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UV Analyzer

UV MEASUREMENT DEVICE

The UV Analyzer is an innovative, app-based UV radiation measuring device. It consists of the UV Analyzer App for Android and iOS, the UV Analyzer measuring strips and the UV Analyzer Stick. The app can be downloaded for free from the Apple® App Store® or Google Play. With over 40 years of experience in UV technology, IST METZ exclusively distributes the UV Analyzer measuring strips and stick. Please contact our sales team.

 

Thanks to the revolutionary technology, the measurement is quite simple. Stick the measuring strip on the substrate. After irradiation with UV, the measuring strip is measured with the stick. Via Bluetooth, the stick is coupled with the app. The app displays the measured UV dose in mJ/cm2. This dose value can be compared with your reference value to determine the aging. Your system-specific reference value must be determined by you on site, by your own measurement, when the LED/UV system is new, or alternatively with a new UV lamp and reflector. The measurements of the UV Analyzer can be exported for quality assurance and documentation.

 

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Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC

 

Use gloves and stick the measuring strip on a white (light) substrate

 

Irradiate the measuring strip with UV light; the measuring strip turns dark blue

 

Take the measurement with the UV stick and transfer to the app via Bluetooth

 

Performance of the measurement

Use gloves and remove the measuring strips from the light-protected packaging. Separate individual measuring strips. The measuring strip has a practical peel-off aid. Do not touch the measuring strip with your fingers.

 

Recommended processing time until irradiation 15 min, remove measuring strip and stick on a white (light) substrate.

 

Caution: Do not apply measuring strips while the machine is running.

 

Each UV lamp must always be measured individually. Irradiate the measuring strip with UV light; depending on the irradiation dose, the measuring strip turns dark blue.

 

After irradiation, evaluate the measuring strip within 15 minutes.

 

Call up the app, select a suitable UV reference depending on the unit and enter the measurement data. The app recognizes the measuring strip and saves the photo for documentation purposes.

 

Place the UV stick on the measuring strip and take the measurement. The measured value is transferred to the app via Bluetooth. A measurement protocol is created. Measurement protocols can be shared.

 

A maximum of 25 measurements can be saved.

 

Technical specification

Store between 0 and less than 18 degrees, no direct sunlight, protect from liquids and contact materials, store measuring strips in supplied packaging, observe shelf life

 

Recommended measuring range for dose from approx. 200 - 2000 mJ/cm². For further information see FAQs

 

FAQ

Any Application where UV dose is of interest and that can’t be accessed via conventional UV dose measuring devices.

 

This type of measurement is typically a referencing system. In order to obtain the reference value, you must measure the unit when it is new. You can then use this to determine a decrease over time. Since there are many different installations, the reference values must be determined on site.

 

 

 

Use gloves to avoid touching the strips with fingers. Hold the strip in the corner and pull of the strip. The strip is self-adhesive and must be put onto a white surface to avoid shine through from the background.

 

Caution: Do not apply measuring strips while the machine is running.

 

Remark: The strips should be stored in the fridge to ensure measuring quality over life time. During transport use the thermo bag.

 

There are quite a lot of factors influencing the measuring. Most important are electrical power, distance to light source, light spectrum, machine speed and shape resp. color of underground (curved – flat, dark - light). Since the light source is finite, there is a drop towards the ends.

 

Recommendation: Respect the warming up time of minimum 5 minutes for the whole unit before measuring and ensure consistent measuring conditions. Each light source must be measured individually. In sheet fed printing we recommend to run 100 sheets before measuring and always measuring at the same positions.

 

Position the stick on the strip, ensure no overlapping and touch the key measuring within the app (not the hardware button). The app allows up to 5 measurements (after repositioning) for each strip. After completion of the desired number of measurements a mean value is automatically calculated. We do recommend minimum 2 measurements.

 

We do specify the UV dose as a rough rule between 200 mJ/cm² and 2000 mJ/cm². In detail the real sector is a function of strip sensitivity and the emmission sectrum of light source. The app will use recommendations depending on the selected type of UV. The UV dose is inversely proportional to machine speed. Means double the speed, half the dose. Therefore a lot of applications are brought up for UV measuring. The app can calculate a dose for a target speed.

