Clean Optical Sensors and Underwater Cameras
“The wipers have made a huge improvement in data quality and reduction in cleaning effort. The ports can now be left for several months at a time without the need for manual cleaning while the port surface remains nearly as clean as immediately after a manual cleaning by divers”. UC San Diego Scripps Plankton Camera team.
What is a Hydro-Wiper?
The Hydro-Wiper is an innovative mechanical wiper system designed to fit a wide variety of optical instruments. Talk to us about customization to fit your needs.
Using a regular gentle brushing action, the Hydro-Wiper keeps the optical window of the instrument clean from bio-fouling and unwanted deposits such as mud.
Cost effective: The Hydro-Wiper reduces the need for costly site visits to manually clean the instrument, maintaining data integrity throughout long deployments.
Proven in the field: Developed in 2007, Hydro-Wipers have been deployed in some of the harshest environments by educational institutions, research organisations, government agencies and private companies in all parts of the world.
Standard models: From fluorometers to turbidity sensors, dissolved oxygen instruments to nitrate analyzers, PAR sensors and more, we can wipe them!
Custom design: We can provide custom clamps, brushes and cable lengths, power and triggering options, and depth ratings. Please contact us to discuss your requirements.
Hydro-Wiper keeping a Seapoint turbidity sensor clean, deployed in Nelson Marina, New Zealand.
Hydro-Wiper Features
ZebraTech Hydro-Wipers are designed and built to last, even in the harshest environment.
Hydro-Wipers use a special custom designed brush, that has over many years, and thousands of deployments, proven to keep delicate windows clean without causing scratching or damage.
The park position and wipe angle can both be easily adjusted to suit the instrument installation.
All Hydro-Wipers feature “fail-safe” technology to ensure successful long-term deployments. If the brush arm is bumped or forced, the Hydro-Wiper will automatically reset the brush arm position back to the park position.
Need to wipe multiple instruments? No problem. We can supply custom brushes and clamps for up to 3 instruments onto a single Hydro-Wiper (see Multi-Wipe options further down this page).
The Hydro-Wipers come in two depth rating options, a 30m option and a 200m option.
Talk to us about your requirements.
Self-Contained
Hydro-Wipers
Ideal for extended deployments where external power supplies are not available. The Hydro-Wiper unit is connected to a rugged underwater Battery Housing that contains the batteries, control electronics, diagnostic LED, wipe angle controls, and wipe interval select switch.
Powered by six user-replaceable AA alkaline batteries, the Self-Contained Hydro-Wiper will operate for over 6 months with a 1-hour wiper interval. For extended deployments, a larger battery housing is available.
The wipe interval can be set from 15 minutes to 12 hours, to suit the environment.
Talk to us about your requirements.
Data-Logger Controlled
Hydro-Wipers
The Data-Logger Controlled Hydro-Wiper uses your power supply, and wipe trigger signal, to control the wipe.
Synchronizing the wipe with measurements from the instrument ensures data quality is consistent throughout the deployment and fouling is minimised.
Talk to us to discuss how easy it is to integrate a Hydro-Wiper into your instrument setup.
Multi-Wipe Configurations
We can manufacture custom Multi-Wipe configurations for our Hydro-Wipers that can handle multiple underwater sensors/cameras.
Developing a solution for an underwater Multi-Wipe configuration often requires some customisation.
We can help you with the design of these Multi-Wipe systems so please talk to us about your requirements.
Hydro-Wipers for Camera Housings
We can manufacture custom Hydro-Wipers for your underwater camera installations, check out some of our recent designs.
Developing a solution for an underwater camera system often requires some customisation.
We may also be able to help you with the housing so please talk to us about your needs.
Hydro-Wipers on Location
Hydro-Wipers were deployed in the North Sea for a long deployment on the CEFAS Buoy
Custom Hydro-Wipers on an underwater camera system, University of California, San Diego.