VarianProstar HPLCconnection issue -Workstation & Galaxie1.9

Discussions about chromatography data systems, LIMS, controllers, computer issues and related topics.

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Our university department received a donation of two Varian Prostar HPLC systems and associated PC's with licensed CDS.

System 1 consists of Prostar 410 Autosampler/Injector, 1 x Prostar 210 Pump, Prostar 335 Detector

System 2 consists of rostar 410 Autosampler/Injector, 2 x Prostar 210 Pumps, Prostar 325 Detector

We have a windows XP PC for each system , One running Galaxie 1.9.x and another running Varian Star Workstation 6.41. All drivers and licenses for the HPLC components are present in each file.

While i would consider myself fairly proficient in setting up and administering Waters based systems(Millenium,Breeze and Empower), i have no prior experience with Varian Systems

Can somebody assist me in getting both instruments up and running. We do not have access to a Varian/Agilent engineer/technician as all other systems are Waters or Shimadzu and the company who donated the equipment are no longer in operation but we can see in the file history that both instruments were operational as recent as December 2017 and all modules power up without any issues

As the Galaxie software is newer and more user friendly my preference is to run both instruments off a single PC (The license for Galaxie allows for control of four instruments).

There are two available RS232 ports on the pc and we have the necessary Cables for each system Ribbon Cable with RS232-RS422 adapter and i can use an ethernet switch to handle the connection to the detectors

Is this possible or would you recommend connecting each system/instrument to a separate PC.

Apologies for the long post but i would appreciate any assistance in getting these instruments operational.
If you decide to go with the Star Workstation, I'm happy to help. I've never used Galaxie but have got to say, the friends who used it found it very unfriendly.
My initial preference for Galaxie was simply because it looked more modern.
Honestly all I am looking for is a way to get the systems up and running and to take a bit of pressure of our hplc resources. (Too many users not enough equipment)

I am happy to use the Varian Star Workstation software to get one system up and running so would appreciate any advice to get started
We have two systems, one with a 325 detector which is interfaced via the RS232 (pump and autosampler) and ethernet cable (detector) and the second with a 330 PDA which is infaced via GPIB cards. Since I'm familar with the 325 setup for the calbing you have, I'll talk to that but did also find a service manual for the 335 PDA which you have here:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... Mqw3arQUSh

Hardware connections:
detector ("comm J1") to computer (ethernet cable)
410 autosampler ("communication") to computer via RS232
210 pumps are daisy chained via a second RS232 cable from "J1" to computer. You set "master" and "slave" in the software.
I can't recall if there's any preference as to whether the 410 goes to com1 or com2. Think it was a matter of checking in software.

Is the Star Workstation already installed on the computer? If so I'd be tempted to turn it on and see if it recognises any module. Be aware that to get the 410 autosampler to interface, you've got to press the key on the front panel that corresponds to <serial> that you see on the display.

If you don't see any modules, then it's a matter of going through the configuration steps. For the detector there should be "Verify" software on one of your disks, for the pumps (from memory) it's done in Workstation. Since you're experienced with interfacing, you might find these helpful:

Service manual for 325:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... x77lcOPo1O

And 325 Control Software manual

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... bwG0yIETDj

At the moment I can't find the equivalent for the 210 configuration but have my notes and a wavering memory ;)

Edit: should have said, let me know where you get to and if you're having problems what do you see?
There's lots of set up info in this manual too:


https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... 5snoa3aoVp

I've remembered also that to run a master and slave pump, there are settings to make on the pump itself using the front panel. Not hard to do.
Thanks for all the information DoryFish and links to the manuals. i will set set some time before the end of the week to start going through the set up process and will report back to you
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