Maintaining a Photoionization Detector
PID Maintenance
318
Maintenance and Troubleshooting Manual
PID Maintenance
The Photoionization Detector requires relatively little maintenance. To properly
maintaining the detector, you should perform the following sequences:
•
UV lamp replacement
•
Cleaning the UV lamp window
The UV Lamp must be replaced when exhausted, faulty or when a different class
of compounds is to be analyzed. Table 15-2 reports the available lamps and their
application field.
Table 15-2.
Lamp type
Application
8.4 eV
Determination of amines and polycyclic aromatic compounds.
9.6 eV
Determination of low-boiling aromatic compounds (BTEX
analyses)
10.6 eV
General applications.
Filled with krypton, emits at 10.0 and 10.6 eV.
11.8 eV
Determination of aldehydes and ketones.
Available UV lamps for PID detection
NOTE
Keep always a spare UV lamp in your laboratory because the lamp could collapse
suddenly, without warning signs.
CAUTION
Make sure to have appropriate filters installed on the carrier and make-up gas lines,
and replace them regularly.
Leaks
Checking for leaks a system fitted with a PID detector requires, beside the usual
operations that are described in the relevant chapter (see
page 179), an additional test. This operation, that must be executed with the
detector installed, is reported in