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- Posts: 184
- Joined: Thu May 07, 2009 7:32 pm
I haven't had any specific problems of sensitivity loss... but I guess I'm just afraid that I'm too clumsy to clean the source regularly without breaking something.
Discussions about GC-MS, LC-MS, LC-FTIR, and other "coupled" analytical techniques.
MX304 wrote:
We run urine in our 6460s and 6490s. In both cases it's mostly dilute and shoot. The 6460s have been running well with minimal downtime. The 6490s are a different story.
mty wrote:
Hi Aviator,
We had our service tech in (whom I love!) and she said that very thing. We learned how to clean the optics. She also recommended the droplet of 50:50 MeOH:DI or 50:50 isopropanol:DI. We have also moved away from the resistive capillary, back to the glass capillary. Our responses are not exactly what we'd like, but they are reasonable. I'm SO happy to hear that someone else had a rough first year with this instrument!
Camisotro, I think if cleaning the source does not return your sensitivity, then it is time to dig deeper into the optics.
One tip we got was to suspend the nebulizer in a beaker of 50:50 MeOH:H2O while the instrument warms up and stabilizes, to prevent any baking on of salts. Come to think of it, we've gotten quite a few tips from our tech that are about flushing/rinsing/washing....I see a trend.
We haven't had enough good runs to notice significant decreases in response over the course of the run--but maybe. I'd have to go back into some data.
We are using an ammonium acetate buffer, and that seems to be a significant part of our problem, too.
All SPE is off-line--sorry, don't remember who asked that.
Thanks so much for all your comments! I'm usually just a lurker, but I learn a lot!
mty
James_Ball wrote:
I am interested to hear about these capillaries also. We are looking to purchase a 6470(since the 6460 is nearing its end of life very soon). It would be our first Agilent so need to know if there are things to watch out for. Our current LCMSMS is the ABI 3200, very simple to clean, normally just use a micro syringe cleaning wire to slide through the inlet cone orifice when sensitivity drops and everything is right back to normal.
manman wrote:James_Ball wrote:
I am interested to hear about these capillaries also. We are looking to purchase a 6470(since the 6460 is nearing its end of life very soon). It would be our first Agilent so need to know if there are things to watch out for. Our current LCMSMS is the ABI 3200, very simple to clean, normally just use a micro syringe cleaning wire to slide through the inlet cone orifice when sensitivity drops and everything is right back to normal.
Hi James,
You mentioned that your 6460 is nearing the end of its life. Is there a specific reason to say that (e.g. turbo-pumps?, electronics? defective quads? unstable signal? other?)? I would really like to hear what kind of problems have led your system to the end of its life and if there is any special practice we should follow in order to extend the life of our new 6460C.
Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.
manman
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