Steve's Things

  The viscometer is nearing full completion! YAY! To mark this occasion to mark the end of a long two years, I am placing a small gallery of the almost finished product. The only thing missing is the outside cover which consists of a 4″ od aluminum tube. Also, the springs I’ve ordered have also not arrived as yet, however, for now, the elastics will suffice. Here are some of the features and facts:
 

• Can be used in-lab or in-process
• Selectable RPM with a tight tolerance on RPM +/-0.5RPM
• User calibration routines. This allows the end user to calibrate with 3 fluids of known viscosity
• 16 key keypad, used for calibration and settings, also for running special tests
• Can be used as a laboratory gel-timer
• Can be used for custom tests besides stormer viscometry
• Low power consumption <100ma or <2.4W
• RS-485 Serial output
• Control electronics have complete galvanic isolation
• 24VDC supply required
• repeatability (requires further testing) +/- 1.5%
• Modbus protocol (not yet implemented)
   
  Here’s the Gallery!
  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  
  
  
   
   Yes, a few too many pictures, oh well.
   
   This thing took me quite a while and what I learned from it was immeasurable. Thankfully now that everything works as expected I can focus on my other projects without having this thing hanging over my head. Here’s to completion!
   
  As an aside, here’s an interesting document on viscosity.
  here