 

It might be that requested dose values exceed the recommended limits of the strips. In this case you should set your machine speed to realize dose values which will be within the limits. The machine speed might now be wrong for your application, but you are able to calculate the exact dose for your desired machine speed with this feature.

 

We recommend not to exceed a period of 6 months from delivery. During this period the strips should be stored under dark and cold conditions, best will be to put jn the fridge.

 

The UV Analyzer app is using reference curves to realize best accuracy. In reference to the lamp spectrum resp. LED spectrum you have to choose the curve of corresponding UV source. Choosing a designated curve will get you as well a detailed information for recommended dose levels.

Remark: The reference curves cannot be compared with one another.

 

Available curves for UV-light sources:

 

  • BLK Fe - (iron doped lamps for IST BLK units)
  • BLK Hg - (mercury lamps for IST BLK units)
  • Generic Hg - (mercury lamps for all non IST units)
  • Generic LED 375-405 nm - (LEDs for all non IST units)
  • LUV3 385 nm - (385 nm LEDs with optics for IST LUV3 units)
  • MBS-Li Fe - (iron doped lamps for IST MBS-Li with quartz screen)
  • MBS-Li Hg - (mercury lamps for IST MBS-Li with quartz screen)
  • SC 395 nm - (395 nm LEDs without optics for IST/ITL units)

The app shows dose measurements in reference to the type of UV unit and the spectrum, which will work for UV and LED. Dose calculation is executed through reference curves and displayed in mJ/cm². The reference curves were determined with different UV measuring devices, therefore you should respect a possible deviation in the range of +/- 10%.

 

Before measuring, you can enter and save additional parameters, such as unit number, operating hours, machine name and measuring speed, distance to substrate and power setting. These parameters are informative and have no influence on the actual UV measurement.

 

There is a certain sensitivity (up to 420 nm) to ambient light. Therefore we recommend no massive light impact before and after UV radiation. You should also consider a maximum of 15 minutes before and after UV radiation.

 

In every package of the UV Analyzer is a calibration standard included. This is used for recalibration and must not be exchanged with others. IST METZ recommends that the stick be subjected to a factory check once a year.  Therefore you have to send the stick back to the company IST.

 

The UV Analyzer respects that UV strips do not have uniform sensitivity over the complete UV range. The reference curves relating to aggregate type and spectrum take this aspect into account. In addition, each stick is referenced to a standard. Through these measures, a high measurement quality is achieved.

 

The UV Analyzer app offers the possibility to share measurements. A complete protocol can be stored as a pdf-file, transmitted to a printer or an e-mail address. Please note that only the last 25 measurements will be stored within the app. If you try to store more than 25 measurements the oldest measurement is overwritten.

 

Of course, this is possible, even if the UV-Analyzer was developed for IST equipment. In this case you have to choose a generic curve which is close to your usage. 

 

No, the app uses the measuring strips of the IST UV Analyzer, third party strips are not supported.

 

While connecting the stick to the app, a message pops up and will display the status of the battery in a figure up to 100.

 

Battery status is also accessible via the settings menu under the topic sensor information

 

Start the app, switch on the stick, the LED of the stick flashes. Then press the icon with the stick in the upper right corner. Turning the icon blue will confirm the connection. Switch-off needs the button on the stick pressed for approx. 3 seconds.

 

By selecting the settings menu you will find the possibility to input the desired units for distance to the substrate (cm, in, mm) and machine speed (ft/min, mm/s, m/min, m/s, s). The mail address is only used for administrators login.

 

The app needs connection to the internet for the first app start and updating data. This will allow to load the necessary information from the data base and will allow 14 days offline operation. After this period of time, you will be prompted to connect to the internet to receive possible updates.

 

The stick is connected via Low Energy Bluetooth with the smartphone, therefore you have to allow the usage of Bluetooth. LE Bluetooth needs a location sharing as well.

 

The stick contains electronic components and a battery. Please do not throw the stick in the trash, but take it to certified disposal. The stick must be sent back to IST METZ GmbH & Co. KG for this purpose.