Shimadzu GC 2010 Plus lost configuration

Discussions about GC and other "gas phase" separation techniques.

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Somehow the GC lost its configuration. No detectors nor injectors are recognized ("Detector not installed," "Inj port is not installed").

As per the manual in section 8.1.1, pressing "SET" should get me to the main screen with all kinds of goodies- except it is only displaying the current temperature for the column oven, there are no Flow, Injector, nor Detector parameters that I can adjust.

The "Line Config" option from there gives me injector options (INJ1 and INJ2), but no detector options. The next section ("Option") gives me two fields- AOC1 and AOC2, but we are using a headspace sampler and the HS-20 does not appear as an option.

How do I get this instrument to recognize the FID and the HS-20, please?

There are no files listed under "File".
Is the system configuration data still intact? In Real Time Analysis, go to the Instrument menu > System Configuration. Are all of the attached instrument modules and components there? If not, you may need to add them again.
Everything was lost. After considerable banging our collective heads against the wall, we went through two service techs before eventually regaining use of the instrument.

There does not appear to be any way to save or store the configuration either within the instrument or with the computer to which it is attached. The recommended technique is to manually scroll through each screen and take a picture of each one, and then refer to the images later in order to recover the settings.

The system is not of a robust nature.
A guess - is not this machine holds a battery on main board?
I know this is coming late in the game (just came across this), but it could be useful for future reference.

The system configuration is stored on the GC itself. There is a small battery on the main board that keeps just enough power running to maintain that information when the GC is turned off. The energy in the battery lasts about 5 years. If the power starts getting low you will get a "Battery Voltage Error".

The configuration can be lost if someone Initializes the instrument (FUNC>Service/Maintenance>Initialize). It sounds like a good thing, but it really isn't. If you are in the Initialize Menu and select Initialize All, it will erase all of the system configuration. I have also heard of someone supposedly losing configuration when they had a power surge during a storm.

To add the detector and injectors back into configuration select FUNC> Service/Maintenace>Piping. Use the left and right buttons on the front panel on each line until it matches the info in a past data file from that system (PostRun>open data file>click on Method>Data Acquisition Settings>System Configuration>then double click on one of the components in the right-hand column and you will see the info you need there) then select Enter to keep the line set.

Once you have the detectors and injectors installed, go to the SET button then Set Line Config (one of the PF options). Here you will set the detector and injector to be on analytical line one as well as the 20i (auto injector) if you have one.

It is also a good idea to reset the Max Temps for the system by going to FUNC>GC Configuration>Max. Temperature and set according to limits of the column you are using.

One other thing to check is the Baud rate. You can do this by going to FUNC>GC configuration>Transmission. You should see a baud rate of 115200 and it should also say Level 3. If they are not set to this you can use the arrow buttons until it reads those settings then hit enter then apply. This is what allows the GC to communicate with the computer.
Thanks for the info, FinnLynn. I'll keep that info happy.

With respect to the battery, the instrument retained date/time, indicating the battery had not been drained. We replaced it anyway since the instrument was down.
Hello,

I'm super late to this thread, and have a slightly different question within the same topic.

I have an opportunity to use a Shimadzu GC-2010 and a GC-2010 plus in another institute. The people that set up these instruments are gone, and they haven't been used in a while.

The people at the institute think that they have connected the GCs and computer properly, but the software can't find either of the GCs. The computer had issues and they had to reformat it or something, so everything was wiped from the computer and the GCSolution software was reloaded, of course without any of the old files.

I was able to look up the connection settings on the GC, and it has the correct level and Baud number. I don't have the option of communicating with Shimadzu, and the people at the institute haven't been much help.

I went through and tried to connect to each of the 10 ports from the software, but that didn't yield anything. I don't think there is a LAN network, but that is one thing I'd like to ask IT.

The other complication is that these instruments are stuck in this cabinet with complicated tubing that connects to a reactor, and there is literally no written information about how the hell to use this contraption. It doesn't really matter, I just want to use the system like a normal GC: Inlet to column to FID. I mean, you can't even open the oven doors on the GCs without lifting them up or just removing the door, so accessibility was not really a priority for the people who used them before.

Do you have any ideas of what I could try or what could be the problem? How do you know which port they should be on? Is there anything tricky with the wiring? I think normally this isn't a problem, but all the wiring is either in the ceiling or stuffed into this cabinet which they also can't take apart because they can't find the tools.
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