Webinar: Troubleshooting and Equipment Maintenance in Soil Laboratories
Date: 13 August 2026
Time: 14:00 to 16:00 (UTC+2)
Modality: Virtual
Language: English
Webinar summary
Soil laboratory analyses rely on a wide range of equipment and instruments to generate accurate and reliable results. Effective equipment operation forms the foundation of high-quality laboratory data and depends on regular maintenance, calibration, and proper use.
To ensure consistent performance and reliability, maintenance activities are carried out at scheduled intervals, ranging from daily to annual tasks depending on the instrument. Laboratory personnel must be properly trained to perform these procedures, while calibration helps ensure that measurements remain accurate, traceable, and fit for their intended purpose.
Despite these preventive measures, equipment issues can still arise. Troubleshooting is the systematic process of identifying and resolving such problems. Developing in-house expertise and effective troubleshooting procedures can minimize downtime, improve operational efficiency, and support the continuous delivery of reliable analytical results.
Agenda
The webinar will be a two-hour session for one day, focusing on equipment used for soil laboratory analyses. It will involve three main topics: maintenance, calibration and troubleshooting.
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Regular and routine maintenance is important to establish to keep the equipment functional and reduce the possibility for malfunctions or errors. Maintenance needs to be implemented and recorded regularly.
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Calibration ensures that measurements are made accurately and the conditions of the laboratory are controlled.
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Systematic troubleshooting is an approach to identify and fix errors when encountered with equipment and instrumentation. This is a highly valuable skill to develop for both the personnel and laboratory.
Speaker
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WESLEY FELDMANN is working in sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on laboratory development and application support. He has worked in establishing a variety of laboratories in the agricultural sector, covering soil, leaf, fertilizer and water analyses. Through this work, he has developed a wealth of experience working with a variety of analytical techniques relevant to agricultural chemistry and testing. He is currently serving as the vice chair for working group 3 of the INSOILFER (The Global Soil Partnership’s International Network on Soil Fertility and Fertilizers), focusing on the development of harmonized SOPs for fertilizer analysis and quality control. Wesley is based in Johannesburg, South Africa and holds a PhD in Chemistry from Stellenbosch University. |
