The ATEX certified Micropack III DataTrace system from Mesa Laboratories was found to provide highly accurate temperature measurements for up to one year and beyond. By analyzing routine recertification data collected in Mesa’s calibration laboratory it was demonstrated that 70% of the temperature data loggers maintained their published accuracy specification of +/-0.1°C for one year or more, and 99% of the loggers were within +/- 0.5°C over this same time frame. Based on these data, it is recommended that the Micropack III data loggers are returned to us for recalibration at 12 month intervals. This inherent stability, coupled with their small size, makes the Micropack III system ideally suited for quality control, validation, and process development applications in Pharmaceutical, and Medical device manufacturing and Food applications.

The ATEX certified Micropack III DataTrace system is a highly accurate, precision, wireless data logging instrument for the measurement and recording of temperature, pressure, humidity and other parametric data. Each Micropack III data logger, or “Tracer”, is small enough to be placed close to, or actually inside, the product being measured, to deliver extremely accurate measurements throughout the process. They are among the smallest devices of their kind on the market today.

Besides providing data loggers, Mesa operates a state-of-the-art calibration laboratory to ensure the utmost accuracy of its Tracers. After assembly, the temperature Tracers are calibrated against a NIST traceable temperature standard at 17 different points between –20°C and 140°C. In addition, Tracers returned for repair or for routine recertification are subjected to the same rigorous calibration process. Since introduction of the Micropack III system in 2002, Mesa Laboratories has performed thousands of calibrations on temperature Tracers and these data can be highly informative in regards to their long term stability.

All data from Mesa’s calibration laboratory is stored in a secure database, providing a complete history on the performance of every temperature Tracer, from the point of manufacture, all the way through subsequent recalibrations performed as part of a repair or a routine recertification. This calibration data was examined to gain insight into the long term stability of the Micropack III Temperature Tracers.

When a Tracer is returned to Mesa’s laboratory it is often checked for calibration accuracy prior to any repair or recertification. This “As Received Report” is highly indicative of the long term stability of the Tracer and a typical example is illustrated below. In the case of this particular temperature Tracer, it had been in use for 1 year in the customer’s laboratory following its initial calibration. The report below illustrates the performance of the Tracer as it was received in Mesa’s laboratory prior to any recalibration. As can be seen from the report, even though the Tracer had been in use for one year, it was still well within its specified temperature accuracy of +/- 0.1 °C at every point between -20°C and 140°C.