T8 Manual - UMS

Protecting the measuring site
6 Protecting the measuring site
6.1 Theft and vandalism
The site should be protected against theft and vandalism as well as
against any farming or field work. Therefore, the site should be
fenced and signposts could give information about the purpose of the
site.
6.2 Cable protection
Cables should be protected against rodents with plastic protection
tubes. UMS offers dividable protection tubes as accessory. For long
term studies we recommend to dig cables a few centimeters below
soil surface inside protection tubes
6.3 Frost
6.3.1 Protection against frost
Tensiometer are filled with water and therefore are endangered by
frost!
Do not store filled Tensiometer at temperatures below–5°C. Do
not leave filled Tensiometers over night in your car, in a measuring
hut, etc.
Do not fill the Tensiometers with Ethanol, as this is corrosive for
some materials (i. e. PMMA) and will destroy these.
Also it is not recommended to fill the Tensiometers with Decalin,
mono-ethylene-glycol, di-ethylene-glycol, etc. These could harm any
of the materials, destroy the ceramic cup or leak into the soil.
T8 Tensiometer may remain installed during the winter if the cup is
positioned in a depth of at least 20 cm. Then, the frost will ingress
the cup slowly without damaging the pressure sensor. The reading
will jump to a constant value. After unfreezing the Tensiometer will
continue to work.
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