Q: How can labs determine whether temperature control issues stem from their circulator or elsewhere in the system?
When a reaction fails or viscosity readings scatter, the temperature control equipment often takes the blame. Labs schedule service or ship equipment back to the manufacturer, only to hear "no problem detected". PolyScience found that 22 percent of warranty returns fall into this category—equipment pulled from service that was functioning correctly, costing labs time and revenue.
The real culprit might be a faulty sensor on another instrument or a clogged filter. Units arrive meeting specifications, but labs have few ways to confirm the circulator still delivers them after months of use.
A: The new PolyTemp line of circulators stores factory test data in onboard memory and lets users verify performance on demand.
Every PolyTemp circulator undergoes automated testing during production—heating response, cooling capacity, and control stability. The circulator retains this baseline data internally.
When questions arise, a lab manager runs the self-test function; the unit repeats the factory tests and reports whether it still meets specifications. A passing result redirects troubleshooting elsewhere in the system. A failing result identifies where degradation occurred. Either way, the guesswork disappears.
The same function generates timestamped performance records for compliance documentation, replacing manual logging with traceable, instrument-generated data.
