30
Hygea 6427 good practice
The need to degas:
In order to allow optimum ultrasonic activity, the gases present in
ordinary tap water need to be driven out of the cleaning solution.
The time needed to degas the liquid varies depending on the amount of gas present in the
liquid and the quantity of water in the tank. Ultrawave recommends a degas period of at
least 10 minutes.
During the degas cycle, you will see bubbles of gas forming on the inside of the bath, and
slowly rising to the surface. Degassing is complete when you can no longer see these
bubbles.
Another indication of increased “cold-boiling” at the liquid surface indicates that the liquid
is degassed.
Once the liquid is degassed, the bath is immediately useable and will run the cleaning
cycle.
The effect of heat:
Heating the liquid in the bath will aid the cleaning process.
Normally a temperature of between 30 to 60°C is sufficient to accelerate the process.
However, when cleaning medical instruments, the
maximum temperature should be
set to 40°C
. Setting the Max above 40°C may cause proteins to coagulate and “bake on”
to the instruments.
Ultrasonic activity itself will heat up the liquid at a rate of approximately 10-15°C per hour
if in continuous use.
Baskets:
Instruments should be placed in a
Hygea 6427
basket
Cleaning time:
The
Hygea 6427
cycle time is pre-set to 10 minutes. This is changeable
by the machine administrator. Independent tests have shown that this is adequate for all
but the most heavily soiled instruments.
If the instruments are not clean at the end of a cycle, then repeat the cleaning cycle, or
increase the cycle time as explained on page 13 of the
Administrator manual
.
Rinsing:
After the instruments are removed from the
Hygea 6427
they should be rinsed
with clean running water prior to the next stage in the decontamination process.
Rinsing the instruments ensures that any contaminants present in the water at the end of
the cycle do not re-adhere to the instruments when the baskets are removed from the
Hygea 6427
.
Portable Appliance Testing should be conducted with water in the bath.
