Thermometer vs Thermocouple

When things get complicated

Question: 

How do you get to the root cause when things start getting technically complex?

Answer:

Keep asking questions.

Especially when things start getting outside of your wheelhouse, that’s when you start asking even more questions. 

For example, say the term “thermocouple’ comes up while investigating a deviation related to a bioreactor.

And you’re trying to understand what a thermocouple has to do with the deviation.

So let’s break it down.

Breaking it down

Therm – o – couple.

We’ve heard the term “therm” used in a more popular word before:

Thermometer.

A thermometer is used to take your temperature at a doctor’s office or in the hospital.

Similarly, a therm – o – couple is used to monitor the temperature of large equipment such as a bioreactor. 

Getting to the root cause

It is possible that something went wrong during the installation of the thermocouple or during operation.

There could be several root causes:

– Frayed communication wire back to the control system leading to an inaccurate reading

– Damage to the sheath (the long skinny part in the picture below) of the thermocouple during installation

– Electrical short circuit or power outage causing damage to the internals

Going from “Something’s up with this bioreactor” to “We need to take a closer look at this thermocouple” takes questions and persistence. 

Asking the right questions to the right people. 

Figure 1: Thermometer vs thermocouple comparison.

The image above describes the similarities between a thermometer and a thermocouple.

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With QuneUp™ you would have access to the specifications on that thermocouple in seconds. Remember, you’re still on that 30-day clock to close this deviation out. Do you really want to spend all your time digging for data? 

Equipment. Data. Digitalized. 

Give your data a QuneUp™!