placing the electrodes in salt water and life span

[nonnarun]

We usually place electrodes in salt water for 5 mins once a week. However, I recently found that soaking them in salt water prior to running a subject actually help me to achieve a low offset better.

I was wondering by soaking the electrodes every time before each use would shorten the life span of the electrodes (as oppose to doing it only once a week).

Thank you,

[Coen]

We have no indications that regular soaking shortens the electrode life. However, we do not really recommend soaking the electrodes in water prior to each application. The wet electrodes may be more prone to causing gel/water bridges between closely spaced locations in the headcap, and there is more risk of pollution of connectors and AD-box with salt water (which would trigger the safety circuitry and result in system shutdown).

It is correct that the electrodes work best after the gel has had some time to penetrate the porous tips. Generally, a few minutes should be enough to attain low (between approx. +50 mV and -50 mV) and stable offsets.

Best regards, Coen (BioSemi)