I was looking into cleaning the cuvet for my Hanna meter. I just use ro/di water and dry and store in a micro fiber towel and try to handle the cuvet only with the micro fiber towel. I just wanted to make sure I was doing it correctly. I cam across this from a site that sells lab cuvets and had a page on how to clean. It seems that the cleaning agent is dependent upon the sample used to test.
I copied the instructions from the page and highlighted in blue that methods and agents that apply to us reefers. Just an fyi:
Care and Cleaning of Cells
Why Clean Cells? Clean cells are the foundation of any spectrophotometric or fluorometric analysis. The residue from previous analysis will cause inaccuracies, low sensitivity and lack of precision. More important, it will waste your time! Also inspect the condition of the cells. If they are cracked, chipped or scratched it is important to replace the cells with new ones as your time is more valuable than the cost of new cells.
How to Clean Cells ( see Accessories Starna "Cellclean" ) It is important to determine the residual material in the cell that needs to be removed. The table below will give you some suggestions for cleaning:
N.B: For Fluorescence measurements - Clean and store cells in Nitric Acid (5M) use a copious water rinse immediately Before use
General Considerations:- Keeping cell clean while in use is the most important element of a long, useful Cell life. During the day, never let your cells dry out. If your keep them in a water or solvent bath between usage, the material that you are using will not have a chance to dry out and stick. Use only lens cleaning paper or fine cloth to wipe the optical surfaces, most paper products contain wood fibres which may scratch or damage the cell face or surface. At the end of the day, ensure all cells are well cleaned and store in a suitable container after drying.
Definitions
Dilute Acid
Dilute Hydrochloric acid (2M) or Nitric Acid (2M)
Acid
Hydrochloric (5M) acid or Nitric Acid (5M) (see note below)
Solvent rinse
Rinse with the solvent that solvated your sample in the first place!
Copious water rinse
Use a pure water like deionized, distilled or RO and rinse at least 10 times
Detergent
Use a neutral pH detergent if available but dilute acid wash and water rinse to remove detergent residues
N.B: 5M Nitric acid: Do not use this treatment on Anti-reflection or mirror coated cell's
Ultrasonic Cleaners: We do not recommend the use of ultrasonic cleaning baths with cells. Each bath generates a different frequency and if your bath operates at the resonant frequency of a cell, the cell will break. We do not warranty that our cells for cleaning in an ultrasonic cleaner.
Care and Cleaning of Cuvettes
I copied the instructions from the page and highlighted in blue that methods and agents that apply to us reefers. Just an fyi:
Care and Cleaning of Cells
How to Clean Cells ( see Accessories Starna "Cellclean" ) It is important to determine the residual material in the cell that needs to be removed. The table below will give you some suggestions for cleaning:
Solvent /Material / Suggested Cleaning Methods
Aqueous/ Salt solution Warm water/ Acid rinse, copious water rinse
Aqueous/ Salt solution Warm water/ Acid rinse, copious water rinse
N.B: For Fluorescence measurements - Clean and store cells in Nitric Acid (5M) use a copious water rinse immediately Before use
General Considerations:- Keeping cell clean while in use is the most important element of a long, useful Cell life. During the day, never let your cells dry out. If your keep them in a water or solvent bath between usage, the material that you are using will not have a chance to dry out and stick. Use only lens cleaning paper or fine cloth to wipe the optical surfaces, most paper products contain wood fibres which may scratch or damage the cell face or surface. At the end of the day, ensure all cells are well cleaned and store in a suitable container after drying.
Definitions
Dilute Acid
Dilute Hydrochloric acid (2M) or Nitric Acid (2M)
Acid
Hydrochloric (5M) acid or Nitric Acid (5M) (see note below)
Solvent rinse
Rinse with the solvent that solvated your sample in the first place!
Copious water rinse
Use a pure water like deionized, distilled or RO and rinse at least 10 times
Detergent
Use a neutral pH detergent if available but dilute acid wash and water rinse to remove detergent residues
N.B: 5M Nitric acid: Do not use this treatment on Anti-reflection or mirror coated cell's
Ultrasonic Cleaners: We do not recommend the use of ultrasonic cleaning baths with cells. Each bath generates a different frequency and if your bath operates at the resonant frequency of a cell, the cell will break. We do not warranty that our cells for cleaning in an ultrasonic cleaner.
Care and Cleaning of Cuvettes
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