When questioning the working order of your Princeton Applied Research potentiostat/galvanostat, the first thing you should do is Re-Initialize the system. After that, you should perform some basic experiments with resistors, which we refer to as "dummy cells." Most Princeton Applied Research systems have an internal dummy cell within the system (please refer to your user's manual for your system for directions on how to switch from external to dummy cell) so as rule out any problems with leads. To test the system out to the leads, a resistor of known value that will allow proper testing of the system (sized such that the desired current and/or potential fall within the desired ranges) is also recommended. To connect across a resistor, connect the Working lead (and the Sense lead if applicable to your system) to one side of the resistor, and both the Reference and Counter leads to the other side of the resistor (with the Reference closest to the resistor). This is what is referred to as a "two-terminal" connection.

With the system set to either the internal dummy cell or connected to a external dummy cell, apply a potential (or current in gstat mode), and determine if the corresponding current (or potential in gstat mode) is the expected value based on Ohm's Law. For example, with a Princeton Applied Research 263A system set to its internal DC dummy cell (a 10K ohm resistor), an applied potential of 1V should give a current reading of 100uA (provided the current range is set to Auto or 100uA) +/- allowable tolerances. Likewise for this same system, an applied current of 100uA in galvanostatic mode across this 10K ohm resistor should give a potential reading of 1V +/- allowable tolerances. You may also run scan techniques with the dummy cell, each data point obeying Ohm's Law of E=IR.

If you feel that your system is not functioning properly with the dummy cell, please contact the Tech Support or Service department. If the dummy cell results appeared normal, and your actual experiment is not giving the expected results, examine your setup carefully, giving special consideration to cell design, environmental interferences, bad reference electrode, bad connections, or grounding problems.