Proceq Resipod Family Operating Instructions Manual
Made in Switzerland
Operating Instructions
Concrete Durability Testing
family
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© 2017 Proceq SA
Contents
1 Safety and Liability .......................................... 3
2 Getting started ............................................. 3
2.1 Resipod Basics ............................................ 3
2.2 The Resipod Measurement Principle ............................ 4
2.3 The Resipod Display ........................................ 5
3 Measuring Resistivity with Resipod ............................. 7
3.1 Making a Measurement ...................................... 7
3.2 Memory Function ........................................... 8
4 Resistivity Measurements on Site ............................. 10
4.1 Influences ................................................ 10
4.2 Applications .............................................. 11
5 Quality Control Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5.1 Resipod Bulk Resistivity ..................................... 13
5.2 Resipod Geometric ........................................ 16
6 Units, Parts and Accessories ................................. 17
7 Technical Specifications ..................................... 17
8 Maintenance and Support ................................... 18
9 ResipodLink Software ...................................... 20
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1 Safety and Liability
Safety and Usage Precautions
This manual contains important information on the safety, use and maintenance of the Resipod.
Read through the manual carefully before the first use of the instrument. Keep the manual in a safe
place for future reference.
Liability
Our “General Terms and Conditions of Sale and Delivery” apply in all cases. Warranty and liability
claims arising from personal injury and damage to property cannot be upheld if they are due to one
or more of the following causes:
- Failure to use the instrument in accordance with its designated use as described in this
manual.
- Incorrect performance check for operation and maintenance of the instrument and its
components.
- Failure to adhere to the sections of the manual dealing with the performance check,
operation and maintenance of the instrument and its components.
- Unauthorized structural modifications to the instrument and its components.
- Serious damage resulting from the effects of foreign bodies, accidents, vandalism and force
majeure.
All information contained in this documentation is presented in good faith and believed to be
correct. Proceq SA makes no warranties and excludes all liability as to the completeness and/or
accuracy of the information.
Safety Instructions
The instrument is not allowed to be operated by children or anyone under the influence of alcohol,
drugs or pharmaceutical preparations. Anyone who is not familiar with this manual must be
supervised when using the instrument.
2 Getting started
Note: When shipped, battery packs are not fully charged. Prior to use, please
charge the battery completely. To prevent the battery from damage, avoid deepdischarging or storing it long-term when empty. Store the instrument at room temperature and charge the battery fully at least once a year.
2.1 Resipod Basics
Charging the Resipod
The battery status symbol will be displayed when the accumulator is at 10% of its capacity. In this
case it is still possible to make a large number of measurements, but it is advisable to recharge
the battery by connecting the unit to a wall adaptor or a PC via the USB port. A complete charging
cycle will last approximately 6 hours. Autonomy is > 50 hours.
Operation - Power ON / OFF
Press the “Hold” button on the side of the Resipod to power on.
Press and hold the button for >2 s to shut the unit off (auto shutdown after 10 min. of stand-by)
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Functional Check
Perform a functional check as described in chapter 8.
Performing a reset
A small reset button is located beneath the watertight cover for
the USB port. If the instrument has locked up or does not respond,
pressing this button with a paper clip will perform a reset.
2.2 The Resipod Measurement Principle
The Resipod is an evolution of the industry standard CNS Farnell RM MKII resistivity meter,
operating on the principle of the Wenner probe.
The Resipod is designed to
measure the electrical resistivity of
concrete. A current is applied to the
two outer probes and the potential
difference is measured between
the two inner probes. The current
is carried by ions in the pore liquid.
The calculated resistivity depends
on the spacing of the probes.
Resistivity ρ= 2πaV/l [kΩcm]
Hold
Save
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Resipod models
Two versions of Resipod are available:
- The 50 mm probe spacing model
conforms to the accepted industry
standard.
- The 38 mm (1.5”) probe spacing model
conforms to the specification of the
AASHTO T 358 surface resistivity test
method.
Due to the inhomogeneous nature of concrete, a wider probe spacing is preferred as it allows a
more homogeneous flow of the measuring current. However, this usually has to be offset against
the need to avoid the influence of reinforcing steel (see chapter 3). 50 mm spacing is typically
considered a good compromise.
Both units operate with a digitally generated 40 Hz alternating current at 38 V max.
2.3 The Resipod Display
1. Measured resistivity
2. Battery status
3. Range indication
4. Current indication
20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, 100%
5. Indication of scaled reading
Measured resistivity
Display resolution depends on the measured resistivity and the nominal current flowing. See
technical data.
Battery status
The battery status symbol will be displayed when the accumulator is at 10% of its capacity.
Otherwise it is blanked out.
