After nearly a year in design and beta testing, the next generation Membrane Interface Probe, the MP6520, is available to help reduce costs while running MIP. The new Geoprobe® MP6520 is the most durable, longest lasting, driven MIP ever produced! And it’s rebuildable! From the oustide, it looks the same as the MP6510 probe, but every probe component was reviewed, problems and weaknesses were identified, and each one was engineered out. As a result, the MP6520 has newly engineered gas lines, a field replaceable thermocouple, an improved heater block design, and it can now be returned for rebuilding ... all resulting in a cost savings to the MIP user.

“The final outcome far exceeded our expectations”, says Tom Christy, Geoprobe® Engineer and Vice President of the company. “We wanted the thermocouple to be field replaceable, but the new one is so robust it rarely needs to be replaced. But we didn’t stop there! When we improved the thermocouple attachment point in the heater blocks, we targeted the gas lines and improved them as well. Now, these gas lines just don’t break!” Many of the improvements are a result of working with materials that weren’t available to the design team during earlier MIP probe design efforts.

“This project took many months,” Tom continued. “It was a constant, ongoing effort. We made feasibility models and field tested them every week. Then we built actual MP6520 prototypes, and then beta models that were supplied to clients for testing in their areas.”

What was the biggest surprise from the re-design effort? “The MP6520 is rebuildable,” says Tom. “That wasn’t even one of our objectives, but it happened, and it happened quite nicely!”

Eventually any percussion driven probe will wear out. The design team expects this to happen, but now it will happen only from fatigue and failure of the heaters. “When they go,” Tom added, “you send it in and we rebuild the probe by replacing the block assembly. The probe body, including the EC pin and wires, is completely re-used in the process”.

Dan Pipp, Geoprobe® MIP Specialist, stated, “The new MP6520 design alleviates many of the items that have been problematic in the past which now makes the overall MIP experience much more enjoyable. Gas line connections are more secure and early probe failures have essentially been eliminated. My attention in the field has shifted from worrying about how long a probe might last to focusing on what I’m seeing in the logs and where new logs need to be advanced to define a site. This new design will increase the production in the field and boost the confidence of operators and their clients about the technology.”

See www.geoprobe-di.com or call Geoprobe® Customer Service (1-800-436-7762) to find out more about this product!