Agilent 5973 Tune action stopped-no peaks

Discussions about GC-MS, LC-MS, LC-FTIR, and other "coupled" analytical techniques.

12 posts Page 1 of 1
Hi all,

I am having a problem with my 5973. I recently cleaned the EI source and when i fired everything back up again and tried to do an autotune i got the message "Tune action stopped: Scan: no peaks found". There are no peaks. It just looks like noise and the abundances are around 6. The vacuum is around 3x10-5. We replaced the EM horn and still nothing. All the wires appear to be connected properly, the filaments look good and i checked for shorting. Everything worked before i cleaned the source but the tunes were not great and EM voltage was high.Any suggestions?

Thanks
How did you clean the source?
I followed the instructions in the user manual.

Disassembled the ion source

Used Alumina abrasive powder and methanol slurry to clean the Repeller, Interface socket, Source body, Drawout plate, Drawout cylinder, Ion focus lens, and Entrance lens (some of the parts were black).

Rinsed away all abrasive residue with reagent-grade methanol

Ultrasonically cleaned the parts for 15 minutes in each of the following solvents:
• Methylene chloride (reagent-grade)
• Acetone (reagent-grade)
• Methanol (reagent-grade)

Place the parts in a clean beaker, covered the beaker with clean aluminum foil (dull side down), and dried in oven at 70 °C for 30 minutes

reassembled and installed the ion source with a new Lens insulator and new Repeller insulators

Thats it. Im pretty sure i didn't not overtighten the repeller nut.
Did you try a tune using filament 2?
I tried both filaments. It did not seem to make a difference. I think it may be an issue with the electronics. The side board plate or the side board ribbon.
Start with the simplest things first.
Pull the source and check to see if some stray material made it into the source when you weren't looking. Reverse the ribbon cable and check to see if something else goes wrong. Check the high voltage wire (spark plug connection) to make sure it is connected and not burnt.
Check the fuse(s) on the sideboard, they are easy to miss.
I had the same problem before, in the middle of a sample run peaks were disappeared with a flat baseline. It turned out that the the HED power supply output cable was failed, just a clue for you, may not the cause in your case.
Foolish question that I need to ask.
Do you use the 2 piece lens insulator? If so could the lens stack be shorted by the screw over tightened ( thats wyh Agilent went to the one piece insulator).
Real foolish are you out of PFTBA?
Hi Megakeeper,

did you find what the issue was? Because I'm having the same problem right now.

thanks (first time here !!! )
Bigbear wrote:
Foolish question that I need to ask.
Do you use the 2 piece lens insulator? If so could the lens stack be shorted by the screw over tightened ( thats wyh Agilent went to the one piece insulator).
Real foolish are you out of PFTBA?


Running out of PFTBA in the tune vial is the problem I hate the most, and everyone will do it at least once.

Another problem is if you switch the Entrance Lens and Ion Focus wires, also Filament wires are White White to one filament and Black Black to the other, not White Black on a single filament.

You can also have the same problem if your RF has failed or if you have for some reason messed with the large black plastic screws on the side board. Dipping the Quads was something you needed to learn on the 5995, 5970 and even the 5971/72 series but not needed as much on the newer models.

Check to see that the little pin on the back of the EM is sitting against the contact, it doesn't need to be under it, just pressed against it. If you are adventurous remove the covers on the side board and check to see that there are no resisters blown or swelled or capacitors in the same shape. If so then you need to replace the side board.

Also check the wires around the quad inside, make sure they are not touching each other or grounded, those are the wires for the quads themselves.

If the EM is not new, make sure the voltage is set high enough to have signal, if you need to go above 2000V to even start getting signal be sure to replace it.

Sometimes just doing a reset to defaults in the tune window will fix a problem like this in case the tune file has been corrupted.

I am sure there are more things to list, but that is where I would begin with trouble shooting.
The past is there to guide us into the future, not to dwell in.
One issue I have had with the 5973 and not tuning is the tune file it is trying to use to start the tune has become corrupted. Load an older tune file and save over the last with it, then restart the tune.

I know this was an old post, but just thought I'd put this out there for anyone else who may run into a tuning problem.

Enjoy
Hello, did you manage to solve the problem?

megakeeper wrote:
Hi all,

I am having a problem with my 5973. I recently cleaned the EI source and when i fired everything back up again and tried to do an autotune i got the message "Tune action stopped: Scan: no peaks found". There are no peaks. It just looks like noise and the abundances are around 6. The vacuum is around 3x10-5. We replaced the EM horn and still nothing. All the wires appear to be connected properly, the filaments look good and i checked for shorting. Everything worked before i cleaned the source but the tunes were not great and EM voltage was high.Any suggestions?

Thanks
12 posts Page 1 of 1

Who is online

In total there is 1 user online :: 0 registered, 0 hidden and 1 guest (based on users active over the past 5 minutes)
Most users ever online was 1117 on Mon Jan 31, 2022 2:50 pm

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

Latest Blog Posts from Separation Science

Separation Science offers free learning from the experts covering methods, applications, webinars, eSeminars, videos, tutorials for users of liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, sample preparation and related analytical techniques.

Subscribe to our eNewsletter with daily, weekly or monthly updates: Food & Beverage, Environmental, (Bio)Pharmaceutical, Bioclinical, Liquid Chromatography, Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry.

Liquid Chromatography

Gas Chromatography

Mass Spectrometry