Flexar HPLC system PerkinElmer

Discussions about HPLC, CE, TLC, SFC, and other "liquid phase" separation techniques.

9 posts Page 1 of 1
Hi everyone,

i'm a medical doctor and I also do research in basic cardiology. Recently my lab bought a UHPLC system from PerkinElmer Flexar FX-10. We don't have much background in the technique and despite the fact that we already have the equipment, I would be pleased to hear the opinion of some experts about our acquisition. What is a bad purchase? Is the system reliable? Looking foward to hear something from you.

Best regards,

Francisco
Portugal
I'm getting apprehensive with the lack of answers..!
is there any Flexar user?
Well, here in Portugal PerkinElmer gives a far better technical and manteinance support than the competition and I think this was the main reason to buy it, but what i really would like to know is whether this equipment competes with waters, agilent, shimadzu counterparts. Please don't be afraid to be honest!

All the best from Portugal!
If you do a search of the Forum for the keywords "Perkin Elmer" and then repeat for "Agilent", "Waters", "Shimadzu", "Dionex", . . . etc. you will see that almost no one asks about PE. That can be interpreted in two ways:
1. Their equipment is so trouble-free that no one has problems with it, or
2. Very few people use their equipment.

Given that their global market share is somewhere in the low single-digits, I suspect that #2 is the more probable! :wink:

If I were in your shoes, I would ask my PE rep to give me the names of other users in my area to talk to for mutual support.
-- Tom Jupille
LC Resources / Separation Science Associates
tjupille@lcresources.com
+ 1 (925) 297-5374
Thank you Tom!

Yes, I noticed that there's very few posts about PE HPLC equipments.
I have to agree with you although i will believe that option #1 can be true as well until proven otherwise!

Regards,

Francisco
I know how frustrating it is when no one replies to my posts, so I will give some input.

I work with a Perkin Elmer Flexar HPLC series 200, purchased new in late 2009. Unfortunately, it is not a UHPLC system. It is a simple binary gradient pump, autosampler, single UV/Vis wavelength detector, and Refractive Index detector system. Overall, the actual HPLC system seems to be reliable. However, I have much frustration with the Perkin Elmer Totalchrom software that controls the Flexar HPLC through a dotLINK box.

The software is always coming up with new ways to glitch, hang up, catch, go into perpetual suspended animation, and forget how to communicate with the Flexar HPLC. Recovering from these blackouts can takes minutes to days.

So, if you have not purchased the HPLC and software yet, it would be wise to demand a demo unit be set up at your company prior to purchase. Then, put that baby through it's paces to make sure that both the software and the HPLC system can handle your workload and testing type.

I hope this post helps with your question.
Sorry, I just noticed that your lab already purchased the system. So, my last post may be a little off the topic of your question.

I tend to prefer Waters equipment and software overall; but, have worked with Agilent, Shimadzu, Varian (now overtaken by another company), Perkin Elmer, etc. HPLC systems and software. The determining factor on the performance of the systems seemed to be whether I used them with methodologies that were developed and compatible the technology, i.e. high pressure vs low pressure gradient, detector sensitivity, dwell volume, etc.

In the end, even if you think that Perkin Elmer equipment is not on par with the competitors, better technical support and maintenance in your geographic location can more than make up (and surpass) most shortcomings.

I hope this post helps, too.
I work with PE Series 200 HPLCs on a daily basis. The systems themselves are quite reliable. They function very well. The dotlink box and associated lantronix communication boxes are where we have issues. To my understanding, each time you issue a command to the instrument from the software, the boxes basically write a piece of code at that point in time and load it to the instrument. This means that you can easily flood the instrument with too many commands and then a comm error occurs. I like the systems, I don't even mind the software functionality. I don't like the communication to the computers.
Exactly what I have observed. Is your software version later than the Totalchrom? Does Perking Elmer sell a software that does not have these problems?
Hi everyone,
I know I am very late to the "Perkin-Elmer party", but hopefully this might help others who search for this topic.
So I have been working on a Flexar FX10 for the past 4 years, after previously having worked mostly on Thermo Accela and Dionex Ultimate, Agilent 1200 series and various Waters machines. I work mainly HPLC (or UHPLC) and MS, but have also worked on GCs and GC-MS equipment from almost al vendors currently on the market. I have recently also worked on Shimadzu equipment, so it is safe to say that I have had some experience with most HPLC systems (at least the most popular ones, I have never seen Rigol or Shiseido HPCLs).
Regarding the Flexar FX10, I use it as a standalone (PDA detector) or coupled with an AB Sciex QTOF mass spectrometer, and what I can say is that the equipment is very robust (from a hardware point of view). When used and maintained properly it will run for years with minor to no issues. We have only changed the consumables which wear off regardless of the care you take (UV lamp, seals etc.) and we have never had any issues. Sure, there are some design choices which are disappointing (especially with the autosampler), but all in all, and from my experience it is a good equipment for places where inexperienced users work and/or people do not know how/want to do basic user maintainence (correct switching of solvents, purging, rinsing of the system etc.). I would no chose it over an Agilent, but definetly over a Waters or Thermo system if the price is right. I would probably chose only a Shimadzu or Agilent systems over this Flexar, if funds would be sufficient for one of those.
What I must however mention is that this robustness comes with the drawback of having a very simplistic, analog (as opposed to digital) and low tech UHPLC. No LCD screens, no complex state of the art technical solutions or mechanisms (for example complex sample handling by the autosampler, many setting choices for pumps etc.) etc. It is a simple and robust equipment, for (at least in Romania) a fair price.
From a software point of view, the Chromera CDS is OK. Not the greatest, most feature packed or advanced, but definetly not any worse than other Chromeleon or Chemstation, assuming the needs of an average HPLC user (sequence runs, data acquisition and basic processing, drafting calibration curves etc.). The best way to put it, it's very OK, but nothing to write home about.
All in all, I am actually quite satisfied with the Flexar, while it does not excel at anything it does most things a basic/average users needs, and it does them well enough. One more thing, unlike other HPLCs, Flexar modules are manufactured all over the place. My system has modules manufactured in Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore. The lamps are Hamamatsu, made in Japan.
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