5
Rev. A / May 2016
PRV-813 Conduc ve Rubber Electrode Verifi er
B. Fixture Design for Measuring Electrode resistance
The fi xture’s second side is a heavy, polished, nickel plated brass test bed. This test surface is used
to measure the total resistance of the electrode. Industry stan-
dards require that the total resistance of 2 electrodes on a metal
plate shall be less than 1,000 ohms. [Ref: ANSI/ESD S4.1 Worksur-
faces] Thus, one electrode on a metal test bed shall be less than
500 ohms. When evaluated on the PRV-813 most new, good quality
electrodes measure far less than 100 ohms.
Note that the PRV-813’s metal test bed will indicate a much lower
resistance than general metal plates found in the industry. Stan-
dard test beds supplied with many resistance instruments are
made of brushed stainless steel, o en shipped with a protec ve
fi lm on the test surface. The brushed surface considerably in-
creases contact resistance, and the adhesive from the protec ve
fi lm o en leaves insula ve contamina on on the test surface.
Consequently, an electrode measured for resistance on a standard
brushed stainless test bed may measure 200 ohms, while its resis-
tance measurement on the PRV-813’s polished test bed may be less
than 30 ohms. The polished resistance test bed has its own dedi-
cated instrument connec on in the edge of the test bed, opposite
of the fl atness instrument connec on
II. Using the PRV-813 Fixture for measuring Electrode Flatness
The PRV-813 is used in conjunc on with a precision resistance instrument and test leads, which are
not supplied. For the best accuracy, the instrument should be a digital unit with a nominal accuracy
of <±5%, and capable of displaying resistance to two decimal places. The instrument should have a
minimum measurement range of equal to or less than 1.00 ohms to greater than 1.00x109 ohms. For
Flatness measurements, typical measurements are between 4.95x105 and 1.0x108 ohms.
Measuring electrode fl atness consists of three steps:
• Prepara on of the fi xture and electrode to be measured
• Electrode Posi oning on Flatness fi xture
• The resistance measurement
A. Electrode & Fixture Prepara on
Both the electrode being measured and the fi xture must be clean
and free of even the smallest par cles of debris. Clean both sur-
faces with a solu on of 70% isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and water. Small
IPA wipes used by nurses and doctors are available in drug stores
and are typically 70/30% IPA and water.
A er cleaning, allow surfaces to dry thoroughly, typically 15 min-
utes or more. Inspect electrode and fi xture surfaces for small
par cles. Use canned air to blow par cles off the test surfaces if
necessary.
Place the PRV-813 on a fl at, stable surface with the blue fl atness PCB facing up. Posi on the fi xture
so that there is access to the fi xture instrument connec on.
Figure 3: PRV-813 Shown with its
Polished Test Bed ready for an elec-
trode resistance measurement. Note
the test bed instrument connecƟ on
in the edge of the plate.
Figure 4: PRV-813 Instrument Con-
necƟ on for Flatness measurement