What is done when total station sent in for calibration?

Servicing should include cleaning a lubricating of the internals, but a calibration entails a much more comprehensive inspection and adjustment which is done to a manufacturer's standard guideline as far as I'm aware. I'd assume they'd provide a calibration certificate which should show the results of their findings and what adjustments were necessary. If they couldn't provide this I'd be asking a few questions.

I have seen "Fixes" that were all the way between "0" and "60".

Then, I sat around, and worked on my own gear. Learned to index it me self.

Then, when indexing my optical plummet, BROKE one of the screws. (Overtighten). Took it in, 85 miles away, waited on it. They replaced the Optical Plummet, and they put a 2 speed tangent into the upper motion. (upgrade).
I still index my own. But, take a bit more time with the screws.
PERSONALLY, I'd put an inst through it's paces, BEFORE sending it in, and AFTER.

HOWEVER.

Modern guns are often built TIGHT and SLOPPY. They use software to index them. IF they are TIGHT, it means nothing moves. If they are sloppy, it means they are not indexed at all. The COMPUTER "maps" the scale inside. Then, uses this map, to "Correct it real time".

So, this means that they probably put it through it's paces, to RE map the scales. But made NO physical changes.

So, modern guns generally don't need to go to repair, unless they have a physical issue. And, sending them in to re index, means they simply tie it to a solid post, sight infinity, (Most repair shops have this) and run it through a software sequence, to re index it.
So, IF you have a TRIPOD or TRIBRACH problem, you are NEVER gonna be happy.
Index it yourself on your tripod. IF it never stays put, you *might* have tripod, and tribrach problem.

Soooo... MY advice is to spend some serious time looking at your tripod and tribrach. BEFORE sending anything in.

Nate

Shop is probably at 70 degrees what is the temperature of the spot you are checking the instrument.

My question is should the yearly service include adjusting optical plummets, bubbles, crosshairs, tracking and collimation etc. My impression was that this would all be done as part of the yearly service. While I can do most of these adjustments myself I believe they should be done as part of the service.

Totalsurv, post: 413672, member: 8202 wrote: My question is should the yearly service include adjusting optical plummets, bubbles, crosshairs, tracking and collimation etc. My impression was that this would all be done as part of the yearly service. While I can do most of these adjustments myself I believe they should be done as part of the service.

Absolutely........
Sometime cosmetics are ignored, but op and level bubbles should be perfect.
Obj lens and eyepiece should be cleaned
Tribrach and focusing should be tightened and lubed if needed
Batteries checked and contacts cleaned as necessary
Tracking must be checked and calibrated
The crosshairs should be adjusted for correct double centering
Trunion axis set properly
Tilt sensors reset and edm alignment checked.
Communication link checked
After all that then the electronic internal calibration can be done
........unless you requested a quicky I NEED IT NOW type service.

russ455, post: 413675, member: 2195 wrote:

........unless you requested a quicky I NEED IT NOW type service.

It was with them for 6 weeks.

You might want to select another shop to service your gear.

I forgot about firmware updates. Those can be important also

Topcon and sokkia can be done in your office over wifi. Others brands should be done at the repair shop

Nate The Surveyor, post: 413679, member: 291 wrote: You might want to select another shop to service your gear.

Yes I think so.

Totalsurv, post: 413678, member: 8202 wrote: It was with them for 6 weeks.

Maybe they hired it out to make a bit of money. Or maybe they sent it to another service center if they couldn't do it themselves.

Personally, having hired out many things, auto mechanics, etc, and SEEN shortcuts taken, (try youtube oil change fraud) I prefer to do it myself.
HOWEVER, all I have ever heard is "Do business with a local shop". I like that.... but I don't have a local shop. Drive to Little Rock, Capitol Blueprint, is as local as I can get. Last time I sent a gun in for help, it went to HAYES inst. Pick a REPUTABLE shop. TELL THEM what you want done. And ship it.
Same with tech support. Phone call away.

N

I have never heard of annual maintenance taking 6-weeks. I use a shop 2-hours away since there is no local shop here. I ship it to them and they hand deliver it back via their area sales rep. This avoids adverse handling of a newly adjusted instrument during shipping. Last time I shipped it on a Friday and had it back Wednesday morning at 8:30. Everything was cleaned and adjusted as described above. An itemized list of all work performed by the shop and a calibration certificate ate part of the delivery.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Calibration is a misused word. On a service the instrument should be adjusted so that it performs within the manufacturer's specification. A calibration provides additional correction information to ensure that the instrument will perform better than the specification. These factors may be set into the instrument by the service shop, BUT they only apply if that instrument and accessories are always the same combination, ie. the calibration certificate should state the instrument, the tribrach on the instrument, the target holder, the prism and the tribrach on the target. Most often the calibration is just an electronic measure of the frequencies the instrument uses, so it doesn't take into consideration any of the other parts of the survey set-up and assumes perfect weather conditions.

A full calibration (using the set of equipment you keep for "special" measurements) will provide a table of corrections which will enable your distances to be corrected to be as accurate as possible. It's probable that it will be carried out on a multi-pillar baseline of around 1km. length, so you have an assurance that the instrument will be accurate over a respectable range. That baseline will have been measured to an international standard by a very high precision unit and will be certified for use by an international standards organisation.

Your service shop might send an instrument of its own to such a besline, in which case they will be giving you a certificate showing the comparison between your instrument and their calibrated one (cheaper than sending yours away, but has residual errors). On the other hand they might just see a sucker coming...

