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ACM Instruments History
ACM Instruments was founded in the Summer of 1985. Using a common background of physics and electrochemistry at UMIST John and Ray Gill (having designed electronic warfare solutions at Racal) formed Applied Corrosion Monitoring Ltd. Initial products were manual potentiostats and ZRAs generally acknowledged to be less easy to perfect than computer controlled equipment (where a trims file can hide a multitude of sins) and established our reputation in the precision end of the market.
Our first computer controlled potentiostat was made in 1986 using the internal ADCs and DACs of a popular personal computer. The results were very poor and taught us an important lesson: precision instruments do not belong inside the screened box of a computer. It's as simple as that.
Progressing to external 12 bit technology in 1987 we designed and sold a Spectrum based potentiostat/galvanostat with a 500 mA output and a full software suite for £1000. As good as the instrument was that year was a turning point in many laboratories attitudes to PCs so we developed in 1988 our first PC controlled 16 bit monitoring system. This incorporated many ideas that were at the cutting edge of design at that time. For example this system had four independent potentiostats and four independent ZRAs all fully controlled by software. The concept of split working electrodes is tremendous (AC Impedance on split electrodes gives fantastic results) and perfect for weld testing.
In 1989 two things happened. We changed our name to ACM Instruments and we built our first Gill 8. The name change came by a process of evolution as did the Gill 8. The Gill 8 was a DC only PC controlled instrument with software for C&V Noise; Cyclic Sweeps; Galvanodynamic Sweeps; LPR; Potentiostatic and corrosion rate verses time. It incorporated an 8 channel multiplexer and some good big mil spec connectors on the front panel designed for the use and abuse of a working laboratory.
The Gill 8 was a great success but still lacked something. At the time the only way to obtain AC impedance plots with a Gill 8 was to connect an FRA (costing twice the price of a Gill 8). So we made our own. The first Gill 8AC was made in 1990. Check that date an eight channel multiplexed electrochemical monitoring system with 110 kHz EIS in a single box in 1990. We have always maintained lower prices than our competitors (I guess we don't need the cash for advertising agents) and the Gill 8AC sold well.
Losing the FRA had many benefits such as size and cost but most importantly was the loss of ground loops. These are a feature of most monitoring equipment adequate for the standard schoolboy glass jar experiment. Not so for the challenges of the real word. Processes have pumps and filters and heaters and coolers that is grounded pumps and filters and heaters and coolers. These like just fine to become part of your working electrode. This is totally unacceptable. All ACM Instruments are built floating with no exceptions.
The early 90s saw the widening of our manual range of Sweep Generators; LPR meters; Potentiostats and ZRAs. These are popular with teaching establishments. Students need to hook up a cell and just play with it spin the big potential knob watch if the cell responds fast or slow burn out count resistors and generally have fun.
During this time Windows came and stayed. We have always used the latest software tools and operating systems as soon as they are released. As members of MSDN (Microsoft Development Network) we test operating systems before they are released to ensure problem free operation.
In April 1993 our first Field Machine was built for an offshore customer. This was essentially a Gill 8 AC in an aluminium attaché case. A portable computer fitted neatly in the top and the whole thing was battery powered. Field machines have always tracked the Gill 8s in terms of performance (but with only 500 mA available at the auxiliary compared with 2 Amps for a Gill 8AC) and have proved themselves from the deserts of Arabia to the Arctic Circle. Many variants have been built such as a guard ring version for building inspectors and concrete scientists.
The need for keenly priced single channel instruments was addressed in 1993. Our dedicated "Auto" range of equipment offered the AutoTafel; the AutoAC; the AutoLPR and the AutoZRA. Each performed a single task and was priced so low as to compete with other companies' manual equipment. These have evolved into the Gill AC.
At ACM we generally keep instrument names the same from one year to the next for example we still use Field Machine. This is often the only thing that is the same. The software is constantly evolving as new versions of Windows emerge and the old stuff just looks wrong. The hardware in the current Field Machine has no component that is the same as the earlier model which had a microcontroller as the on board controller whereas the current model uses a red-hot DSP chip that will whizz through a 1024 point FFT in a couple of milliseconds. Our analysers have gone from 16 bit in '93 to 21 bit today and even the potentiostat and ZRA now use amplifiers specified at 10 Amps (but current limited for long life and reliability) as opposed to the old 750 mA.
In 1996 the paint buffer was invented. This is a very low noise electrometer quality potentiostat and ZRA that plugs into the front panel of our computerised equipment. It's simple and it performs well if you are testing paints then a low cost paint buffer will transform your experiments.
Here is a common one: "Multipexer..Unable to open COM1". Not with our instruments. They went plug and play in 1997. Simply plug them into a COM port and the software searches COM 1 to 10 for them - easy! This then opens up our new parallel operations mode. Up to 32 different instruments can attach to one PC. This can then control them separately (no big deal) or (very big deal) together. Thirty two Gill 12s would give 384 channels to be sequenced in anyway you like with parallel operation to save time at every opportunity. There is nothing like this anywhere in the world. It's good and it works today.
Our telephones are often answered by one or other of the directors. No one is more committed to the products and good name of a company than the owners of the business. We like to experiment ourselves and love to hear the results of your tests. Good old fashioned politeness and genuine care for customers are the rule not the exception. Pick up the phone or click on our mail site sales@potentiostat.com and give us a try or why not take a trip to the Lakes and visit us. I've put together a few Lakeland items here...
Great Pictures and some poetry!
