Metrohm 884 Professional VA User manual

884 Professional VA
Manual – Short Instructions
8.884.8004EN / 2019-09-20

Metrohm AG
CH-9100 Herisau
Switzerland
Phone [phone]
Fax [phone]
[email protected]
www.metrohm.com
884 Professional VA
Manual – Short Instructions
8.884.8004EN / 2019-09-20

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 ......................................................... 2
1.3 Instrument versions .............................................................. 3
1.4 Intended use ......................................................................... 4
1.5 About the documentation ................................................... 5
1.5.1 Figures .................................................................................... 5
1.5.2 Further information and literature ............................................ 5
1.5.3 Symbols and conventions ........................................................ 5
1.5.4 References ............................................................................... 6
1.6 Safety instructions ................................................................ 7
1.6.1 General notes on safety ........................................................... 7
1.6.2 Flammable solvents and chemicals ........................................... 7
1.6.3 Electrical safety ........................................................................ 7
1.6.4 Personnel safety ....................................................................... 8
1.6.5 Metallic liquid mercury ............................................................. 9
1.6.6 Tubing and capillary connections ............................................. 9
1.6.7 Recycling and disposal ........................................................... 10
2 Overview of the instrument 11
2.1 Front .................................................................................... 11
2.2 Rear ...................................................................................... 12
2.3 MME measuring head ........................................................ 14
2.3.1 MME measuring head overview ............................................. 14
2.3.2 MME measuring head connector plate and measuring head
insert ..................................................................................... 15
2.3.3 Tubing connector (measuring head arm) ................................ 18
2.4 RDE measuring head .......................................................... 20
2.4.1 RDE measuring head overview ............................................... 20
2.4.2 RDE measuring head connector plate and measuring head
insert ..................................................................................... 21
2.4.3 Tubing connector (measuring head arm) ................................ 25
2.5 SPE measuring head ........................................................... 26
2.5.1 SPE measuring head overview ................................................ 26
2.5.2 SPE measuring head connector plate and measuring head
insert ..................................................................................... 27
2.5.3 Tubing connector (measuring head arm) ................................ 30

Table of contents ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭
IV ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 884 Professional VA
3 Installation 32
3.1 Setting up the instrument .................................................. 32
3.1.1 Packaging .............................................................................. 32
3.1.2 Checks .................................................................................. 32
3.1.3 Location ................................................................................ 32
3.2 Equipping the MME measuring head ............................... 32
3.2.1 Preparing the MME measuring head ...................................... 33
3.2.2 Preparing electrodes and inserting them in the MME measur-
ing head ................................................................................ 38
3.2.3 Inserting the MME measuring head ....................................... 48
3.2.4 Connecting the inert gas supply ............................................. 51
3.3 Equipping the RDE measuring head ................................. 53
3.3.1 Preparing the RDE measuring head ........................................ 53
3.3.2 Preparing electrodes and inserting them in the RDE measur-
ing head ................................................................................ 56
3.3.3 Inserting the RDE measuring head ......................................... 63
3.3.4 Connecting the inert gas supply ............................................. 65
3.4 Equipping the SPE measuring head .................................. 67
3.4.1 Preparing the SPE measuring head ......................................... 67
3.4.2 Preparing the electrode and inserting it in the SPE measuring
head ...................................................................................... 72
3.4.3 Inserting the SPE measuring head .......................................... 78
3.4.4 Connecting the inert gas supply ............................................. 81
3.5 Connecting instruments electrically .................................. 83
3.5.1 Connecting the instrument to the power grid ........................ 83
3.5.2 Connecting the 884 Professional VA ...................................... 84
3.5.3 Connecting an 800 Dosino .................................................... 85
4 Start-up 90
5 Operation and maintenance 93
5.1 Replacing the measuring head .......................................... 93
5.2 Performing a Dummy cell test ........................................... 96
6 Troubleshooting 98
6.1 List of faults ........................................................................ 98
6.1.1 General problems .................................................................. 98
6.1.2 884 Professional VA for VA trace analysis ............................... 99
6.1.3 884 Professional VA for CVS ................................................ 109
7 Appendix 111
7.1 Tubing lengths in the measuring head arm ................... 111
7.2 "Status" LED – Various instrument statuses .................. 111
8 Accessories 112

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ Table of contents
884 Professional VA ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ V
Index 113

