Dakota MX-2 User Manual

OPERATION MANUAL

P/N P

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140

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Rev 1.

9

0, August

200

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DAKOTA ULTRASONICS MODEL MX-2 ULTRASONIC THICKNESS GAUGE

Copyright  2008 Dakota Ultrasonics. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated into another
language, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means; electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written consent of Dakota Ultrasonics.

Every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this publication.
Dakota Ultrasonics assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions.
Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of
information contained herein.

Any brand or product names mentioned herein are used for identification
purposes only, and are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective holders.

1500 Green Hills Rd, #107 Scotts Valley, CA 95066

Tel [phone] Fax [phone]

http://www.dakotaultrasonics.com

CONTENTS

MX-2 Ultrasonic Thickness Gauge

INTRODU CTION
OPERATION

THE KEYPAD
THE DISPLAY
THE TRANSDUCER
MAKING MEASUREMENTS
CONDITION AND PREPARATION OF SURFACES
PROBE ZERO
CALIBRATION

PROGRAMMING THE MX-2’S SOUND VELOCITY
TRANSDUCER SELECTION
APPENDIX A: PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS
APPENDIX B: APPLICATION NOTES

1
3
3
6
8

9
11
12
13
14
16
19
21

APPENDIX C: SOUND VELOCITIES OF COMMON MATERIALS
WARRANTY INFORMATION

25
27

DISCLAIMER

Inherent in ultrasonic thickness measurement is the possibility that the
instrument will use the second rather than the first echo from the back
surface of the material being measured. This may result in a thickness
reading that is TWICE what it should be. Responsibility for proper use of
the instrument and recognition of this phenomenon rests solely with the
user of the instrument.

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MX-2 Ultrasonic Thickness Gauge

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INTRODUCTION

The Dakota Ultrasonics model MX-2 is a precision Ultrasonic
Micrometer. Based on the same operating principles as SONAR, the MX-2
is capable of measuring the thickness of various materials with accuracy as

high as ± 0.001 inches, or ± 0.01 millimeters. The principle advantage of
ultrasonic measurement over traditional methods is that ultrasonic
measurements can be performed with access to only one side of the
material being measured.

This manual is presented in three section s. The first section covers
operation of the MX-2, and explains the keypad controls and display. The
second section provides guidelines in selecting a transducer for a specific
application. The last section provides application notes and a table of
sound velocity values for various materials.

Dakota Ultrasonics maintains a customer support resource in order to
assist users with questions or difficulties not covered in this manual.
Customer support may be reached at any of the following:

• Dakota Ultrasonics, Green Hills Road, #10 7
Scotts Valley, CA 95066 USA

• Telephone: [phone]

• Facsimile: [phone]

• http://www.dakotaultrasonics.com

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MX-2 Ultrasonic Thickness Gauge

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OPERATION

The MX- 2 interacts with the operator through the membrane keypad
and the LCD display. The functions of the various keys on the keypad are
detailed below, followed by an explanation of the display and its various
symbols.

This key is used to turn the MX-2 on and off. When the gauge is turned
ON, it will first perform a brief display test by illuminating all of the
segments in the display. After one second, the gauge will display the
internal software version number. After displaying the version number, the
display will show "0.000" (or "0.00" if using metric units), indicating the
gauge is ready for use.

The MX- 2 is turned OFF by pressing the ON/OFF key. The gauge has
a special memory that retains all of its settings even when the power is off.
The gauge also features an auto-powerdown mode designed to conserve
battery life. If the gauge is idle for 5 minutes, it will turn itself off.

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The PRB- 0 key is used to "zero" the MX-2 in much the same way that a
mechanical micrometer is zeroed. If the gauge is not zeroed correctly, all
of the measurements that the gauge makes may be in error by some fixed
value. Refer to page 12 for an explanation of this important procedure.

The IN/MM key is used to switch back and forth between English and
Metric units. This key may be used at any time, whether the gauge is

displaying a thickness (IN or MM) or a velocity value (IN/µs or M/s).

The BACKLIGHT key switches the display backlight between three
available settings. OFF will be displayed when the backlight is switched
off. AUTO will be displayed when the backlight is set to automatic mode,
and ON will be displayed when the backlight is set to stay on. In the AUTO
setting, the backlight will illuminate when the MX- 2 is actually making a
measurement.

MX-2 Ultrasonic Thickness Gauge

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The MAT’L key is used to toggle through the 8 hard set and 2 user
programmed material types. When this key is pressed, the abbreviated
material name will be displayed followed by the material velocity for that
specific material. The 2 user defined material locations will display “Usr 1”
and “Usr 2” respectively. Note: The material velocities in the MX- 2 are
approximate velocities only. Materials of the same type may have slightly
different material velocities introducing error into the overall measurement.

Note: The material types hard set in the M X-2 are listed by type,
abbreviation, and velocity on the back of the MX-2.

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The Display

The numeric portion of the display consists of 4 complete digits
preceded by a leading "1", and is used to display numeric values, as well
as occasional simple words, to indicate the status of various settings.
When the MX-2 is displaying thickness measurements, the display will hold

the last value measured, until a new measurement is made. Additionally,

when the battery voltage is low, the entire display will begin to flash.
When this occurs, the batteries should be replaced.

These eight vertical bars form the Stability Indicator. When the MX-2 is
idle, only the left -most bar and the underline will be on. When the gauge is
making a measurement, six or seven of the bars should be on. If fewer

than five bars are on, the MX- 2 is having difficulty achieving a stable
measurement, and the thickness value displayed will most likely be
erroneous.