UV Analyzer

Any Application where UV dose is of interest and that can’t be accessed via conventional UV dose measuring devices.

This type of measurement is typically a referencing system. In order to obtain the reference value, you must measure the unit when it is new. You can then use this to determine a decrease over time. Since there are many different installations, the reference values must be determined on site.

Use gloves to avoid touching the strips with fingers. Hold the strip in the corner and pull of the strip. The strip is self-adhesive and must be put onto a white surface to avoid shine through from the background.

Caution: Do not apply measuring strips while the machine is running.

Remark: The strips should be stored in the fridge to ensure measuring quality over life time. During transport use the thermo bag.

There are quite a lot of factors influencing the measuring. Most important are electrical power, distance to light source, light spectrum, machine speed and shape resp. color of underground (curved – flat, dark - light). Since the light source is finite, there is a drop towards the ends.

Recommendation: Respect the warming up time of minimum 5 minutes for the whole unit before measuring and ensure consistent measuring conditions. Each light source must be measured individually. In sheet fed printing we recommend to run 100 sheets before measuring and always measuring at the same positions.

Position the stick on the strip, ensure no overlapping and touch the key measuring within the app (not the hardware button). The app allows up to 5 measurements (after repositioning) for each strip. After completion of the desired number of measurements a mean value is automatically calculated. We do recommend minimum 2 measurements.

We do specify the UV dose as a rough rule between 200 mJ/cm² and 2000 mJ/cm². In detail the real sector is a function of strip sensitivity and the emmission sectrum of light source. The app will use recommendations depending on the selected type of UV. The UV dose is inversely proportional to machine speed. Means double the speed, half the dose. Therefore a lot of applications are brought up for UV measuring. The app can calculate a dose for a target speed.

It might be that requested dose values exceed the recommended limits of the strips. In this case you should set your machine speed to realize dose values which will be within the limits. The machine speed might now be wrong for your application, but you are able to calculate the exact dose for your desired machine speed with this feature.

We recommend not to exceed a period of 6 months from delivery. During this period the strips should be stored under dark and cold conditions, best will be to put jn the fridge.

UID stands for Unique Identifier. Each measuring strip packaging unit uses a unique UID. Before measurements can be taken, a UID must be redeemed. To do this, the stick must be connected to the smartphone and the UID must be entered in the "Strips" menu. The counter for the remaining measurements is then incremented under "Settings". Measurements are possible as long as the counter shows a plus.

The UV Analyzer app is using reference curves to realize best accuracy. In reference to the lamp spectrum resp. LED spectrum you have to choose the curve of corresponding UV source. Choosing a designated curve will get you as well a detailed information for recommended dose levels.

Remark: The reference curves cannot be compared with one another.

Available curves for UV-light sources:

• BLK Fe - (iron doped lamps for IST BLK- and Sheetfed units)
• BLK Hg - (mercury lamps for IST BLK- and Sheetfed units)
• Generic Hg - (mercury lamps for all non IST units)
• MBS-Li Fe - (iron doped lamps for IST MBS-Li with quartz screen)
• MBS-Li Hg - (mercury lamps for IST MBS-Li with quartz screen)
• LUV3 385 nm - (385 nm LEDs with optics for IST LUV3 units)
• LED 365 nm - (365 nm LEDs for all units)
• LED 385 nm - (385 nm LEDs for all units)
• LED 395 nm - (395 nm LEDs for all units)

The app shows dose measurements in reference to the type of UV unit and the spectrum, which will work for UV and LED. Dose calculation is executed through reference curves and displayed in mJ/cm². The reference curves were determined with different UV measuring devices, therefore you should respect a possible deviation in the range of +/- 10%.

Before measuring, you can enter and save additional parameters, such as unit number, operating hours, machine name and measuring speed, distance to substrate and power setting. These parameters are informative and have no influence on the actual UV measurement.

There is a certain sensitivity (up to 420 nm) to ambient light. Therefore we recommend no massive light impact before and after UV radiation. You should also consider a maximum of 15 minutes before and after UV radiation.

In every package of the UV Analyzer is a calibration standard included. This is used for recalibration and must not be exchanged with others. IST METZ recommends that the stick be subjected to a factory check once a year.  Therefore you have to send the stick back to the company IST.

The UV Analyzer respects that UV strips do not have uniform sensitivity over the complete UV range. The reference curves relating to aggregate type and spectrum take this aspect into account. In addition, each stick is referenced to a standard. Through these measures, a high measurement quality is achieved.

The UV Analyzer app offers the possibility to share measurements. A complete protocol can be stored as a pdf-file, transmitted to a printer or an e-mail address. Please note that only the last 25 measurements will be stored within the app. If you try to store more than 25 measurements the oldest measurement is overwritten.

Of course, this is possible, even if the UV-Analyzer was developed for IST equipment. In this case you have to choose a generic curve which is close to your usage. 

No, the app uses the measuring strips of the IST UV Analyzer, third party strips are not supported.

While connecting the stick to the app, a message pops up and will display the status of the battery in a figure up to 100.

Battery status is also accessible via the settings menu under the topic sensor information.

Start the app, switch on the stick, the LED of the stick flashes. Then press the icon with the stick in the upper right corner. Turning the icon blue will confirm the connection. Switch-off needs the button on the stick pressed for approx. 3 seconds.

By selecting the settings menu you will find the possibility to input the desired units for distance to the substrate (cm, in, mm), machine speed (ft/min, mm/s, m/min, m/s) and time format (12h or 24h).

The tags are used to manage recurring measurements under consistent measuring conditions. This allows classification into positions, machines, etc. A tag name is created in the settings menu and filled with content using the data in the measurement documentation menu. If the report is saved after the measurement, the tag is requested again. Important: If changes were made under documentation, the selected tag will be overwritten with the changes. This updates the tag.

Data can be exported as a *.csv or *.xlsx file under the measurements menu item. If the stick is connected, the tags created are displayed. After selecting the tag, all elements can be exported as an email in the desired file format.

The app needs connection to the internet for the first app start and updating data. This will allow to load the necessary information from the data base and will allow 14 days offline operation. After this period of time, you will be prompted to connect to the internet to receive possible updates.

The stick is connected via Low Energy Bluetooth with the smartphone, therefore you have to allow the usage of Bluetooth. LE Bluetooth needs a location sharing as well.

The stick contains electronic components and a battery. Please do not throw the stick in the trash, but take it to certified disposal. The stick must be sent back to IST METZ GmbH & Co. KG for this purpose.