Water sampling method (1) Direct wire attachment method

 Setting up the water sampler

 Before attaching the water sampler to the wire rope, leave the lid of the sampler open ( Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 ). Also, make sure that the water sampling port and air hole are closed.

Fig. 4 How to open the lid and set it on the trigger

上蓋　Upper Lid

下蓋　Lower Lid

プッシュロッド　Push Rod

トリガーピン　Trigger pin

スナップフック　Snap hook

a) Open the top lid. Pass the tegus through the inside of the handle and secure the end of the tegus to the trigger pin. The trigger pin slides with the up-and-down movement of the push rod. b) Open the lower lid. Hook the snap hook at the end of the tegus onto the tegus on the upper lid. c) Set is complete.

Fig. 5 Notes on opening the lid

 If a strong impact is applied when opening the lid, the edge of the water sampler may be chipped and the seal of the water sampler may be compromised. If the rubber (or spring) is pulled in the direction of extension (upward for the top lid) and then knocked down, the lid can be opened without applying impact.

 Attachment to the wire rope

 Attach the water sampler to the wire rope, with the weight suspended and taut, using the fixture (clamp) provided on the back (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6 Fixing method to wire rope

ワイヤーロープ　Wire Rope

蝶ナット　Wing Nut

固定ブロック　Fixing Block

クランプボルト　Clamping Bolt

　Fix the water sampler by fitting the wire rope into the groove of the clamp bolt and tightening the wing nut. Fix in two places in this order: upper part, then lower part.

Closing of the lid

　The lid is closed when a weight dropped along the wire rope strikes the trigger of the water sampler. The trigger mechanism of the Niskin water sampler is shown in Fig. 7. When the push rod is pushed down by the falling weight, the release pin slides downward, the nylon tegus fixed to the pin is released, and the lid is closed. The weight that actuates the trigger is called a messenger and has a closing mechanism that allows it to fall along the wire rope without falling off ( Fig. 8 ).

Fig. 7 Trigger mechanism of Niskin water sampler

ワイヤーロープ　Wire Rope

プッシュロッド　Push rod

ナイロンテグス(上蓋)　Nylon tegs (upper lid)

リリースピン　Release pins

ナイロンテグス(下蓋)　Nylon tegs (lower lid)

Fig. 8 Messenger

a) Released state when attaching to or detaching from a wire rope.　b) Closed state when dropping along the wire rope.

 Multi-layered water sampling by continuous installation

 By attaching multiple water samplers to a wire rope at arbitrary intervals (chaining), multiple layers of seawater samples can be collected in a single observation (Figure 9). The trigger of the sampler has a release pin from which a messenger can be hung, and the messenger can be released toward the lower layer at the same time the lid of the sampler is closed when the trigger is activated. By attaching water samplers with messengers to wire ropes at desired intervals, the lid of the sampler can be closed from the top to the bottom in a relay-like fashion, simply by sending out a messenger from the vessel as the "first runner". In the example shown in Figure 9, three water samplers are placed at 100 m intervals, and if a messenger is dropped after the topmost sampler is submerged to 100 m, seawater at 100, 200, and 300 m can be sampled respectively.

Fig. 9 Multi-layer water sampling using a series of water samplers

水深　Depth

メッセンジャー　Messenger

リリースピン解除　Lilly Spin Release

a) Attach multiple water samplers to the wire rope at desired intervals and lower them into the water.　b) Each water sampler is left with its lid open and a messenger hanging from the trigger.　c) When the messenger arrives from the upper layer, the lid of the water sampler closes, and at the same time the messenger begins to fall toward the lower layer.