most stupid thing you've ever done!

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61 posts Page 1 of 5
hi people

thought this would be an interesting topic - if only to help me feel better about the most stupid thing i've done (i feel like a total idiot).

here's the story;

coleague brings me 2 samples with an HPLC method - wanting LC/MS spectra (to see if the compound is truely pure!)

HPLC mobile phase ---- 50mM KH2PO4:ACN

so I run a HPLC-PDA just to make sure the system compares to the results she got! perfect!

then, I connect to the MS never thinking for one second "hey there's phosphates in this mobile phase"

:oops:

looked like snowflakes on the cone!

so I hope there are others out there that feel my pain.... or I at least made some of you laugh at my stupidity.

have a good day

oh, much worse than that! Ever tried running an LC method that uses 0.5mM sulphuric acid in an ESI LC-MS??

That and failing to notice that one of two rough pumps operating an LC-MS wasn't switched on. Would have been OK if I hadn't had it replaced before realising that it wasn't switched on...

Hey, maybe I'm too stupid to be in this job.

you're not too stupid for this job.
how do they always say; 'it's by making mistakes that we learn'

i think anyone that has worked in a lab environment has experienced some kind of "dope" moment.

We are so busy in our heads, so many things to consider and remember and check this and that. make sure this is switched on make sure this is plugged in. somewhere something gets lost in the process! (like checking if the pump is switched on. :wink: )

Not really my fault, but my actions resulted in line voltage being applied to the remote start input of a brand new UV detector.

Someone else had "rewired" the rear of the WISP, so that the part marked 5V BCD was actually 120V AC.

End result, $5k repair bill.
Thanks,
DR
Image

Collected a peptide "peak" from a gradient HPLC run and tried to sequence it with no success. That's when I really learned the lesson of how important it is to run a gradient "blank". Yup, I tried sequencing a mobile phase impurity :oops:

I dont' know if this one is the stupidest I've ever done, but setting a sample sequence overnight before an important production run, and then seeing the next day that all my vials were in row 20 and not row 30, or something like that. So the whole night it just ran 50 ul injections of air.

This isn't directly science related, but it definitely fits into the dumb category. I accepted employment with a Subchapter S corporation without checking into the owner's health. Things got really ugly about 6 months later when he died. Wouldn't have been nearly as bad if the company hadn't depended on his monthly checks to stay afloat.

Some days I think going to work qualifies!

Noser222 wrote:
I dont' know if this one is the stupidest I've ever done, but setting a sample sequence overnight before an important production run, and then seeing the next day that all my vials were in row 20 and not row 30, or something like that. So the whole night it just ran 50 ul injections of air.


Very similar: start an entire sample list, around 150 samples, with the MS divert valve fixed on waste and not switching between waste and source.
Samuele Pedraglio
Developability Dept.
NiKem Research S.r.l.
Italy

These are hilarious!

One time a few months ago I was doing some maintenance on my Agilent 1100. When I had finished exchanging seals, replacing frits, etc., I couldn't seem to control the autosampler from Chemstation. All I got was a "not ready" and a cryptic error message in the status bar which I was not able to decode.

Resetting the injector, restarting the system, powering on/off, shouting - these accomplished nothing. The arm would not budge, and the not ready state persisted.

After several hours my supervisor came to assist. After a couple of minutes he helpfully closed the autosampler door, at which point the instrument sprang to life.
I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.

Realising I had got the GC liner in upside down....!
I suspect I'm not the only one there! I was green then.

Here is one I haven't done yet!:
Our GC has a manual oven On/Off button - you have to select On to start to heat the oven after changing septa etc.
The one time I have a weekend tray full of urgent samples will be one the time I forget......!
WK
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue - Just A Minute - The Unbelievable Truth

no you are not the only one! :wink:

I'm kinda new to GC so i've made all the mistakes there is to be made.
didn't check the temperature range of the new septa - melted the septa!
forgot to remove the transfer line with column to do MS ion source maintenance..... needless to say had to look for the tip of the column in between the bits of the ion source.... found it luckily!

have a good day

I spent a week troubleshooting my system only to find out the problem was the column heater had gotten turned off while I was gone. :oops:

I came back from vacation and everyone was freaking out so I jumped into action assuming what they said happened was right... I should know by now that everyone will lie to you when they break your stuff when you are away.... :cry: The heater got turned off by a rep when they came to fix it.
Kind Regards,
Jade Barker

Jade,
Whhooaaa - been there so many times!!
Once someone lashed up the detector outlet to the pump overflow drain.
Wondered why I had a solvent smell in the lab for days after my vacation!!
Funny no-one seemed to own up.
Grrhhh..
WK
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue - Just A Minute - The Unbelievable Truth

I am testing for a particular analyte using two different methods. One is a UV Spec method, the other is a HPLC-UV method. Both methods are completely different reactions, and use two completely different wavelengths for analysis.

To make a long story short, for method 1 (UV spec) I got 2,000 ppm for sample set A, and 100 ppm for Sample set B. For the same samples using HPLC I got 100 ppm for sample set A and 2,000 ppm for sample set B.

To make a long story short, I switched the samples.... and i was freaking out because i thought there was something seriously wrong. When I realized I switched the samples though, that made me very happy because the two methods work very well.
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