Table of figures ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭
VI ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 884 Professional VA
Table of figures
Figure 1 Front 884 Professional VA ............................................................... 11
Figure 2 884 Professional VA rear .................................................................. 12
Figure 3 MME measuring head - Overview .................................................... 14
Figure 4 MME measuring head connector plate ............................................ 15
Figure 5 MME measuring head insert ............................................................ 17
Figure 6 Tubing connector (measuring head arm) .......................................... 18
Figure 7 RDE measuring head - Overview ...................................................... 20
Figure 8 RDE measuring head connector plate .............................................. 21
Figure 9 RDE measuring head insert .............................................................. 23
Figure 10 Tubing connector (measuring head arm) .......................................... 25
Figure 11 SPE measuring head - Overview ....................................................... 26
Figure 12 SPE measuring head connector plate ............................................... 27
Figure 13 SPE measuring head insert ............................................................... 29
Figure 14 Tubing connector (measuring head arm) .......................................... 30
Figure 15 Removing the stopper from the pipetting opening ........................... 33
Figure 16 Removing the measuring head cover ............................................... 34
Figure 17 Inserting the gas inlet ...................................................................... 35
Figure 18 Connecting the gas inlet .................................................................. 36
Figure 19 Screwing in the flexible shaft ........................................................... 36
Figure 20 Inserting and connecting the stirrer ................................................. 37
Figure 21 Inserting the stopper ....................................................................... 38
Figure 22 Inserting the working electrode ....................................................... 40
Figure 23 Connecting the working electrode ................................................... 41
Figure 24 Connecting the inert gas inlet .......................................................... 42
Figure 25 Assembling the reference electrode with the electrolyte vessel ......... 44
Figure 26 Connecting a reference electrode .................................................... 45
Figure 27 Structure of the auxiliary electrodes ................................................. 46
Figure 28 Connecting the auxiliary electrode ................................................... 48
Figure 29 Installing the measuring head cover ................................................. 49
Figure 30 Inserting the stopper in the pipetting opening ................................. 49
Figure 31 Do not touch the drive disk ............................................................. 50
Figure 32 Inserting the measuring head .......................................................... 51
Figure 33 Gas washing glass ........................................................................... 52
Figure 34 Nipple for inert gas supply ............................................................... 52
Figure 35 Removing the stopper from the pipetting opening ........................... 53
Figure 36 Removing the measuring head cover ............................................... 54
Figure 37 Inserting the gas inlet ...................................................................... 55
Figure 38 Connecting the gas inlet .................................................................. 56
Figure 39 Removing the protective cap from the electrode tip ......................... 57
Figure 40 Tightening the electrode tip to the driving axle ................................ 57
Figure 41 Working electrode, installed ............................................................ 57
Figure 42 Fastening the drive belt ................................................................... 58
Figure 43 Connecting the working electrode ................................................... 59
Figure 44 Assembling the reference electrode with the electrolyte vessel ......... 60
Figure 45 Connecting a reference electrode .................................................... 61

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ Table of figures
884 Professional VA ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ VII
Figure 46 Connecting the auxiliary electrode ................................................... 62
Figure 47 Installing the measuring head cover ................................................. 63
Figure 48 Inserting the stopper in the pipetting opening ................................. 64
Figure 49 Do not touch the drive disk ............................................................. 65
Figure 50 Inserting the measuring head .......................................................... 65
Figure 51 Gas washing glass ........................................................................... 66
Figure 52 Nipple for inert gas supply ............................................................... 67
Figure 53 Removing the stopper from the pipetting opening ........................... 68
Figure 54 Removing the measuring head cover ............................................... 68
Figure 55 Inserting the gas inlet ...................................................................... 69
Figure 56 Connecting the gas inlet .................................................................. 70
Figure 57 Screwing in the flexible shaft ........................................................... 70
Figure 58 Inserting and connecting the stirrer ................................................. 71
Figure 59 Inserting the stopper ....................................................................... 72
Figure 60 Inserting the electrode holder .......................................................... 74
Figure 61 Aligning the electrode ..................................................................... 75
Figure 62 Connecting the working electrode ................................................... 76
Figure 63 Connecting a reference electrode .................................................... 77
Figure 64 Connecting the auxiliary electrode ................................................... 78
Figure 65 Installing the measuring head cover ................................................. 79
Figure 66 Inserting the stopper in the pipetting opening ................................. 79
Figure 67 Do not touch the drive disk ............................................................. 80
Figure 68 Inserting the measuring head .......................................................... 81
Figure 69 Gas washing glass ........................................................................... 82
Figure 70 Nipple for inert gas supply ............................................................... 82
Figure 71 Connecting a dosing device to an MSB socket ................................. 86
Figure 72 Removing the measuring head ........................................................ 94
Figure 73 Rear WASTE connector .................................................................... 94
Figure 74 Do not touch the drive disk ............................................................. 95
Figure 75 Dummy cell test – Ideal curve progression ....................................... 97

