Metrohm 884 Professional VA User manual

884 Professional VA
Manual – Short Instructions
8.884.8002EN / 2017-06-30

Metrohm AG
CH-9100 Herisau
Switzerland
Phone [phone]
Fax [phone]
[email protected]
www.metrohm.com
884 Professional VA
Manual – Short Instructions
8.884.8002EN / 2017-06-30 mb

Technical Communication
Metrohm AG
CH-9100 Herisau
[email protected]
This documentation is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
This documentation has been prepared with great care. However, errors
can never be entirely ruled out. Please send comments regarding possible
errors to the address above.

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ Table of contents
884 Professional VA ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ III
Table of contents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 About these short instructions ............................................ 1
1.2 Instrument description ......................................................... 1
1.3 Instrument versions .............................................................. 2
1.4 Intended use ......................................................................... 3
1.5 About the documentation ................................................... 4
1.5.1 Figures .................................................................................... 4
1.5.2 Further information and literature ............................................ 4
1.5.3 Symbols and conventions ........................................................ 4
1.6 Safety instructions ................................................................ 5
1.6.1 General notes on safety ........................................................... 5
1.6.2 Flammable solvents and chemicals ........................................... 6
1.6.3 Electrical safety ........................................................................ 6
1.6.4 Personnel safety ....................................................................... 7
1.6.5 Metallic liquid mercury ............................................................. 8
1.6.6 Tubing and capillary connections ............................................. 8
1.6.7 Recycling and disposal ............................................................. 9
2 Overview of the instrument 10
2.1 Front .................................................................................... 10
2.2 Rear ...................................................................................... 11
2.3 MME measuring head ........................................................ 13
2.3.1 MME measuring head overview ............................................. 13
2.3.2 Measuring head connector plate and measuring head insert .. 14
2.3.3 Tubing connector (measuring head arm) ................................ 17
2.4 RDE measuring head .......................................................... 19
2.4.1 RDE measuring head overview ............................................... 19
2.4.2 Measuring head connector plate and measuring head insert .. 20
2.4.3 Tubing connector (measuring head arm) ................................ 23
3 Installation 25
3.1 Setting up the instrument .................................................. 25
3.1.1 Packaging .............................................................................. 25
3.1.2 Checks .................................................................................. 25
3.1.3 Location ................................................................................ 25
3.2 Equipping the MME measuring head ............................... 25
3.2.1 Preparing the MME measuring head ...................................... 27
3.2.2 Preparing electrodes and inserting them in the MME measur-
ing head ................................................................................ 31
3.2.3 Inserting the MME measuring head ....................................... 41

Table of contents ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭
IV ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 884 Professional VA
3.2.4 Connecting the inert gas supply ............................................. 42
3.2.5 Installing the measuring head cover ....................................... 44
3.3 Equipping the RDE measuring head ................................. 45
3.3.1 Connecting the gas inlet ........................................................ 48
3.3.2 Preparing electrodes and inserting them in the RDE measur-
ing head ................................................................................ 50
3.3.3 Installing the measuring head cover ....................................... 57
3.4 Connecting instruments electrically .................................. 58
3.4.1 Connecting the instrument to the power grid ........................ 58
3.4.2 Connecting the 884 Professional VA ...................................... 58
4 Start-up 61
5 Operation and maintenance 64
5.1 Replacing the measuring head .......................................... 64
5.2 Performing a Dummy cell test ........................................... 67
6 Troubleshooting 69
6.1 List of faults ........................................................................ 69
6.1.1 General problems .................................................................. 69
6.1.2 884 Professional VA for VA trace analysis ............................... 70
6.1.3 884 Professional VA for CVS .................................................. 78
7 Appendix 81
7.1 Tubing lengths in the measuring head arm ..................... 81
7.2 "Status" LED – Various instrument statuses .................... 81
8 Accessories 82
Index 83

