Agilent 6890N LAN Issue

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

3 posts Page 1 of 1
I've got a 6890N GC attached to a 5973N MSD that we use to run dirty samples. Quite some time ago, one of the techs came to me saying that ChemStation wouldn't load and wouldn't connect to the GC.

The biggest clue is that there's no status light appearing on the Ethernet switch to indicate cable connectivity with the GC's LAN card. I've tried switching out cables and switches, but no matter what I do, the lights don't come up. If I load up the 'Diagnostics' menu on the 6890N, it says something like 'LAN not installed' or similar.

Now, all of this is pointing to a main board/network fault at the GC end. The MSD comes up just fine, however. Straightforward thing to do would be to go to Agilent and get a quote for a replacement main board.

However, this instrument is pretty old and only gets used for running basically neat products, so the cost to fix may be too much to keep it in service. I do have a 6890N in my own stash which I could pilfer the main board from, but I'm trying to avoid doing that because I want to get that instrument running at some point.

Is there anything that I might be overlooking, like a DIP switch or menu option or something that might activate/deactivate the LAN board on the GC? Trying to keep this instrument going because it is useful every so often.
Have you swapped out the ethernet switch yet? We have had several fail on older 6890s. Easy to do before you commit to anything expensive.
Steve Reimer wrote:
Have you swapped out the ethernet switch yet? We have had several fail on older 6890s. Easy to do before you commit to anything expensive.

Originally the instrument was on the corporate network. After it failed, I tried putting it onto its own local network with a brand new switch, still no comms. I've also tried a direct connection to the PC to no avail.
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