Correct tuning of a potentiostat is required in order to produce accurate data. A diagnostic test can help determine if there are any problems with the instrument and should be the first step in troubleshooting.
On the occasion when you have failure in a specific ‘sub test’ you have to decide what to do.
Gamry has written this Technical Note, “Interpreting the Calibration Data of Your Gamry Potentiostat“, to help better understand what the calibration results mean and to assist in determining if the problems are centered around the instrument of if they are an external problem.
Laboratory Setup
Whenever you run a Gamry potentiostat, be sure that it is properly grounded (earthed) and warmed up, and the cell is shielded within a Faraday cage against stray electromagnetic fields. If one or more of these factors is not included in the laboratory setup, your instrument may fail because of external problems, not a failure of the instrument’s electronics.
Abort, Retry, or Ignore?
The message, “Abort, Retry, or Ignore” appears if a calibration subtest fails. In general, we recommend that if you see the question “Abort, Retry, or Ignore”[D1] , click the Ignore button, so that the instrument saves the calibration report for later analysis.
Channel Offsets
The first set of self-calibration tests that your Gamry potentiostat undergoes examines the channel offsets.
It is rare for these tests to fail. If these fail, the problem lies within the potentiostat itself. Therefore, if any of the “Ich Channel Offset” or “Vch Channel Offset” tests fail, you will have to send us the potentiostat for further testing and analysis[D1] . Contact Gamry Instruments at [email protected] for assistance.
Esig Attenuation Offset
The Esig Attenuation test, checking the voltage signal, is run for the Reference family only. If this set of tests fails, the cable may be the problem. Swap for an identical cable, and see if the problem vanishes. If it does not, contact us at [email protected].
IE Offset
Read the complete article and results specific to Gamry Reference Potentiostats, Interface Potentiostats and all of Gamry Potentiostats. You will also have an opportunity to download the note in PDF format.