Dear AMMRL,
For life safety protection, we have installed wall-mounted
oxygen sensors in each of our three NMR labs but I am very unhappy
with their reliability. Specifically, without naming names, these
units contain a replaceable electrochemical sensor element which
currently costs about $250 US. Unfortunately, these elements seem to
fail within 3 to 6 months in our labs and we have frequent false
alarms. These false alarms are so common, in fact, that I'm afraid
our users have learned to ignore the oxygen sensors altogether. I am
also frustrated with the need to recalibrate these sensors frequently
as they age. I would be very interested to hear the observations of
those of you who have used oxygen sensors, either portable or fixed,
over a long time. Is there really a trouble-free, reliable oxygen
sensor out there? I realize that this subject was addressed back in
2003, but I suspect that there are new observations to be reported
since then.
Best regards,
Ken Fishbein, Ph.D.
Facility
Manager, NMR Unit
NIH/NIA/GRC
Ph. (410) 558-8512
FAX (410) 558-8318 or 8376
E-mail: kf31x_at_nih.gov
Address: Ken Fishbein
National Institutes of Health
National Institute on Aging
Gerontology Research Center
5600 Nathan Shock Drive
Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
Received on Thu Feb 16 2006 - 14:52:43 MST