MR Interferometer Removal

Tools and Equipment Required

  • Small phillips screwdriver
  • Small flathead screwdriver
  • 2.5 mm metric hex driver
  • 1/4″ hex driver

Precaution

  • The interferometer is fairly heavy, and should be lifted by two people
  • Be careful in sliding out the interferometer front window from the tube in the back-end
  • Be careful to not perturb the screws on the kinematic mount that optically aligns the interferometer

Procedure

  1. Stop data collection and power off the instrument.
  1. Disconnect the 11 electrical connections between the MR unit and the back-end (Figs. 1, 2):
Name Label Connector Notes
 1  Power cable  MR 28V  Milspec
 2  Ethernet cable  MRXS  RJ45
 3  Cooler diode cable  Sens2MR  Metallic screw+ground  Leave ground screw in place after removing ground wire
 4  Sens 1MR  Plastic 5-pin
 5  Cooler expander thermistor  CoolerT  5-pin  Disconnect at connector; leave screw and thermistor in place
 6  Cooler expander fan cable  Cool fan  2-pin
 7  Cooler compressor fan cable  Comp fan  2-pin
 8  Cooler power  Cool  6-pin
 9  Cooler compressor thermistor  SCCTEMP  Screw lug  2.5 mm metric driver needed; leave screw in place after removing thermistor
 10  Cooler controller cable  Cool Ctrl  20?-pin + ground  Disconnect at connector (do not remove controller); 2.5 mm metric driver needed; leave ground screw in place after removing ground wire
 11  Front window heater and thermistor  S Window  6-pin
  1. Unscrew the MR holder plate from the back-end using the three 1/4″ hex screws (Fig. 3).  Note:  do not touch the nuts/screws for the kinematic mount.
  1. Carefully remove the MR unit.  Note:  It helps to temporarily remove the motor controller to have better access.  Note:  the front window slides into a tube on the back-end; take care to slide the window out prior to lifting (Figs 4, 5).
  2. Inspect the front window, gasket, heather and thermistor for damage or wear and tear.
  3. Cover the front window aperture to protect the window.
  4. The three 1/4″ hex screws should stay with the AERI back-end.

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Figure 1. MR electrical connections 1-8 to disconnect

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Figure 2. MR electrical connections 9-11 to disconnect

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Figure 3. Three socket-head cap screws holding the MR unit to the back-end

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Figure 4. Removed MR unit, looking at the front window

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Figure 5. Back-end with MR unit removed.  Note removed motor controller.