Patent ID: 8117003

Claim:
A method of monitoring the operation of a probe in a measuring medium, the method comprising the steps of: providing a probe, comprising: an electrochemical second order half-cell, the half-cell comprising: an electrolyte; a first and a second conductor element, comprising the same metal, each of the conductor elements in contact with the electrolyte, such that the first conductor element holds a first electrical potential and the second conductor element holds a second electrical potential as a result of the contact, the first conductor element coated with a low-solubility salt of the metal comprising the conductor elements; a control- and/or regulation unit for closing an electrochemical contact between the half-cell and the measuring medium, the control and/or regulation unit comprising a program for monitoring the electrochemical half-cell; and a temperature sensor; registering a temperature-time profile in the control- and/or regulation unit, using the temperature sensor; determining, in the program of the control- and/or regulation unit, a first control value, related to the registered temperature-time profile for at least one point in time; comparing, in the program of the control- and/or regulation unit, the determined first control value to a first limit value; determining, in the program of the control- and/or regulation unit, a second control value that establishes a mathematical connection between the first electrical potential and the second electrical potential for at least one point in time when the first control value is equal to or greater than the first limit value; comparing, in the program of the control- and/or regulation unit, the determined second control value to a second limit value; and generating a signal from the control- and/or regulation unit when the determined second control value is equal to or less than the second limit value.