Monroe Electronics 288 Operator's Manual



Operators’ Manual

Monroe Electronics, Inc.

Model 288

Charge Plate Monitor

P/N 0340174

288-1/100

V1.03

100 Housel Ave

PO Box 535 Lyndonville NY 14098 1-800-821-6001 585-765-2254  fax: [phone] monroe-electronics.com

CONTENTS

Specifications Section 1

Specifications Page 3
Accessories included Page 3
What this instrument does Page 4
Physical description Page 4

General Information Section 2

CAUTION – SHOCK HAZARD Page 5

Setup – First things first Section 3

SETUP SYSTEM Menu Page 6
M SETUP Menu Page 6
A SETUP Menu Page 7
OPTION Menu Page 7

Operation Section 4

Manual operation Page 8
Programming f eat ures Page 8
Automatic operation Page 9
Programming f eat ures Page 9
Additional features Page 10
Group and location Page 10
Test parameter setups Page 10
Data storage and review Page 10
Peak reset Page 10
Plate voltage bargraph Page 10
Power Page 10
Charge plate Page 10
Grounds Page 10
Analog output Page 10

Maintenance Section 5

Precautions Page 11
Cleaning Page 11
Battery Page 11
Charge state indicator Page 11
Calibration Page 11

References Section 6

References Page 12

Warranty Information
Repair Information

Specifications and procedures subject to change without not i ce

Copyright© 2000

Monroe Electronics, Inc .

Printed in USA

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Section 1

SPECIFICATIONS

All specifications are referred to PLate VColtage unless otherwise specified.

Charging Voltage:

Zero Stability:
Timer:

Start Voltages:

Stop Voltages:

Peak Displays:
Power:

Voltage Output Monitor:

Display:

Voltage Display:
Timer Display:

Accuracy:
Bandwidth:

Zero Drift:
Charge Plate Capacitance:
Plate Self-discharge:
Operation Temperature:
Temperature Sensor:
Operating RH:
Humidity Sensor:
Size:
Weight:

Specifications subject to change without notice

±10 to ±1000 volts, differential
adjustable 10 volts to 100 volts in 1 volt
increments
<100mV/sec

0.1 to 999.9 seconds in 0.1 sec
increments
1000 to 9999 seconds in 1 sec
increments
1000 volts ±0.3% standard, adjustable
between 10 and 1000 volts in 1 volt
increments
100 volts ±3% standard, adjustable
between 0 and 995 volts in 1 volt
increments
±peak voltage during float mode

90-250 VAC 50/60 Hz, internal 12 volt
battery with built-in charger (6
hr/charge)
divide by 200, 0.1%, speed of response
<10ms

240 x 64, character/graphic
3 ½ digit, ±1.0 volt resolution
4 digit
electrometer ±0.1% of reading, ±1 volt

referred to input
1kHz at 20V

, 10Hz at 2000V

p-p

p-p

<100mV/sec
20pF, ±5%
<200mV/sec
5°C to 35°C
±2°C typ
to 80%, non-condensing
±5% typ from 10% to 80% RH @25°C
11” x 9” x 6”
12½ lb.

Accessories included:

Charge plate extension cable (5ft.)
Ground cable
Power cord
Operator’s Manual

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What this instrument does —

As Ionizers were introduced to control static charges there became a need to test those
ionizers to verify their performance. I n about 1985 Ion Systems introduced the first charged
plate monitor, followed by Monroe Electronics’ Model 268 and several other companies.
These all used a fieldmeter sensing t echnology and became part of the ESD Association
Standard 3.1. This standard spelled out t he plat e size, 6” x 6” and char ge decay voltages,
5000V to 500V for room ionization and 1000V to 100V f or bench top ionization. These
worked well for years but the new technologies in the semiconductor and disk drive
industries have created a demand for lower work environment voltag es. Many companies
now want a test instrument that will accurately measure ionizer performance to less than
10V. The fieldmeter style charg ed plat e monitors are not capable of doing t his with the
degree of accuracy required.

The other issues driving the demand f or new instrum ent ation revolve around documentation
and labor. Wit h all of the instruments available today, a manual record of the test results
must be created. This is the only way to provide the documentation required in an ESD
audit. The sheer volume of ionizers has created an addit ional pr essur e in the modern
manufacturing f acilit y. At one time a factory may have had just a few critical areas where
ionizers were being used. Today many companies have hundreds of ionizers, all of which
need periodic testing. All of t he inst ruments available require manual testing for each decay
and balance sequence, an enormous amount of labor hour s .

With the Model 288 we have continued a design direction that we began with the Model 287
Ionizer Performance Analyzer. For those of you not familiar with the 287, it is a small,
portable charged plate instrument t hat not only allows the user to program several key
operating parameters and store t he r esults in memory, but uses a contacting electrometer
measurement technique f or vastly impr oved performance at low levels. However the bigger
advantage to this device is the ability to pre-program a ser ies of decay and balance tests
which can then be initiated by pushing a single button.

With the Model 288 we have taken these advances to a higher level. The user no longer has
to design tests around the limitat ions of the instrument. Because almost all par am eters of
this instrument are adjustable, t he tests can be designed for optimal r esult s and t he Model
288 programmed to perf o r m those tests. In addition this unit is completely port able, with up
to six hours of operation on the internal batt er y and memory for storage of over 1000 test s.

Physical Description:

The Model 288 Charge Plate Monitor has a black powder coated metal case. The display is
a large (240 X 60 Character/graphic), back-lit LCD. With this lar ge display all pertinent test
information can be shown simultaneously. All operations are contr olled via the five switches
on the front panel. Switch function varies depending on t he selected mode and is labeled
using the LCD screen (soft keys). On the right hand side of the front panel is a vertical row
of LED’s which track and display the plate voltage. T he r ange switch located below allows
the user to select the voltage span of t he LED’s. The charge plate is detachable and has a
variety of mounting options. An RS232 port on t he r e ar of the unit allows connection to a PC
for the transfer of information.

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