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Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2020 4:39 pm
by TroyJam
Hi,
Just getting into the GC arena and I have acquired a Varian 3900 GC with a trashed workstation.. Now I looking for some software to control it.

Looking for an old version of Star, MS workstation, Galaxie or any software that works !!

Anyone who can help me source a copy or point me in the right direction for a free / almost free alternative.

Thanks

Re: Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2020 6:19 pm
by James_Ball
Take a look at Peak Simple, it might be what you need.

https://www.sri-instruments-europe.com/ ... simple.php

Re: Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2020 7:12 pm
by TroyJam
James_Ball wrote:
Take a look at Peak Simple, it might be what you need.

https://www.sri-instruments-europe.com/ ... simple.php


Thanks !
Seems interesting, I am also looking at CompassCDS.. however money rules, so free/almost free options first.

Re: Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2020 9:24 pm
by James_Ball
TroyJam wrote:
James_Ball wrote:
Take a look at Peak Simple, it might be what you need.

https://www.sri-instruments-europe.com/ ... simple.php


Thanks !
Seems interesting, I am also looking at CompassCDS.. however money rules, so free/almost free options first.


I think Peak Simple is free, at least there is a download link on the downloads page, but they may charge for it now.

I used it years ago to control an old Waters HPLC and it worked well.

Re: Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 7:12 am
by antonk
I thought the 3900 is a digital instrument - so PeakSimple is not a solution.

Not sure how 3800 is compatible with 3900, but our UniChrom supports 3800.
https://www.unichrom.com/3800/cp3800e.shtml

If you make this work - then Linux license would be free.

Re: Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 10:54 pm
by GCguy226
TroyJam wrote:
Hi,
Just getting into the GC arena and I have acquired a Varian 3900 GC with a trashed workstation.. Now I looking for some software to control it.

Looking for an old version of Star, MS workstation, Galaxie or any software that works !!

Anyone who can help me source a copy or point me in the right direction for a free / almost free alternative.

Thanks



Hi, I recently was able to get a version of MS work station to work on windows 10 computer and connect to my varian 3800 as well as a 2200 MS. Honestly, the process was pretty complicated but I've done it multiple times now and have got it down pretty well. If you still need help let me know and I can get you the files and explain how to install them. It works on older versions of windows as well.

Re: Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 11:48 pm
by johnelling
I can put the workstation software version 6.30 up on a cloud drive somewhere if you need it, along with the registration code. let me know

Re: Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 11:51 pm
by johnelling
GCguy, I could really use some help getting my varian 3800 and 2200 MS connected to the data station! I am using MS workstation software 6.3 on an old PC running XP. I've got a 10baseT network card and it is talking to the GC now. I have a National Instruments GPIB connected to the 2200 MS but the workstation sofware System Config is not seeing the MS.



Hi, I recently was able to get a version of MS work station to work on windows 10 computer and connect to my varian 3800 as well as a 2200 MS. Honestly, the process was pretty complicated but I've done it multiple times now and have got it down pretty well. If you still need help let me know and I can get you the files and explain how to install them. It works on older versions of windows as well.[/quote]

Re: Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 12:41 am
by GCguy226
johnelling wrote:
GCguy, I could really use some help getting my varian 3800 and 2200 MS connected to the data station! I am using MS workstation software 6.3 on an old PC running XP. I've got a 10baseT network card and it is talking to the GC now. I have a National Instruments GPIB connected to the 2200 MS but the workstation software System Config is not seeing the MS.



Hey John,

I am not at my office anymore and getting the MS to connect is the most difficult part. But I can list the main few reasons that could be the issue for the GPIB connection:

The service switch on the back right corner on top of the GC must be set to on. If it is off the MS cannot connect with the computer.

The driver software for the GPIB is not correctly installed. There are a number of ways to check but it is difficult to explain without looking at it. You can check the device manager in your windows to see if the National Instruments GPIB driver, however, it still could be installed incorrectly.

You could try a clean reinstall from the disk and install everything in the proper order to check if that works.
I will be back in my office tomorrow and can help you further, so in the meantime check the issues I've listed above. Also, are you using the GPIB card that came with the system or did you install it yourself? Any information will help. Let me know if anything above helped and if you need more assistance. I am willing to help you directly too if you want you can PM me and I will see what we can do.
-GCGuy226

Re: Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 12:49 am
by johnelling
Thanks. I did not get any of the boards from the old workstation; I'm creating it out of parts. The NI board was laying around and it is very possible that the driver is not compatible. I started the uninstall of the NI sofware before I left this evening.

I'd sure appreciate the help!

How do we PM?

Re: Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 12:56 am
by GCguy226
I don't know how to PM honestly, I'm fine with posting my email, but I'm not sure if it is against the forum's rules.

Re: Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 1:05 am
by GCguy226
It seems to be okay as you can post your Facebook and stuff here so feel free to just email me at service@aasystems.com and I can help you further.

Re: Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 9:01 pm
by johnelling
I'm sending email from elling@si-28.com Let me know if they are getting through, please.

Re: Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 9:23 am
by roser
The Varian 3900 occupies less than half the workspace of many gas chromatograph (GC) units. Simple to use syringe trigger mechanism starts the GC upon injection. Electronic flow control of detector and injector eliminates knobs to turn off, thus saving you time, increasing long term precision of the GC.
schoolbucks

Re: Newly acquired Varian 3900

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 7:34 pm
by johnelling
"The service switch on the back right corner on top of the GC must be set to on. If it is off the MS cannot connect with the computer."


Do you mean the power switch? I'm not seeing any other switch on the top of the GC at all.

I do have the GC powered up and running when I'm poking around in the MS Workstation software hoping that the MS will connect. And the GC is connected to the workstation software through the 10BaseT coax internet connection.

Do you know if the 2200 MS is set up as a GPIB talker or listener? I think my GPIB network software was trying to find listeners and would have missed finding another talker on the bus.