That was a common question at the AICHE (#AIHA) show in Portland, OR (May 14-20, 2010). We, PID Analyzers, LLC, brought one of the first PI101's (1st portable photoionization analyzer) ever built to the show. I had many people who stopped, looked at the PI101 and said "I used one many years ago but I didn't realize that you still made them". I said that we stopped making them about ten years ago but we can still fix them, Several people asked about an 11.7 probe for their 101 and I said "we can still supply one". I even had one industrial hygienist who stopped by who said " I bought my PI101 25 years ago and it still works. I said "you should send it in for a clean and cal, it will probably need one after 25 years".
Some of our competitors build their PID's like cell phones. That is, their lifetime is just over 2 years and spare parts are available only for several years beyond that. We can fix PI101's that were built 35 years ago. The PI101 was the first portable analyzer that was used extensively in reducing exposure to vinyl chloride, solving exposure problems at Love Canal (1st Superfund Site) and written in to the Superfind legislation. Note that Superfund was "the world's largest industrial hygiene program". That is all history now but the PI101 is still around and can still be fixed 35 years later. For more information click here.
A photo of the PI101 with its successor, the Model DL102, is shown in the photo below:
Model PI101
