Thermo Scientific Mini 700 and 900 Series Radiation Detectors

Product News

ADM Nuclear Technologies is over years old and we think it only appropriate to give a brief history of a series of instruments for which ADM has great affection and experience with; the “Mini Instruments” range of contamination and survey meters.

Look around and you still find them in use around many sites encased in their familiar yellow powder coated aluminium box.

Mini Instruments was founded in 1963 and based in Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, England. It was here that they developed their first series of grey radiation detectors based on the Geiger Muller tube. It is unclear who the genius was, but the decision to move to a yellow encased radiation detector in the early 1980s made them instantly recognisable and this “brand colour” is continued today.

mini 900 geiger counter — Mini 900 Geiger Counter

The Mini Instruments gradually evolved over time mostly due to developments in electronics, improved switches, better batteries, stronger mylar windows for detector tubes, as well as the development of miniature high volume power supplies. However their generic shape evolved little and the old and new designs are clearly part of the same family of instruments.

These days you can find one of the original grey versions displayed in the Powerhouse museum in Sydney, we also suspect that a few of the larger organisations, such as ANSTO may still have the odd one around.

According to the Powerhouse museum collection database: “The mini monitor is well established in teaching, research, hospital and industrial laboratories as a reliable, convenient, and inexpensive contamination meter. The machine has a large logarithmically scaled meter with an open scale at the lower end to show background levels of radiation while displaying high levels without switching. There is also a speaker to give an audible estimation of radiation intensity. There is an alarm which can be set to trip at any level on the scale. The unit can be battery or mains operated.”

old_grey_mini_instruments — Mini Series 510 Geiger Counter

Mini Instruments was acquired by Thermo Scientific in 2007 and ultimately their production was moved from Burnham-on-Crouch to Erlangen in Germany, Thermo Scientific’s main radiation instruments production facility.

A variety of “Mini Instruments” are still being produced and although radiation detection devices such as the RadEye series have taken over in many applications, there are still a surprisingly large number of customers requesting the Mini Instruments for various applications and reasons.

The following models of Mini Instruments are still available:

Portable radiation monitors
MFG001	Type 900E, thin mica end window GM tube 6.0cm²
MFG004	Type 900EP15, thin mica end window GM tube 15.5cm²
MFG006	Type 900EP15FL, demountable low profile frisker probe GM tube
MS3278	Type EP15FL , EP15FL, low profile frisking probe with thin mica end window GM tube 15.5cm², with PET connector. Also suitable for use with Electra.
MS3051	Type EP15 PET, EP15, thin mica end window GM tube 15.5 cm² with PET connector. Also suitable for use with Electra.
MFG022	Type 900X, mica window ZP1481M 2.75cm²
MFG025A	Type 900DA, compensated ZP1490M tube, 0.5 - 1000µSv/h H*10
MFG012	Type 900/41, Shielded general purpose 19mm x 25mm crystal
MFG013	Type 900/41S, Unshielded general purpose 25mm x 38mm crystal
MFG016	Type 900/44A, contamination detector, Al window 32mm x 2.5mm
MFG017	Type 900/44B, contamination detector, Be window 32mm x 2.5mm
MFG011	Mini 900 basic scintillation monitor
MFG011C	Mini 900 basic scintillation monitor without probe suitable for NE probes, no probe clips supplied
Wall mounted area monitor
MFG253A	The 7-10 is a mains operated installed radiation monitor with an audio/visual alarm that can be set to trip at any point on the scale.
MFG053A	Type 7-10RA, 0.5-5000 µSv/h, 3m cable, MC10A gamma probe H*10, instruction manual and test certificate. This instrument is a mains operated radiation monitor that can be set to trip at any point on the scale. Remote contacts allow central reading and alarm functions.

MFG253A	Type 7-10RA 230V EURO, 0.5 - 5000 µSv/h, 3m cable, MC10A gamma probe H*10, beacon and loud alarm, instruction manual and test certificate

The Mini Instruments series remains popular today for a number of reasons. Firstly, many people are familiar with what it can do and how well it functions.

Some like the simplicity of the Mini, the analogue indicator makes it really easy to see a change in radiation dose/contamination levels. Other customers like that the probe can be mounted on top of the 900 and pointed towards their work station.

Either way it remains a firm favourite today and ADM is proud to be still selling these popular instruments after so many years.

Should you have any questions about the Mini Instruments series of radiation detectors, please do not hesitate to contact ADM Nuclear Technologies. A member of our expert team will be happy to help with any questions you may have.