Accessories - Fixed

A perfectly specified transmitter in the wrong position, unprotected from weather, or unable to reach the gas it is meant to find, is not detection. It is an alarm waiting to go off for the wrong reason, or worse, one that stays quiet when it should not.

The most common problem is that the detector cannot go where the gas is. A deep shaft, a sump, a pit, a wellhead, a duct or an enclosure that is too hot, too inaccessible or too hazardous to mount an instrument in. Sample draw solves it by bringing the gas to the detector instead. The Gastech VDP 2 sample pump was designed for exactly that, using a vibrating diaphragm to deliver continuous reliable service at 0 to 2 litres per minute, with an integrated flow meter so an operator can see at a glance that the pump is actually drawing. It is built from the same anti-static, weather and chemical proof nylon as the D-Guard² transmitters, and it works with all associated Gastech sensor types.

Protection is the next consideration and the one most often skipped at quote stage. Weather guards keep driving rain and condensation off optics and sensor faces. Splash guards protect a sensor in a washdown area without blocking diffusion. Sun shields keep direct sun off a display that would otherwise be unreadable, and off electronics that would otherwise run hot. In WA, QLD and NT that is not a refinement, it is the difference between a detector lasting years and lasting a season.

Mounting hardware does more than hold the instrument. Pipe mount kits put a detector on existing structure without fabrication. Tilt mounts and alignment scopes get an open path beam onto its receiver and hold it there, which is where most open path installations lose time. Magnetic mounts put a wireless detector on steel in seconds. Wall mount enclosures take a controller card into a location a rack cannot go.

Calibration and service accessories are what turn a two person job into a one person job. Calibration adaptors, gas test adapters, magnetic actuators and intrinsically safe handheld units all exist so a technician can work on a live detector without opening an enclosure, raising a hot work permit or radioing somebody at the other end of a beam.

Then there is what happens after detection. Beacons and sounders put the warning where people are. Solenoid valves shut a supply off automatically. Data output modules, interface modules and channel extenders take a system from a standalone panel to something a building management system or a control room can see.

If you are unsure what an installation needs, Gastech engineering will work through it with you rather than send a parts list. Support, service and calibration run from WA, NSW and QLD.