by
Leni » Mon Sep 13, 2021 6:35 am
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.