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ Table of figures
884 Professional VA ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ V
Table of figures
Figure 1 884 Professional VA front ................................................................ 10
Figure 2 884 Professional VA rear .................................................................. 11
Figure 3 MME measuring head - Overview .................................................... 13
Figure 4 Measuring head connector plate ..................................................... 14
Figure 5 Measuring head insert ..................................................................... 16
Figure 6 Tubing connector (measuring head arm) .......................................... 17
Figure 7 RDE measuring head - Overview ...................................................... 19
Figure 8 Measuring head connector plate ..................................................... 20
Figure 9 Measuring head insert ..................................................................... 22
Figure 10 Tubing connector (measuring head arm) .......................................... 23
Figure 11 Removing the stopper from the pipetting opening ........................... 26
Figure 12 Removing the measuring head cover ............................................... 26
Figure 13 Inserting the gas inlet ...................................................................... 28
Figure 14 Connecting the gas inlet .................................................................. 29
Figure 15 Screwing in the flexible shaft ........................................................... 29
Figure 16 Inserting and connecting the stirrer ................................................. 30
Figure 17 Inserting stoppers ............................................................................ 31
Figure 18 Connecting the working electrode ................................................... 34
Figure 19 Connecting the inert gas inlet .......................................................... 35
Figure 20 Assembling the reference electrode with the electrolyte vessel ......... 37
Figure 21 Connecting a reference electrode .................................................... 38
Figure 22 Structure of the auxiliary electrodes ................................................. 39
Figure 23 Connecting the auxiliary electrode ................................................... 41
Figure 24 Do not touch the drive disk ............................................................. 42
Figure 25 Inserting the measuring head .......................................................... 42
Figure 26 Gas washing glass ........................................................................... 43
Figure 27 Installing the measuring head cover ................................................. 44
Figure 28 Inserting the stopper in the pipetting opening ................................. 45
Figure 29 Do not touch the drive disk ............................................................. 46
Figure 30 Inserting the measuring head .......................................................... 46
Figure 31 Removing the stopper from the pipetting opening ........................... 47
Figure 32 Removing the measuring head cover ............................................... 47
Figure 33 Inserting the gas inlet ...................................................................... 49
Figure 34 Connecting the gas inlet .................................................................. 50
Figure 35 Removing the protective cap from the electrode tip ......................... 51
Figure 36 Tightening the electrode tip to the driving axle ................................ 51
Figure 37 Working electrode, installed ............................................................ 52
Figure 38 Fastening the drive belt ................................................................... 52
Figure 39 Connecting the working electrode ................................................... 53
Figure 40 Assembling the reference electrode with the electrolyte vessel ......... 54
Figure 41 Removing the measuring head ........................................................ 65
Figure 42 Rear WASTE connector .................................................................... 65
Figure 43 Do not touch the drive disk ............................................................. 66
Figure 44 Dummy cell test – Ideal curve progression ....................................... 68

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 1 Introduction
884 Professional VA ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 1
1 Introduction
1.1 About these short instructions
This short instruction manual contains important chapters from the com-
prehensive manual. In addition to an introduction, safety instructions and
an overview of the instrument, you will also find information about instal-
ling, starting up and servicing the 884 Professional VA instrument. You can
download the comprehensive manual as a PDF file from the Internet.
Downloading the manual
You can find the detailed 8.884.8001EN manual on the Internet under
http://www.metrohm.com/:
1. Enter the order number for your instrument as the search term (e.g.
2.884.0110).
2. Click on >More Information.
3. Click on Documents.
All available documents for the instrument will be displayed.
4. Click on the PDF link to download the desired 8.884.8001EN man-
ual.
1.2 Instrument description
The 884 Professional VA instrument is a PC-controlled voltammetric
measuring instrument. Together with the viva computer software, it
forms a measurement system specially designed for VA trace analysis (with
the MME measuring head) and the CVS determination of additives in gal-
vanic baths (with the RDE measuring head). In combination with an MME
measuring head, the instrument makes it possible to verify or quantita-
tively determine materials in low concentrations using voltammetry/polar-
ography. In the electroplating industry, the determination of additives (in
combination with an RDE measuring head) is an indispensable step in the
production process and plays a significant role in quality assurance. The
additives can be quantitatively determined by means of CVS (Cyclic Vol-
tammetric Stripping).
The 884 Professional VA instrument is very compact in size and requires
little space for operation. The measuring head can be removed from the
instrument and put back in place again with a simple hand movement.
This allows you to exchange the measuring head with all the electrodes
and tubing quickly. This allows you to quickly and easily switch the instru-
ment's equipment over for another application. The measuring head arm

