RO 20 Ion Chamber?

[allforthenukie]

I'm researching a replacement for our Ion Chamber instruments.
My question is what are the strengths and weakness of the RO 20 instrument compared to the RO 2 and RO 2A?
Is there anything else out there that would be a suitable replacement for the good old RO 2/RO 2A?
Any feedback will help.
Thanks!

[UncaBuffalo]

I have had NO luck with the RO-20...needle flops around every time you make the slightest move and has a tendency to peg high if you bump against anything...

Only good thing I can think to say about them is that the fast response time made them nice when you were on a S/G platform, etc...

We were talking about this the other day and a few of the techs said that the newer RO-20's aren't quite as bad as the original ones, but...



Ludlum markets the Model 9 & the Model 17, but I haven't used them.



Thermo needs to build more RO-2/2A's...

[Atombob]

Doesnt Bicron make somthing?

[UncaBuffalo]

Doesnt Bicron make somthing?

I think Thermo acquired both Bicron & Eberline...the R0-20 is the product they are pushing...

[Atomic_Punk]

The RO20 is as big of a P.O.S as the digital Teletector.  Uncabuffalo pretty much nails it.  They're just as bad if not worst than the Bicrons.  The only positive about the RO20 is the lit dial.  That's it. 

[Rennhack]

Bicron made the RSO-5 and the RSO-50.

Thermo purchased Bicron and Eberline, and now only produces the RO-20.
http://www.thermo.com/com/cda/product/detail/0,1055,15596,00.html

Here is a list of all of there Ion chambers:
http://www.thermo.com/com/CDA/Category/CategoryFrames/1,,246,00.html

[justme]

There doesn't seem to be an adequate replacement available.  I would try to baby the ro-2/2a's that you have.   The rs0-50s seem to be a little better than the ro 20.  The ro 20 has too erratic of  a response on the low to mid ranges.  It also can't be bumped, even slightly, or it response erratically or not at all.  Nothing even remotely as durable as the Ro2/2as.  I guess the old ro2/2a's were such a good product and lasted too long.   like with other products, If the quality is too good, make it cheaper so that we can sell more.   

[remowil55]

Stay the hell away from Bicron!!!!!!!!!! I was told that you could still buy RO-2 and 2a's but you had to buy like a 100 at a pop or they would not make them. There none better than the RO-2. And while were on the subject can anyone tell me what the RO stands for, and yes i do know the correct answer. Remo

[allforthenukie]

Rad Owl 2?

[RDTroja]

Yep. The originals were called Rad Owls. The RO-1 looked sort of like a hand held cannon.

We had a real live Rad Owl at Kewaunee during their first outage in 1976. An owl got into containment while the equipment hatch was open and lived there for a while before it was caught... it was seen bathing in the refuel pool (can you imagine the response to that today?) If my memory serves me correctly (an event with sadly decreasing frequency) it was about 20 mrad on contact before we let it loose in the decon shower for a while and was released when it was down below 2 mrad.

[remowil55]

Way to go guys, Rad Owl is right!! whenever i tell some of the newbies that they think i am pulling there leg. I wonder how they came up with that name ? I woked IP 2 one outage where a racoon walked into the equipment hatch and around the refuel floor then back out. I ask the tech if he was gonna frisk his paws, he said only if i held it. NOT!! Memories like that are getting scarce. Remo

[SloGlo]

Yep. The originals were called Rad Owls. The RO-1 looked sort of like a hand held cannon.

We had a real live Rad Owl at Kewaunee during their first outage in 1976. An owl got into containment while the equipment hatch was open and lived there for a while before it was caught... it was seen bathing in the refuel pool (can you imagine the response to that today?) If my memory serves me correctly (an event with sadly decreasing frequency) it was about 20 mrad on contact before we let it loose in the decon shower for a while and was released when it was down below 2 mrad.

rdtroja... eye yam remembering those levels were the readings on the excrement, hence the phrase "hotter'n owl sh...."     
anywaze, when da maintenance group captured it (day 3, or wuz it shift 3?) fer da case  of beer bounty 'n brought it out it blew my frisker offscale at ~4 feat.

[RDTroja]

rdtroja... eye yam remembering those levels were the readings on the excrement, hence the phrase "hotter'n owl sh...."     

That could very well be true... something about 30 years making things fuzzy.

anywaze, when da maintenance group captured it (day 3, or wuz it shift 3?) fer da case  of beer bounty 'n brought it out it blew my frisker offscale at ~4 feat.

I had forgotten about the case of beer, but you are right. Further proof of how things have changed.

[allforthenukie]

We're a commercial nuclear power.
It seems like good ol' RO 2s/ RO 2as are very hard to obtain. Why would you want to trash 20 of them as radwaste? Are they contaminated? Someone should auction them on ebay.
We are now looking at the Eberline 2130 "Mini Ion" ion chamber instrument as a replacement. Anyone familiar with those?

[mark48]

The RO-2/2A was discontinued not because it wasn't a good instrument, it was.  The parts became impossible to   obtain (reed switches and high meg resistors as I recall).  So the best we could do was design a replacement the RO-20.  And yes your are correct Rad Owl is correct for RO.  The unit came in two packages the Juno and the Cutie Pie (Ray Gun  looking device).

Regards.

[EasyLivin]

The RO-2/2A was discontinued not because it wasn't a good instrument, it was.  The parts became impossible to obtain

Impossible to obtain or above budget to repair, resulting in a no bid for any company capable of performing the maintenance?

[SpyCat]

I posted over on "RO-2 and RO-2A Question" thread on this site...hope it helps you.
Cheers

[jrad]

At the TVA sites we use the Ludlum 9-3 ion chamber. It seems to be a really good instrument. They have the light feature that is appealing. They also have a push button window that slides open very easily. They are sturdy and hold up well. We have used them for the last couple of years and everyone seems to generally like them. We also use the Lud 3 hand held frisker, as well as the Lud 12 hand held apha meter. Really like all of the instruments. Just my two cents......

[Eds0123]

Is there anything else out there that would be a suitable replacement for the good old RO 2/RO 2A?
Any feedback will help.
Thanks!

Look up Ram Ion by Rotem,

http://www.rotemi.co.il/text/upload/pdf2/RAM%20ION.pdf

amongst features I liked about it; it is lighter than RO-2* instruments, hence more ergonomic, larger chamber, Auto Ranging digital readout and also Analog needle simulation bar, easy access to the Dessicant, Alarm setting. Low battery warning, etc. nice cool instrument,

[Marlin]

Analog needle simulation bar,

   I haven't swung a meter in a long time but digital analog simulation was one of my pet peeves. I ran into a new digital when they were first starting to replace the old analog meters where the audible was linked to the processor and not a direct drive to the probe, defeating the purpose of the audible indication in my opinion. Digital makes engineers and environmental types happy but unless they have sped up the integration of the faux analog indication finding hot particles, hot spots, and doing scan surveys is less efficient for job coverage.


Out of date opinion by a old curmudgeon