National/International Standard For Calibration "As Found" Readings

C

CLaurenceH

#1
So this may seem like a dumb question but it was brought up when someone made an update to one of our main department procedures. But this is the statement that was added to the procedure which makes sense.

Collecting As Found Data: Unless otherwise noted, prior to and during the collection of As Found data, the UUT should not be cleaned or adjusted.

The concern that I brought up was that we have procedures for Laser Mics that in the procedure we are asked to clean the lens before taking "As Found" readings. I personally think that we should not be cleaning the lens before taking readings. From what I have learned is that you want to record the as found readings just as the end user would be using the equipment. The reason being that it could be possible that the equipment they are using is out of tolerance because it is dirty. This would also inform the end user that they should be performing routine PM's on the equipment to prevent OOT conditions.

Of course if the unit was found OOT then we would clean the equipment and record As Left data to see if the debris may be the cause of the OOT.

I've been asked to...
Please look to determine if there is a national/international standard on this topic. How does ASME, ANSI, ISO, GIDEP, etc. handle these calibrations? What do other companies do?

Any information people can provide would greatly be appreciated. This is my first post and hopefully it makes sense.

Thanks
 
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Jerry Eldred

Forum Moderator
Super Moderator
#2
I'll leave the "paragraph quoting" part to others as I have so much on my plate. But a brief experienced metrologist answer is that "AS FOUND" means "AS FOUND." You want to know if over the course of the last calibration interval if the user may have possibly made out of tolerance readings. I am not versed in those instruments, so I can't specifically speak to the particulars. But if the uncleaned versus cleaned lens makes or could make a difference in performance to tolerance, and you clean it and it brings it back into tolerance, then it simply is not "AS FOUND" data. An interesting experiment (which maybe you've done) is get some sample date. Take a set of readings before and after cleaning the lens on a number of units. If you can show statistically that (for example) if you did this to ten units and on average, there was X change, without even needing benefit of what any of the international standards say, you cuold demonstrate that it is masking OOT conditions (if that is in fact the case).

Definitely someone look into the various standards as well. Might be you can make your best case with some above sample data along with the paragraphs of the standard(s), and use them together to make your case - and here is why the standards have this requirement.
 

ScottBP

Involved In Discussions
#3
I've seen this sort of thing happen before... Take a HP 3458A for example. One comes due for calibration.
1. Relocate unit to cal station, let it stabilize for a couple hours. Zero the unit (Run ACAL ALL).
2. Perform a verification test and take as-found readings. You discover a number of readings are out of tolerance.
3. Clean the 1/8" layer of dust off the fan filter on the rear and allow the unit to re-stabilize.
4. Re-do the verification test. This time all readings are in tolerance.
5. Proceed to lecture the technicians on routine maintenance, to include cleaning filters, etc.

So here's the dilemma:
1. Recall the units calibrated prior to the due date? There's no way to tell how long ago it slipped OOT, so the recall may affect the entire period since the last calibration. An assessor would say that's what regular interim checks are for. Recalibrate when needed, not when scheduled; e.g. when the readings are over a percentage of the limit (say 75%) but less than 100%, to prevent recalls and needless work.

2. Another assessor told us not to recalibrate a 3458A if the internal temperature is greater than 5° C of the time it was calibrated. (The internal temperature and time-of-cal temp. can be accessed via the menu commands.) So if the temperature is too high because the filter is dirty and you clean it BEFORE the initial verification, how do you know if the readings were approaching OOT beforehand?
 
C

CLaurenceH

#4
I love the responses and thank you for the information! Hopefully I can get some more peoples thoughts and bring this information to my boss and show him that this is what other people are doing within the field. I agree with everything you guys have said so far. Thanks again.
 
P

projectgregory

#5
I see AS FOUND to be whatever the general procedure for use of the equipment should be.

So if your procedures say that before one of your users use a micrometer they should clean it. Then when it comes to calibration and taking AS FOUND measurements you should clean it as the user would.
 
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