1.3 Instrument versions ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭
2￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 884 Professional VA
can be tilted upwards, thus enabling convenient placement of the measur-
ing vessel in the holder.
The measuring instrument uses the potentiostatic three-electrode princi-
ple. This principle means that the potential at the working electrode is
gauged to the predefined setpoint value with the aid of a reference elec-
trode to which no current is applied. The current flows through a separate
auxiliary electrode. The multi-mode electrode pro (MME pro), which com-
bines a dropping mercury electrode (DME/SMDE) and a stationary hanging
mercury drop electrode (HMDE) in a single design, is used as the working
electrode. A rotating disk electrode (RDE) can be used in place of the
MME pro. The following documentation describes both the measuring
head with the MME pro and with the RDE.
The 884 Professional VA instrument can be used both for single determi-
nations and sample series. Various sample processors are suitable for this
measuring instrument. Furthermore, you can automate the addition of
reagents and auxiliary solutions by using dosing devices of the type 800
Dosino.
The 884 Professional VA instrument must be started, operated and con-
trolled via the viva computer software. The data transfer between the
measuring instrument and the PC takes place via a USB connection. At the
end of every determination, the data (voltammogram, results, etc.) is
saved in a database.
This manual describes the hardware of the 884 Professional VA instrument
(installation, start-up, etc.). Operation using the viva computer software is
described in the software documentation (online help and VA/CVS tutori-
als). The Multi-Mode Electrode pro document (8.110.8018XX) describes
how to handle the Multi-Mode Electrode pro (MME pro).
1.3 Instrument versions
The 884 Professional VA instrument is available in the following ver-
sions:
2.884.0010 Professional VA Without measuring head
2.884.0110 Professional VA manual for MME With MME measuring head
2.884.0210 Professional VA manual for CVS With CVS measuring head
2.884.1110 Professional VA semiautomated for
MME
With MME measuring head
and 2 Dosinos
2.884.1210 Professional VA semiautomated for
CVS
With CVS measuring head
and 2 Dosinos

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 1 Introduction
884 Professional VA ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 3
NOTE
The accessories for a given model version can be created as a PDF list
on the Internet at http://partslists.metrohm.com (see Chapter 8, page
82).
1.4 Intended use
The 884 Professional VA, in combination with the MME measuring head,
is designed for voltammetric/polarographic determination of samples in
the area of trace analysis. The following are potential application areas:
￭Determination of transition metals using polarography or stripping vol-
tammetry
￭Speciation analysis
The 884 Professional VA, in combination with the RDE measuring head,
has been designed for use in the analysis of electroplating baths for the
quantitative determination of organic additives. The main fields of applica-
tion are the following electroplating bath types:
￭Acidic copper baths
￭Tin baths
￭Tin-lead baths
￭Alkaline zinc baths
￭Nickel baths
This instrument is suitable for processing various chemicals and flammable
samples. Therefore, the use of the 884 Professional VA requires the user to
have basic knowledge and experience in handling toxic and caustic sub-
stances. Knowledge regarding the application of fire prevention measures
prescribed for laboratories is also mandatory.
Before performing any analysis, the user should get acquainted with the
hazard and precautionary statements or the risk and safety phrases that
are valid for the chemicals used. The user should also observe the precau-
tionary measures prescribed.

