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2.5
Gland Plate
The Ai1 is supplied with a 6mm clear acrylic plate with various laser-cut holes as described in Figure 6. The
Standard
gland plate included with the Ai1BUOY has two holes to suit a Micro Circular bulkhead connector at the locations
identified by “Sensor 1”
and “Sensor 2”
. The Ai1 uses Birns Aquamate
Micro Circular
(MCBH6FSS
3
) connectors to
connect to a wide variety of water quality sensors. The bulkhead mounted connectors are used for easy connection
and disconnection without allowing water ingress.
Figure 6 - Gland Plate hole layout and usage. Sensor-3 is indicated where it is recommended to be drilled but is not pre-drilled on any options.
Figure 7
–
Micro-circular and M12 bulkhead connectors with custom pressure sensor vent port.
Option
Sensor-1
Sensor-2
Common Usage
Standard Micro-circular
-
Single instrument such as YSI EXO, DCS, Seabird, etc
Option 1 Micro-circular
Micro-circular
Dual instruments such as YSI EXO & Aanderra DCS combo
Option 2 Micro-circular
M12
Single instrument plus add-on option such as display or satellite
Option 3 M12
-
Single sensor using universal wiring system (see section 3.5)
Option 4 M12
M12
Dual sensors using universal wiring system
Table 1- Gland plate options with various Sensor-1 and Sensor-2 configurations
It is possible to modify the gland plate with an extra M12 port by drilling a
hole with a 5/8” stepper drill at the
location indicated by Sensor 3 in Figure 6 above
4
. It is not possible to add a 3
rd
Micro-circular connector due to the
bulkhead connector height so if a 3
rd
sensor using the Micro-circular system is required, a Y cable is recommended,
or consider using the Auxiliary port on a YSI EXO Sonde for suitable instruments.
Micro-circular
port common modifications
Connectors
•
The 11mm micro-circular port
can be drilled out to 5/8” to suit a M12 front
-nut connector.
•
Some instruments with large bulkhead connectors (i.e., Insitu Troll) need this hole drilled out
to size.
Glands
•
For a gland entry, the M12 port is recommended over the Micro-circular port, as that port
suits more common cable sizes and allows a gland which uses a rear-nut rather than
3
MC = Micro-Circular, BH = Bulkhead, 6 = 6-pin, F = Female, SS = Stainless Steel. A compatibility table listing compatibility with Subconn, Seacon and Impulse connectors is available:
http://www.birnsaquamate.com/uploads/2/8/2/8/28287859/compatability_table_ls_table.pdf
. Most sensors use the 6-pin version although some (such as the Aanderra DCS) use a 4-pin version.
4
Acrylic is strong yet brittle so care must be taken when drilling. Holes are best drilled with step drills to prevent cracking. Acrylic can take threads from M3 to M20. Care should be taken for fine threads or threads
with excessive force. When drilling and tapping, use a lubricant such as WD40 and take care when finishing the hole or the acrylic may crack from the edges.
Waterproof
Vent
Alignment
Notch
Sensor-1
Sensor-2
Six holes for sealing gland plate on Ai1 body (highlighted by blue hexagon)
Three holes for fixing DB600
bracket on 27W version
(highlighted by red triangle)
X Sensor-3
