Author: Ascott Analytical

New Ascott Small Sample Holder

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Many Ascott chamber customers regularly (or constantly) undertake tests on very small components, which can be a challenge to contain within the chamber.

Frequently the only way to hold these samples is for the customer to create a holder themselves, or for very small specimens they sometimes have to use string to suspend the samples underneath the standard sample racks.

The Ascott development team thought that there must be a better way of holding these small components inside the chamber.

The team found an ideal solution by reengineering the backing plate from the GM test plate kit.

By drilling a series of holes in the backing plate and filling these with a series of nylon nuts and bolts a flexible system for holding small components has been created.

The plate is supplied with 7 drilled and tapped holes (3 x 6mm, 2 x 5mm, 2 x 4mm) which are fitted with the nuts and bolts;

-3 of them with fitted with an M6 x 25 nylon nut and bolt

-2 of them with fitted with an M5 x 20 nylon nut and bolt2 of them with fitted with an M4 x 25 nylon nut and bolt

When loaded with samples the plate slots in to the standard slotted sample racks supplied with each Ascott chamber.

The plate can be used in different ways, if the nuts and bolts are removed the holes can be used to suspend samples directly (as long as the samples do not fall through the hole), or small samples with a through hole (nuts, washers etc.) can be suspended on the bolts.

Millbrook Proving Ground

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Millbrook Proving Ground in the UK is Europe’s leading location for the development, test and demonstration of every type of land vehicle, with 400 employees based on a 665-acre site offering extensive test facilities including 45 miles of on and off road test tracks.

Modelled on the Milford Proving Ground, in Michigan, USA, the site was constructed in the 1960s by General Motors to provide development support for most European GM vehicles.

The two mile five lane banked high speed track was opened in 1969, construction of many other sections continued into the early 1970s.  In the late 1980’s ownership of Millbrook transferred to Group Lotus before the business became independent, in 2016 the business was acquired by venture capitalists for £122 Million.

The company has a wide range of test tracks including a hill route, two city courses and a high speed banked circuit, on which a highest speed of just over 200mph was achieved in a McLaren F1 in 1999.

In 1997 Millbrook took delivery of its first Ascott chamber, this unit is still in service and daily use (a recent Millbrook publicity photograph shows it in use).

The unit in 1997 was the last corrosion chamber the organisation purchased, however such has proved the durability and reliability of the original unit that this year the Millbrook team took delivery of a new CC2600IP.

In full time use from delivery the unit has just concluded several 1000 hour tests on prototype components for a new vehicle.

First Award For Ascott

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Early in 2017 Ascott Analytical applied for a UK Award for success in the field of Export, with the Insider Media Group.

Last week members of the Ascott team attended the Award Ceremony at the Hilton Hotel in Birmingham.

On the night Ascott won the Export Award category, and will now be on the short-list for the National Awards held next month in Liverpool.

The Award is for excellence in export and we would like to thank all of our distributors who work so tirelessly on our behalf, many for almost 30 years.

Global Presence at Coatings Shows

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Over the last 6 months Ascott has attending trade shows focussed on the coatings industry on two different continents, generating a number of enquiries and a great deal of interest.

At the end of November 2016 Ascott exhibited at the ChinaCoat Show in the Canton Fair Complex in Guangzhou.

Exhibiting the CC1000iP, the exhibition was manned and supported by representatives of Ascott’s distributor for China, Shanghai Maoshan, and the stand received visitors from a number of large International Groups including; Nippon Paint, Danfoss, and BASF, whilst most of the attendees were from the Chinese market visitors to the Ascott stand were also received from; Indonesia, India, Sri-Lanka, Turkey, Pakistan and Brazil.

At the beginning of April 2017 Ascott exhibited at the European Coatings Show in Nurnberg, supported by German distributor AES.  As a truly International show, during the three days Ascott’s stand was visited by attendees from 34 different countries, from International Groups such as BASF, Scania, Axalta, Fuchs, Beckers, Audi, Scania and BMW.

Exhibiting a CC450iP and connected ATCU, for this Show Ascott utilised a new animated display for the oscillating spray bar system and also demonstrated the Guardian Angel accessory for the first time.

Attendance at these two International Shows demonstrates the importance of the coatings industry and our commitment to developing this market for Ascott on a Global basis.

Why Ascott Chambers have Automatic Purge!

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When we consider the many unique features of Ascott chambers it’s easy to forget the air purge.  Some view the 7 minutes the canopy is locked after completion of the cycle as an inconvenience.

The value of the automatic purge in preventing corrosive mist from attacking the local environment can be seen in the photographs below.

The first photograph clearly shows a cabinet distributing salt air into the local environment to settle on the floor, allowing corrosive mist to settle on other pieces of expensive testing equipment.

The second photograph shows how the salt mist has escaped and corroded a radiator located behind the cabinet.

