Brookfield DV-III Rheometer - Manual (Page 10)

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II. GETTING STARTED
II.1 Autozero
Before readings may be taken, the Rheometer must be autozeroed. This is done each time the power
switch is turned on or any time the user chooses. The Rheometer will guide you through the
procedure, as follows:
Turn power switch on; as shown in Figure 5, the screen indicates that the DV-III is in the standalone
mode (is not connected to a computer) and gives the version of the operating firmware (the built in
program which controls the instrument) and a two-digit alphanumeric code which indicates the
Model number (see Table D2 in Appendix D; the code tells the spring torque rating of your
Rheometer).
BROOKFIELD
DV-III RHEOMETER
V3.x RV
STANDALONE
Figure 5
No key press is necessary. After a short pause the display will read “REMOVE SPINDLE, LEVEL
RHEOMETER AND PRESS THE MOTOR ON/OFF KEY TO: AUTOZERO.” Before beginning the autozero
procedure, Brookfield recommends that you allow 10 minutes for the instrument to warm up.
After pressing the MOTOR ON/OFF key, the screen “flashes” for approximately 15 seconds while
the DV-III autozeros.
After 15 seconds the display reads “AUTOZERO IS COMPLETE REPLACE SPINDLE AND PRESS NEXT
KEY.” Press the NEXT key.
After pressing the NEXT key, the main screen is displayed and the DV-III is ready for a Spindle Code
Entry (Figure 6).
Figure 6
II.2 Spindle Entry
The DV-III must have a Spindle Entry Code number to calculate Viscosity, Shear Rate and Shear
Stress values. The DV-III memory contains parameters for all standard Brookfield spindles and the
two digit entry code for each spindle (the complete list of entry codes may be found in
Appendix D of this manual). Note that the DV-III will remember the Spindle Entry Code which was
in use when the power was turned off. Therefore, the following example is used when the instrument
is turned on for the first time, or when you change spindles. This example assumes that the DV-III
has been zeroed and that the
NEXT key has been pressed after autozero, as instructed by the screen.