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Range indication
Resipod has two current ranges.
Range indicator to the right: 200 µA range
Provided the external resistance (contact resistance of the
two outer probes plus resistance of the specimen) is not too
high, Resipod will drive the maximum current (200 µA) through
the specimen.
Range indicator to the left: 10 - 50 µA range
When the external resistance is too high, Resipod
automatically switches to supply 50 µA.
For even higher resistances, the unit applies the maximum voltage across the outer electrodes
and senses the resulting current through the specimen. In this case, the displayed resistivity is a
calculated value (voltage across inner probes divided by current sensed in outer probes), and the
reading is rounded to the nearest kΩcm. This mode works down to a current of 10µA (1 segment
lit). Below this range “OL” is indicated. (See “Indication of poor connection” below).
Current indication
All five segments lit indicate that the full 200 µA or 50 µA are
being driven into the test object. When this is not possible,
(see above), The display indicates this current to the nearest
multiple of 10 µA.
Indication of scaled reading
The ResipodLink software allows the user to introduce a correction to the displayed reading. This
is typically used together with a non-standard probe spacing, in which case the probe spacing
value used to calculate the resistivity must be changed. It may also be used to introduce a correction based on a form factor if desired.
Whenever the apostrophe to the right of the kΩ symbol is lit,
it indicates that a correction factor has been applied.
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3 Measuring Resistivity with Resipod
Preparing the concrete surface
The concrete surface must not be coated with any electrically insulating coating, and it should be
clean. The rebar grid beneath the surface should be marked out with the help of a rebar locator
(e.g. Profoscope). If the concrete is completely dry it will not be possible to make a measurement
as the current is carried by ions in the pore liquid, (See 2.2). Therefore it may be necessary to wet
the surface.
3.1 Making a Measurement
A good connection between the
instrument and the concrete surface is
the most important factor for obtaining a
reliable measurement. Dip the contacts
in water several times before making a
measurement – use a shallow container
so you can press against its bottom
– this will fill the reservoirs. Press the
Resipod firmly down until the outer two
rubber caps rest on the surface to be
tested.
Indication of poor connection
In the case of a poor connection, the Resipod will display one of the following alerts.
“Open Line” indication
Bad connection of the two outer probes to the concrete
surface. No measurement possible.
Inner two probes are not making contact.
(check for holes or dry spots on the specimen)
Or Sample resistivity <1kΩcm
Material resistivity is extremely low.
Overflow
The measured resistivity is out of range. This limit is
dependent on the spacing, but it is typically a resistivity of
>1000 kΩcm.
Contact selection
The steel probe tips are rugged and may be used to scratch away a thin layer of plaque on the
surface in order to make a better connection. The size of the contact however, means it is not
always possible to drive the full 200µA into the concrete to obtain the maximum measurement
resolution.
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In order to enable this, the Resipod is also supplied with large surface area foam contact pads.
Simply snap out the steel contacts and replace with the foam pads. They should likewise be moistened before measurements.
Hold and Save function
Once a stable reading has been achieved, click the hold button on the side of the Resipod to freeze
the actual measurement on the screen.
Hold
• The display flashes to indicate the “hold” status.
• Click the hold button again to return to “live” mode or:
Save
• Click the save button to record the measurement. An “m” appears to indicate that a new
reading has been stored in this memory location. (In the example, the reading is the first reading
stored in memory object 2.)
3.2 Memory function
The Resipod can store up to 512 measurements. The memory is arranged so that the readings are
stored in objects from 1 to 19. Each object can contain up to 99 readings.
Object 1 - Reading 1 Object 19 – Reading 99
You may check the last entry “Object – Reading” number simply by pressing the “Save” button
when the instrument is not in hold modus.
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Moving to the next Object
To move to the next object simply switch the Resipod off and then on again.
Note: The Resipod will always move to the next object when you switch it on and off.
If you wish to carry on measuring in the previous object, simply delete the current
reading as described below and you will be returned to the previous object.
Deleting a reading
The last reading has been stored in Object 4 – Reading 3.
To delete this reading, press the hold button to set the display
blinking.
(If the Resipod is held in the air for this the “open line” screen
will be displayed and will blink.)
Press the “Save” button for 2 seconds to delete the reading.
Object 4 – Reading 3 has been deleted. The display shows a
small “c” to indicate the last reading has been cancelled. Subsequent readings can be cancelled this way, but only sequentially.
It is not possible to scroll back and delete an earlier reading.
Memory status indications
A number of special screens provide information about the status of the memory.
Object number is >19.
All 19 objects have been used. It is necessary to delete readings
before using the memory further (see above).
Reading number is >99
The current object is full. Move to the next object to store further
readings (see above).
Memory is empty.
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