Troubleshooting the ATC2000

The ATC2000 is a low noise heating system for maintaining animal body temperature during expiremental procedures.

Here are some common issues you may encounter:

No power. If you have no power, you may have a poor connection. Check the power cable connection.
ERROR displays instead of a temperature. If ERROR displays instead of a temperature on the main display, you may have a poor probe connection. Disconnect the probe and properly re-connect it to the ATC2000.
Animal cannot reach set temperature. If the animal cannot reach the set temperature, you may have insufficient heating power. The maximum power output on the heating device is 30W. In most situations the power is sufficient to keep the animal warm up to 40˚ C. To minimize heating loss, insulate the bottom of heating plate and cover the animal with a small blanket to keep it warm.
Alarm is sounding. If an alarm is sounding, you may have poor transfer of heat from the heating plate to the animal. (The plate is hot, but the animal has not wamed up.) To improve the thermal coupling from the heating plate to the animal. Place a heat-conductive, conformal material (like cotton wadding) between the animal and the plate or adjust the PID parameter to slow the plate heating process. To do this, decrease the integral (I) value. You may use these two solutions independently or together to solve this issue.
Alarm is sounding. An alarm may also sound when you have poor connection to the heating plate and probe. Disconnect both the heating plate and probe and reinsert them properly.

Problem	Cause	Solution
No power	Poor Connection	Check the power cable connection.
ERROR displays instead of a temperature	Poor Probe Connection	Disconnect and properly re-connect the probes to the ATC2000.
Animal cannot reach set temperature	Insufficient heating power	The maximum power output on the heating device is 30W. In most situations, the power is sufficient to keep the animal warm up to 40˚C. To minimize heating loss, insulate the bottom of heating plate and cover the animal with a small blanket to keep it warm.
Alarm is sounding	Poor Connection to heating plate and probe	Disconnect both the heating plate and probe and reinsert them properly.
Alarm is sounding	Poor transfer of heat from the heating plate to the animal. (The plate is hot, but the animal has not warmed up.) You may use these solutions independently or together to solve this issue.	Disconnect both the heating plate and probe and reinsert them properly.