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 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 8.884.8003EN manual on the
Metrohm website:
1Enter https://www.metrohm.com/ into your Internet browser.
2Enter the article number of the instrument (e.g. 2.884.XX10) into
the search field.
The search result is displayed.
3Click on the product.
Detailed information regarding the product is shown on various tabs.
4Click on the Documents tab.
All available documents for the instrument will be displayed.
5Click on the PDF link to download the desired 8.884.8003EN manual.

1.2 Instrument description ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭
2￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 884 Professional VA
1.2 Instrument description
The 884 Professional VA instrument is a PC-controlled voltammetric
measuring instrument. The measuring instrument consists of an 884 Pro-
fessional VA and a measuring head. Together with the viva computer
software, it forms a measurement system specially designed for VA trace
analysis (with MME, RDE and SPE measuring head) and the CVS determi-
nation of additives in galvanic baths (with RDE measuring head). The
instrument makes it possible to verify or quantitatively determine materials
in low concentrations using voltammetry/polarography. In the electroplat-
ing 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 quantita-
tively determined by means of CVS (Cyclic Voltammetric 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
can be tilted upwards, thus enabling convenient placement of the measur-
ing vessel in the holder.
The measuring instrument uses the potentiostatic 3-electrode principle.
This principle means that the potential at the working electrode is gauged
to the predefined setpoint value with the aid of a reference electrode to
which no current is applied. The current flows through a separate auxiliary
electrode. The Multi-Mode Electrode pro (MME pro), which combines a
dropping mercury electrode (DME/SMDE) and a stationary hanging mer-
cury drop electrode (HMDE) in a single design, is used as the working elec-
trode. A rotating disk electrode (RDE) or a screen-printed electrode (SPE)
can be used in place of the MME pro. Unlike the MME and RDE, the SPE
combines the working electrode, the reference electrode and the auxiliary
electrode in one electrode. Not 3 separate electrodes are used.
The following documentation describes the measuring head with the
MME pro, the measuring head with the RDE and the measuring head with
the SPE.
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.

￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 1 Introduction
884 Professional VA ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 3
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 with 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). The Leaflet
6.1241.090 Electrode shaft for screen-printed electrodes (SPE) document
(8.0109.8014EN) describes how to handle the screen-printed electrode
(SPE).
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
NOTICE
The accessories for a given model version can be created as a PDF list
on the Internet (see chapter 8, page 112).

1.4 Intended use ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭
4￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 884 Professional VA
1.4 Intended use
The 884 Professional VA, in combination with the MME measuring head,
the RDE measuring head or the SPE measuring head is designed for vol-
tammetric/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
NOTICE
SPEs are not resistant to solvents. Do not use organic solvents for meas-
urements or cleaning.
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 Introduction
884 Professional VA ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 5
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 an MME, RDE
or SPE measuring head) and additive determination using CVS (with an
RDE measuring head). The installation of all 3 measuring heads on the
instrument is described separately in this documentation. For the sake of
simplicity, in all other figures only one version of the measuring head is
shown. In those cases, the content displayed also applies the same to the
other measuring heads.
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.717.0003)
￭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

1.5 About the documentation ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭
6￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 884 Professional VA
[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.
1.5.4 References
3 different measuring heads are described in this manual. In the chapter 4
Start-up, only one measuring head type is shown as an example. The con-
tent displayed also applies the same to the other measuring heads.
References to figures or descriptions lead to the chapter of the measuring
head that is explicitly shown. If you are using a different measuring head,
navigate to the corresponding chapter for the measuring head used via
the table of contents. The measuring head chapters all have the same
structure. If the chapter 2.3.1 "MME measuring head overview" is referred
to, for example, then the respective information for the RDE measuring
head can be found under 2.4.1 and for the SPE measuring head under
2.5.1.

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884 Professional VA ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 7
1.6 Safety instructions
1.6.1 General notes on safety
WARNING
Operate this instrument only according to the information contained in
this documentation.
This instrument 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.
1.6.2 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.

1.6 Safety instructions ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭
8￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 884 Professional VA
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).
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 Introduction
884 Professional VA ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 9
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.
NOTICE
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.

1.6 Safety instructions ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭
10 ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ 884 Professional VA
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).