The third shows how much corrosion escaping salt fog can cause to a cabinet itself.

The auto purge also prevents a significant risk to health.

Conditions that exist inside an air saturator are ideal for supporting the growth of legionella bacteria, once airborne if allowed to escape the chamber the mist can directly enter the lungs of those working in the facility and poses a serious health risk

The Ascott automatic purge should be viewed in a similar fashion to the way that we view seat belts in cars, yes they get in the way and can be an inconvenience, but we all understand why they should be worn, as the photographs show it’s a natural human instinct to want to see what’s going on inside, if the operating unit can be opened then it will be opened!!!!

NEW Guardian Angel

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Available immediately we’re introducing a new range of accessories, the Guardian Angel.

The new accessory comprises a modular light alarm that can now be fitted to the top of all Ascott iP chambers, regardless of size.

When the chamber is in daily use in the laboratory it allows the occupants of the area to see the status of the chamber visually at a distance depending on the colour of the status light;

GREEN …. Everything is operating correctly.

AMBER …. The chamber has a small problem which will eventually need attention but is still operational, for example air Saturator water levels.

RED …. The chamber operation has been stopped and needs immediate attention, for example over temperature.

The chamber mounting system allows the light to be set at the desired angle and locked in place, and should the operator decide that they don’t need to have the light alarm operational it easily unclips from the mounting and the connection can be covered with the included plastic cap.  Should the operator not wish to see a green light whilst the chamber is operating correctly the green module can be removed from the assembly. The operator can also do the same for the amber light, leaving only the red light module operational should they so wish.

Three different variants of the light alarm are available, the standard version, a USB connected version, and an Ethernet connected version.  The USB and Ethernet versions can be remotely monitored on a PC with the use of software supplied with the system, this software also supports e-mail notification when an alarm is triggered.  Should a standard system be purchased which the operator wishes to connect in the future, upgrade packs are also available.

Automotive Testing Expo in Novi, Michigan, October 25th – 27th 2016

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Ascott’s attendance at this year’s Automotive Testing Expo in Novi, Michigan was a welcome return after choosing to sit-out last year’s show. Being close to our distributor; Comtels; office in nearby Livonia and in the centre of their rep coverage area, this Expo was a great opportunity to meet with the reps individually, who all spend time helping out manning the show booth on a rota basis.

All were very enthusiastic about our attendance and the current potential within the US market for Ascott products in general, with some sizeable order forecast before this year end. On the evening of the 25th October, Bill Boroughf the president of Comtel hosted a social evening over dinner at a local restaurant for Comtel employees and Chris Gates was invited to speak to all about updates to and benefits of the Ascott product range. The promise of a quiz at the end and a bottle of single malt to the person who demonstrated the best knowledge of Ascott products kept everyone’s attention throughout!. The Scotch was won by Paul Williams, the Ascott product specialist at Comtel, who was clearly as relieved to have won as he was pleased with the prize!! The exhibition itself resulted generated a good number of quality enquiries for Ascott products, one of which from; American Mitsuba has already resulted in an order which in itself is large enough to justify the cost of our attendance. Congratulations to Jim Bull the Comtel rep who worked hard over several months with this customer and who brought this deal very satisfactory conclusion just days after the show ended.

DMS Chromium Plating

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DMS Chromium Plating is a long standing customer of Ascott Analytical, during the last 6 months not only have DMS purchased two new S450IS chambers to replace their existing aging Ascott units, but they’ve also just taken delivery of a new Alpha + H500.

The company, based in Kidderminster chromium plates for a number of automotive OEM’s including;

Bentley, BMW, Volvo, Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Aston Martin, but a large proportion of the plating it undertakes is for the Jaguar Land Rover Group.

The two new salt spray chambers are already running tests on automotive components.

The first (below) on chromed exterior trim parts and wing mirror backs for JLR on a 1000 hour neutral salt spray test.

The second (below) running a CASS test for JLR on car door handles.

Automotive Testing Expo in Stuttgart

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In June Ascott exhibited at the European Automotive Testing Expo at the Stuttgart Messe in Germany.

This was the third of four such shows we are attending in 2016. The first was held in Seoul, Korea in January, the second in Chennai, India in April.

The Shows focus on a wide variety of automotive component testing technology, with many exhibits from specialist equipment manufacturers around the World.

The focus of the Ascott stand was a CC450iP, loaded with a variety of automotive components.

Exhibiting for the first time in Germany with the Ascott brand, and as the only supplier of corrosion test equipment at the Show, our presence further reinforced our osition as a major supplier of corrosion test chambers to the automotive industry across Europe, and to developing our relationship within the German automotive industry.

The Ascott stand received a regular flow of visitors throughout the Show, with many from Germany, Poland, Hungary and Turkey as well as International visitors from further afield, from as far away as South Korea.