Carousel Water Sampler 
SBE 32

Photo by S. Compoint / Sygma

SBE 32 Carousel Water Sampler - An innovative design, free of the reliability problems associated with motor-driven types. The Carousel has no moving-shaft seals that can bind up at low temperatures or under pressure because each bottle position has its own magnetically-activated lanyard release latch. Only the magnetic field -- not a moving part -- links the Carousel's lanyard release mechanism with the pylon control electronics.

Sea-Bird's Carousel has been extensively deployed throughout the world's oceans, where it has built a reputation for reliability and ease of use. The Carousel has rapidly become the standard for oceanographic water sampling.

• Reliable - no motors or oil-filled seals
• No interruption of CTD data or power
• Drop-in replacement for existing pylons
• Easy one-handed lanyard attachment
• Variety of sizes and configurations
• Fire bottles in any order
• Compatible with most CTDs
• Programmable autonomous operation

SYSTEM ENGINEERED - PERFORMANCE PROVEN - TIME TESTED

The heart of every Carousel is the magnetically-actuated lanyard release (shown at right). A pressure-proof electromagnet at each bottle position is energized on command to release the latch holding the bottle lanyard. Titanium, acetal plastic, and other corrosion-resistant materials are used in the latch and magnet assembly. The latch array's modular construction makes servicing easy.

STANDARD CAROUSELSBE 25 Sealogger CTD.htm

The standard Carousel is optimized for use with the CTD and includes the electronics/release assembly (12-, 24-, or 36-position), mounting hub, adapter plates, protective frame, and CTD extension stand -- ready to accept a 9plus CTD underwater unit. When used with a 911plus, the CTD system provides Carousel power and control.

The 36-position Carousel differs from the standard 12- and 24-position Carousel only in that the latch array diameter is increased and the protective, stainless steel, bottle mount frame has integral bottle mounts, eliminating the mounting hub and adapter plates. This economical design improves flushing and reduces drag.

The electronics/release assembly and mounting hub are available separately. An electronics/release assembly in a 10500 meter  (34,400 ft) optional titanium housing is shown at left, installed in a 36-position frame. When the assembly is bolted into the mounting hub, it serves as a drop-in replacement for the pylon assembly found in many water samplers, allowing reuse of bottle mount stands and adapter plates when upgrading to the more reliable and convenient Carousel design. For some custom-built frames, the electronics/release assembly can be used without a mounting hub, as for the 36-position Carousel.

SBE 32C COMPACT CAROUSEL

For use with limited vertical clearance, the SBE 32C is a 12-position sampler without CTD extension stand. It supports bottles up to 8 liters, and accommodates a 9plus CTD mounted horizontally inside the bottle circle. Bottle positions are closely spaced into 2 arcs, leaving spaces between the are ends to provide unobstructed flow to the 9plus or to allow mounting an SBE 19, 19plus, or 25 CTD and/or other instruments vertically, using an accessory mounting fixture.

SBE 32SC SUB-COMPACT CAROUSEL

The 12-position SBE 32SC is sized for 1.7 or 2.5 liter bottles. When used with an SBE 19, 19plus, or 25 CTD , it offers a small yet full-featured system, well suited to operation from small boats.

CAROUSEL CONTROL

The Carousel can be controlled in several ways:

• Real-time data acquisition and control -- 
  - SBE 11plus Deck Unit for SBE 9plus CTD
  - SBE 33 Carousel Deck Unit for SBE 19, 19plus, or 25 CTD; no CTD; or Neil Brown Mk III CTD
• Autonomous data acquisition and control (no conducting wire required)
  - SBE 17plus V2 SEARAM for SBE 9plus CTD
  - 90208 Auto Fire Module (AFM) for SBE 19, 19plus, or 25 CTD or no CTD

Each of these is described briefly below; see the applicable (hyperlinked) specification sheet for more details..

SBE 33 Carousel Deck Unit

For stand-alone Carousel use (without a CTD), the SBE 33 provides power and real-time control to the water sampler. When used with an SBE 19, 19plus, or 25 CTD, it also provides a real-time data telemetry link and power for the CTD and auxiliary instruments. Options for the SBE 33 include a NMEA 0183 interface to allow GPS position data to be appended to Sea-Bird CTD data, and an auxiliary A/D channel to interface a surface PAR sensor.

Auto Fire Module (AFM)

The AFM allows Carousel operation without a conducting seacable by firing bottles:

• at user-programmed time intervals, or
• when used with SBE 19, 19plus, or 25 CTD or SBE 50 Pressure Sensor, the AFM monitors the instrument pressure data and fires bottles at user-programmed depths.

The AFM also records bottle number, firing confirmation, and 5 scans of CTD data for each bottle fired. At the end of a cast, data from the CTD and from the AFM are both uploaded using the provided software. Setup and checkout are also performed (without opening the housing) through the software. The AFM, supplied with 9 alkaline D-size cells, provides Carousel power and AFM operation of at least 40 hours endurance.

SEA-BIRD SOFTWARE

SEASOFT©-Win32, our complete Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP software package, is included at no extra charge. SEASOFT's modular programs include:

• SEATERM and SeatermAF -- terminal programs for setup and data uploading.
• SEASAVE -- real-time data acquisition and simultaneous keyboard control of bottle firing. A typical real-time CTD data plot shows how the software automatically marks the display with bottle numbers, keeps track of which bottles have been fired, and creates a bottle data file during real-time data collection.
• SBE Data Processing -- filtering, aligning, averaging, and display of CTD and auxiliary sensor data and derived variables.