Totalsurv, post: 413661, member: 8202 wrote: I recently received back a robotic total station that was sent in for it's yearly calibration/service and it seems like nothing has been done to it. Optical plummet is out of adjustment and loose, instrument does not collimate to centre of prism, bubbles not calibrated....

So I guess my question is what would a yearly calibration/service with the supplier include? I need to challenge them on the shoddy job that has been done on this (I suspect nothing has actually been done other than put a sticker on the side). I would particularly like to hear from anyone who has worked as a repair technician.

Although your case seems to be on the uncommon side, I have known this to happen occasionally.
Sometimes, the "A-Team" is not assigned to your instrument, and it doesn't get a thorough a look as it should.
No reason not to challenge them, as you have probably already spent $700 - $1000 on this.

When you say "received back", that indicates shipping of some sort (UPS, etc.), rather than just going to the dealership and picking it up.

Any total station that has been shipped should be checked and collimated when it comes back.

The collimation can be done in your office, or out in the back yard.

Check your owners manual......there are a number of adjustments/corrections that can (and should) be done on your own.

Angelo

One more thing... CHECK your prism constants, when you get it back.
And, possibly the INST offset too.

N

The process that a shop does for calibrating an instrument is the exact same processes that you can do in the field with your instrument. Total stations are designed to be calibrated by the field crews. its not a difficult process. If you can't trust your guys to do it then i wouldn't trust em to do any work. Only exception is older instruments from the 90's or older that you have to use a screw driver to calibrate.

I'll out line roughly what our shop does for a "calibration" for a Leica style robot. The process is identical for other total stations

1. Let instrument sit out side to get acclimated in our "calibration gazebo" that has a pillar mounted inside
2. Perfectly level the gun and run the Calibration "Check and Adjust" program on the instrument
3. Calibrate the L,T,I,C,ATR of the instrument. running through 3+ loops.
4. once the compensator is calibrated, re-level the instrument perfectly and adjust the bubble on the tribrach and instrument to match.
5. bring instrument inside to our stand to adjust the Tilting Axis. This is the only calibration process that is difficult to do in the field. You need a steep angle.
6. check distance against a precise baseline.
7. External clean of instrument and case. Add sticker that shows the temp of current calibration

That's it. No lubrication or firmware. If anyone would like to see a video of the rough process let me know and ill see if i can put something quickly together.

Eric Kara, post: 413857, member: 1598 wrote: The process that a shop does for calibrating an instrument is the exact same processes that you can do in the field with your instrument. Total stations are designed to be calibrated by the field crews. its not a difficult process. If you can't trust your guys to do it then i wouldn't trust em to do any work. Only exception is older instruments from the 90's or older that you have to use a screw driver to calibrate.

I'll out line roughly what our shop does for a "calibration" for a Leica style robot. The process is identical for other total stations

1. Let instrument sit out side to get acclimated in our "calibration gazebo" that has a pillar mounted inside
2. Perfectly level the gun and run the Calibration "Check and Adjust" program on the instrument
3. Calibrate the L,T,I,C,ATR of the instrument. running through 3+ loops.
4. once the compensator is calibrated, re-level the instrument perfectly and adjust the bubble on the tribrach and instrument to match.
5. bring instrument inside to our stand to adjust the Tilting Axis. This is the only calibration process that is difficult to do in the field. You need a steep angle.
6. check distance against a precise baseline.
7. External clean of instrument and case. Add sticker that shows the temp of current calibration

That's it. No lubrication or firmware. If anyone would like to see a video of the rough process let me know and ill see if i can put something quickly together.

Yes a video would be very useful thanks. I can do many of the adjustments myself it's just I expect the technician to have done it as part of the yearly maintenance.

sicilian cowboy, post: 413849, member: 705 wrote:

When you say "received back", that indicates shipping of some sort (UPS, etc.), rather than just going to the dealership and picking it up.

Any total station that has been shipped should be checked and collimated when it comes back.

To top it off the shipping company wrote on the case with black marker!!

Totalsurv, post: 413860, member: 8202 wrote: Yes a video would be very useful thanks. I can do many of the adjustments myself it's just I expect the technician to have done it as part of the yearly maintenance.

It sounds like Eric is doing the 'field' adjustment just as you could do. I understand a certified leica shop checks a lot more with the computer diagnostic software, and specialised test stands they have. They do things like make sure the reticule is as near to mechanically aligned as possible in the horizontal direction. Vertical not so much. The red laser has to be done by the shop on the 1200+ and newer instruments. Things like motor current draw and diode intensity are checked/adjusted. Also they do their own calibration routines which zeroes the calibration values before you do the field calibrations. Encoder circles are checked for cleanliness. Every yearly service the focussing ring membrane is replaced from what I remember and the seals cleaned and lubed. Frequency of the signal generator is checked/adjusted (it can change with age) and it the EDM is zeroed.

So if it were my instrument I'd send it to a certified shop every few years or so because they do a lot more.

I could be wrong about this, but it is my understanding that the instruments (leica at least) change in calibration characteristics are known for a wide range of temperatures. That is to say the instrument should perform ok even if being operated at a temperature different to that at which it was calibrated. Best practice is to calibrate nearer to the temperature at which it is being used, but the instruments change in mechanical properties with temperature is a known quantity. I offer this without cite.