PASCO PS-2151 User Manual

Thermocline

Sensor Head

Instruction Sheet

Thermocline Sensor

Model PS-2151

No. 012-08734A

Sensor Amplifier

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Equipment Included Replacement

Part

Thermocline Sensor Head

003-08790

with 10 m cable

Thermocline Sensor Amplifier

003-08736

Additional Equipment Required Model

Number

PASPORT™ interface

DataStudio

®

version 1.9 or higher

see PASCO

catalog

see PASCO

catalog

Description

The PASCO Model PS-2151 Thermocline Sensor
allows students to study the relationship between
depth and temperature in a body of water.

The sensor head has two sensors built into a
watertight housing: a depth sensor and a tempera­ture sensor. It has a 10 m cable with a connector

that plugs into the amplifier box. The amplifier
box, in turn, plugs into your PASPORT interface.

The depth sensor is a
gauge-type pressure sen­sor with a stainless steel
housing and a stainless
steel diaphragm. The
entire sensor head is
designed to resist the
corrosive effects of salt
water.

temperature

sensor

pressure

sensor

Operation

Connect the Thermocline Sensor head to the
amplifier box. Connect the amplifier box to a
PASPORT interface. If you will use a computer to
collect data, connect the interface to the computer
and start DataStudio.

Start data recording and lower the sensor head
into the water. The temperature sensor takes a few
seconds to respond to changes in temperature, so
lower the sensor head slowly. For the most accu-

Thermocline Sensor Model No. PS-2151

rate temperature measurement at a particular
depth, hold the sensor still and wait until the read­ing has stabilized.

You can also leave the sensor head in the water
and record changes in depth and temperature over

Range 0 °C to 70 °C

Absolute Accuracy ±1.5 °C typical

Temperature Sensor

± 0.6 °C at 25 °C

time.

Resolution 0.05 °C

Calibration

Calibration is usually not necessary. The Ther­mocline Sensor is factory tested and calibrated.
The depth-sensing element is calibrated for use in
fresh water or saltwater, and you can select either
of these calibrations in the software.

The reference pressure for the depth sensor is
sealed into the PVC fitting. The barometric pres­sure at the time and location that the sensor was
built is the reference pressure. If the local baro­metric pressure is different from the reference
pressure, then a small offset error will occur; the
depth reported by the sensor at the surface of the
water will not be zero. In most cases this error is
only a few centimeters and can be ignored. To
remove the error, define a calculation in DataStu­dio to subtract the offset (see the DataStudio Help
menu for instructions on using the calculator.)

Response Time
(10% to 90%)

10 s

Technical Support

For assistance with any PASCO product, contact
PAS CO at :

Address: PASCO scientific

10101 Foothills Blvd.
Roseville, CA 95747-7100

Phone: [phone]

[phone]

Fax: [phone]

Web: www.pasco.com

Email: [e-mail]

Copyright and Warranty

Specifications

Depth (Pressure) Sensor

Range 0 to 34.6 feet

(0 to 10.54 m)

Absolute Accuracy* 0.5 feet (0.15 m)

Repeatability ± 0.05% of full scale

Resolution 0.1 feet (0.03 m)

Response Time
(10% to 90%)**

Temperature
Compensation

*

Absolute accuracy after barometric pressure
compensation.
0 to 34.5 feet (0 to 10.54 m).

**

Maximum instantaneous transition:

0.5 ms

0 °C to 70 °C

Information

Copyright Notice

The PASCO scientific 012-08734A Thermocline
Sensor Instruction Sheet is copyrighted and all

rights reserved. However, permission is granted
to non-profit educational institutions for repro­duction of any part of this manual, providing the
reproductions are used only for their laboratories
and are not sold for profit. Reproduction under
any other circumstances, without the written con­sent of PASCO scientific, is prohibited.

Limited Warranty

For a description of the product warranty, see the
PASCO catalog.

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®