e3 Diagnostics has over 100 technicians covering approximately 60,000 service and repair appointments per year. We asked two of our most experienced technicians to pass along some easy tips that could possibly help you avoid unforeseen downtime and inaccurate results.

Here’s what they had to say…..

1. Routinely Clean Sound Booth Jacks & Plugs

One of the most important things you can do is to clean your equipment. Specifically, the jacks and plugs where your audiometer is connected to the sound booth. If you setup a schedule of at least weekly if not daily, to unplug the headphones/bone/insert (One at a time of course) and clean the metal plug with an alcohol prep pad or cleaning spray inside the jack. Re-insert the plug into the jack and spin it around. This will make sure the contacts where your plug and jack meet are clean and don’t have any oxidization causing you to have a low signal. If you do this on a regular basis you'll find your equipment lasts longer and you'll end up seeing your technicians like you see your Dentist, on an annual basis only.

2. Quick Fix for a Tymp

Is your tympanometer giving you a large volume? If it's reading 5.0CC in a 2.0CC cylinder you've got one problem that can be solved rather quickly. If it's reading too large of volume, you've got something in the way in the tip most likely. First, try using floss to clean it out, (remember to remove any gaskets first) and be sure to clean out all of the holes. Replace the gasket and see if that helped. If still no luck, sometimes changing the tip out works well. I have some customers that use an old dry store to help dry out tips after they've used them all day.

3. Have Spares On-Hand

To minimize downtime and prevent an emergency service call, it’s a great idea to have spare cords for your bone oscillator, headphones, and inserts. You may want to also consider carrying a replacement response button and even an extra headband for the headphones or the bone oscillator. Ask your e3 Diagnostics tech for these parts on your next calibration appointment.

Scott Lamb                                                                    Phil Smith
Senior Master Service Technician                                Senior Master Service Technician
e3 Diagnostics, Phoenix                                               e3 Diagnostics, Kansas City