Hi everyone,
I began an internship this week in which I grow bacteria and then monitor levels of NO (for which I need to use a NO sensor). I am not certain the exact model, but I believe it is similar to this: https://www.wpiinc.com/products/top-pro ... ensor-2mm/
Well, to make a long story short, I bumped the sensor when I was calibrating it. In my opinion, it was a light bump and I didn't even realize it happened until my mentor said so. He insisted that we not use it, as we had to wait an hour to see if the readings were normal (at the time, they spiked, dropped, and then leveled off a little bit higher than they were initially. There was also the occasional dip after they leveled). He told me to leave early because we wouldn't be able to complete the other procedures that we planned to do that day - I believe he just wanted me out of the lab because he was frustrated.
My question is: What does it take to permanently damage a NO sensor? Could this error cost the lab the $600 needed to replace the probe?
I am extremely anxious about this as I have been making really silly mistakes in the lab (ex. spills, not checking labels - resulting in using the wrong substances to make solutions, not retuning culture to the incubator, etc.)