Chromatography Forum

Hi everyone. I am in a predicament. I keep getting the following fault on my 5980GC: FAULT: ATTN1 TEST followed by FAULT: ATTN2 TEST.

I have no idea what this error means and neither do all of the people I have spoken to here at my lab or the refurbish companies I have spoken to. I have repeatedly tried to restart the GC with the toggle on/off switch, I have left it unplugged and tried starting up after that, and I have been doing the key stroke "clear.05enter" to activate the self test. Nothing will let me get past this error. All of my temperatures, pressures, and signal are where they should be. Has anyone ever seen this error? Like I said I am running a 5890 with a FID with an on column injection for EPH. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Looks like GC detector amplifier is broken or detector inputs are in short-circuit.

Try to remove detector amplifier boards and then install it one-by-one. Also examine the detector connection to amplifier.

Thanks for the reply Antonk. I just have one FID detector installed. I have tried replacing the detector board with two others that I know work and I keep getting the same thing. I have also confirmed the spring length is and connection is appropriate. Do you think this could be a motherboard issue?

not sure which button, but attenuation settings can be changed from keyboard.
maybe wrong setting stored in memory make test fail.
try to change to something non-default.

I have played around with the keyboard trying to get this self test error to go away. Including the attenuation button. I have also tried the self test with the detector off, flows off, detector board unplugged, signal off, injector pressures off ect.. I have also tried plugging the detector board into the second position for a detector B to no avail. Do you happen to know of anyway I can stop the self test on start up? Or potentially stop the self test when it progresses forward to test the signal?

ELIkjw wrote:
I have played around with the keyboard trying to get this self test error to go away. Including the attenuation button. I have also tried the self test with the detector off, flows off, detector board unplugged, signal off, injector pressures off ect.. I have also tried plugging the detector board into the second position for a detector B to no avail. Do you happen to know of anyway I can stop the self test on start up? Or potentially stop the self test when it progresses forward to test the signal?

If it faults with the same error when no detector is installed then it could be a problem with the main board itself.

Hi ELIkjw,

Sorry you're dealing with this issue. 5890s are supposed to be some of the simplest GCs to work on but they are pretty outdated which leaves room for problems. Whether you need a new GC or a new motherboard, I could provide you with either if you're interested. Let me know.

Best,
Jeremy