1.5 About the documentation ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭
4￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 884 Professional VA
1.5 About the documentation
CAUTION
Please read through this documentation carefully before putting the
instrument into operation. The documentation contains information
and warnings which the user must follow in order to ensure safe opera-
tion of the instrument.
1.5.1 Figures
The instrument can be used for both VA trace analysis (with a MME meas-
uring head) and additive determination (with a RDE measuring head).
Therefore, this documentation describes the use of the instrument with a
MME measuring head and a RDE measuring head. For the sake of simplic-
ity, only one version of the measuring head is shown in figures. The con-
tent displayed in the figures also applies the same to the other measuring
head.
1.5.2 Further information and literature
You can find further information regarding the 884 Professional VA in the
following publications:
￭CVS tutorial (8.103.8010XX)
￭VA tutorial (8.103.8033XX)
￭"Electrodes in Voltammetry" multimedia guide (A.717.0002)
￭Online help for the viva computer software
￭"Voltammetric analysis methods in electroplating" monograph
(8.108.5002XX)
￭Multi-Mode Electrode pro (8.110.8018XX)
￭Mercury Handling Guidelines (8.000.5054XX)
1.5.3 Symbols and conventions
The following symbols and formatting may appear in this documentation:
Cross-reference to figure legend
The first number refers to the figure number, the sec-
ond to the instrument part in the figure.
Instruction step
Carry out these steps in the sequence shown.
Method Dialog text, parameter in the software
File ▶ New Menu or menu item

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 1 Introduction
884 Professional VA ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 5
[Next] Button or key
WARNING
This symbol draws attention to a possible life-threat-
ening hazard or risk of injury.
WARNING
This symbol draws attention to a possible hazard due
to electrical current.
WARNING
This symbol draws attention to a possible hazard due
to heat or hot instrument parts.
WARNING
This symbol draws attention to a possible biological
hazard.
CAUTION
This symbol draws attention to possible damage to
instruments or instrument parts.
NOTE
This symbol highlights additional information and
tips.
1.6 Safety instructions
1.6.1 General notes on safety
WARNING
This instrument may only be operated in accordance with the specifica-
tions in this documentation.
This instrument has left the factory in a flawless state in terms of technical
safety. To maintain this state and ensure non-hazardous operation of the
instrument, the following instructions must be observed carefully.

1.6 Safety instructions ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭
6￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 884 Professional VA
1.6.2 Flammable solvents and chemicals
WARNING
All relevant safety measures are to be observed when working with
flammable solvents and chemicals.
￭Set up the instrument in a well-ventilated location (e.g. fume cup-
board).
￭Keep all sources of flame far from the workplace.
￭Clean up spilled liquids and solids immediately.
￭Follow the safety instructions of the chemical manufacturer.
1.6.3 Electrical safety
The electrical safety when working with the instrument is ensured as part
of the international standard IEC 61010.
WARNING
Only personnel qualified by Metrohm are authorized to carry out service
work on electronic components.
WARNING
Never open the housing of the instrument. The instrument could be
damaged by this. There is also a risk of serious injury if live components
are touched.
There are no parts inside the housing which can be serviced or replaced
by the user.
Supply voltage
WARNING
An incorrect supply voltage can damage the instrument.
Only operate this instrument with a supply voltage specified for it (see
rear panel of the instrument).

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 1 Introduction
884 Professional VA ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 7
Protection against electrostatic charges
WARNING
Electronic components are sensitive to electrostatic charges and can be
destroyed by discharges.
Do not fail to pull the power cord out of the power socket before you
set up or disconnect electrical plug connections at the rear of the
instrument.
1.6.4 Personnel safety
WARNING
Handling hazardous substances
Hazardous substances may result in injuries.
Wear protective glasses and work clothes suitable for laboratory work.
WARNING
Uncontrolled splashing of reagents
Splashing reagents may result in injuries.
Operate the 884 Professional VA only with the measuring head in place
and the measuring head arm lowered.

1.6 Safety instructions ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭
8￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 884 Professional VA
1.6.5 Metallic liquid mercury
WARNING
Mercury is a heavy liquid metal. Highly toxic mercury vapor forms even
at room temperature. Breathing in mercury vapor poses the risk of
chronic mercury poisoning. Therefore, observe the following points
when handling a MME pro containing mercury:
￭Do not inhale mercury vapor.
￭Only work with open containers of mercury while under a fume cup-
board.
￭Avoid skin contact with mercury.
￭Never store mercury in open containers.
￭Keep the laboratory area for work involving mercury well-ventilated.
￭Use amalgamation to bind any spilled mercury. Never use a broom
or vacuum.
￭Only have mercury disposed of by a professional. Never dispose of
mercury in household or domestic waste.
NOTE
For detailed information, observe the Mercury Handling Guidelines
(8.000.5054XX).
1.6.6 Tubing and capillary connections
CAUTION
Leaks in tubing and capillary connections are a safety risk. Tighten all
connections well by hand. Avoid applying excessive force to tubing con-
nections. Damaged tubing ends lead to leakage. Appropriate tools can
be used to loosen connections.
Check the connections regularly for leakage. If the instrument is used
mainly in unattended operation, then weekly inspections are manda-
tory.

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 1 Introduction
884 Professional VA ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 9
1.6.7 Recycling and disposal
This product is covered by European Directive 2012/19/EU, WEEE – Waste
Electrical and Electronic Equipment.
The correct disposal of your old instrument will help to prevent negative
effects on the environment and public health.
More details about the disposal of your old instrument can be obtained
from your local authorities, from waste disposal companies or from your
local dealer.
The MME pro (Multi-Mode Electrode pro) contains toxic mercury; never
dispose of it in domestic waste. For more information on the recycling and
disposing of mercury, observe the Mercury Handling Guidelines
(8.000.5054XX).

2.1 Front ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭
10 ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 884 Professional VA
2 Overview of the instrument
The following figures provide a detailed overview of the parts of the 884
Professional VA.
2.1 Front
1
2
3
4
5
6
8
7
Figure 1 884 Professional VA front
1"Status" LED
Continuously on: instrument ready for oper-
ation. Blinking regularly: instrument operat-
ing. Blinking pattern "LED on a long time -
off a short time - on a long time - off a short
time, etc.": Standby potential is being
applied to the electrodes. Do not remove
the electrode cables!
2"On" LED
Illuminated if the 884 Professional VA is con-
nected to the power supply.

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 2 Overview of the instrument
884 Professional VA ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 11
3Holder for measuring vessel
For inserting the measuring vessel.
4Connector plate measuring head arm
For inserting the measuring head.
5Measuring head arm (tiltable) 6Gas washing glass (6.2405.030)
For wetting the inert gas.
7Decanting glass (6.2405.030)
For the deposition of solid materials that
may be present (such as electrode mercury)
in fully automated mode.
8Holder for drip pan
For positioning the drip pan.
2.2 Rear
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Figure 2 884 Professional VA rear
1Temperature sensor connector (Temp.)
For connecting a temperature sensor of the
type Pt1000. Two B sockets, 2 mm.
2Type plates
With serial number.

2.2 Rear ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭
12 ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 884 Professional VA
3Calibrator
For service procedures carried out by Met-
rohm.
4Fan
Runs during operation.
5Tubing connector (measuring head
arm)
See Chapter 2.3.3, Page 17.
6USB connectors (USB 1 and USB 2),
type A
For connecting barcode readers, keyboards,
etc.
7"Controller" connector
For connecting to a PC with the viva com-
puter software installed. Mini DIN, 8-pin.
8MSB connectors (MSB 1 to 4)
Metrohm Serial Bus. For connecting dosing
devices (800 Dosino) and Remote Boxes.
Mini DIN, 8-pin.
9Power socket