Chromatography Forum

Rule 1: before you break any bit of the instrument, make sure (a) you have a spare part; (b) you know how to fix it. Optionally: (c) also check the spare part isn't ludicrously expensive to replace.

Rule 2: break it when the boss isn't looking, and no one needs the instrument for the length of time it will take you to fix it.

Rule 3: before breaking the instrument, take the instruction manual (or printouts of dubious website downloads) and read them over a cup of tea. This won't necessarily stop you from breaking it, but at least you'll have had a cup of tea first.

Rule 4: when you break the instrument, stop and think before starting to fix it. Remember, you probably only have one spare part from rule 1, so it's a good idea not to break that too, or lose another part you didn't think of, and for which you haven't applied rule 1.

Rule 5: don't break the instrument just for fun/because you can. Wait until there is scientific/commercial benefit in what you're doing that might break it, before doing so.

Rule 6: a terminally broken instrument is fair game for forgetting all rules. If you can't make it worse, and there is a reason to have a go at making it better, don't feel afraid to try.

Rule 7: stuff paper towelling down any hole below your work area (spray-chamber drain holes etc.); it stops loose screws from being eaten by the instrument. Rule 7a: have a lot of strategies for retrieving small parts from the bottom of dark holes (magnets on sticks, telescopic grabbers, wiggly bits of wire etc.).

Rule 8: draw sketches of anything you're about to take to pieces completely, unless you already have a drawing. Look for any bits that could be put back together in several different ways, and make sure you know which way they go (if it matters). Be particularly cautious of the things you don't expect: for example, when you unplug a low-voltage power supply with a coaxial plug, check it hasn't got one of those silly swap-round two-pin connectors built into the plug to allow you to do centre-positive or centre-negative; if you accidentally unplug this, you'll have no idea which way round to replace it.

Rule 9: when you can't remember how to put it back together because you didn't follow rule 8, first look for diagrams on the internet (you're probably not the first to make this mistake), and then see if you've got another of the same thing that you can take to pieces to see how the first one went together. Then think about how to explain to your boss that both the photon-hydrolysis-entropic-paradigm separators happen to be in pieces at the same time and no one knows how to reassemble them.

Rule 10: when you've finally fixed the instrument you broke, make sure your boss thinks someone else broke it, but you fixed it.

Rule 1: before you break any bit of the instrument, make sure (a) you have a spare part; (b) you know how to fix it. Optionally: (c) also check the spare part isn't ludicrously expensive to replace.

Rule 2: break it when the boss isn't looking, and no one needs the instrument for the length of time it will take you to fix it.

Rule 3: before breaking the instrument, take the instruction manual (or printouts of dubious website downloads) and read them over a cup of tea. This won't necessarily stop you from breaking it, but at least you'll have had a cup of tea first.

Rule 4: when you break the instrument, stop and think before starting to fix it. Remember, you probably only have one spare part from rule 1, so it's a good idea not to break that too, or lose another part you didn't think of, and for which you haven't applied rule 1.

Rule 5: don't break the instrument just for fun/because you can. Wait until there is scientific/commercial benefit in what you're doing that might break it, before doing so.

Rule 6: a terminally broken instrument is fair game for forgetting all rules. If you can't make it worse, and there is a reason to have a go at making it better, don't feel afraid to try.

Rule 7: stuff paper towelling down any hole below your work area (spray-chamber drain holes etc.); it stops loose screws from being eaten by the instrument. Rule 7a: have a lot of strategies for retrieving small parts from the bottom of dark holes (magnets on sticks, telescopic grabbers, wiggly bits of wire etc.).

Rule 8: draw sketches of anything you're about to take to pieces completely, unless you already have a drawing. Look for any bits that could be put back together in several different ways, and make sure you know which way they go (if it matters). Be particularly cautious of the things you don't expect: for example, when you unplug a low-voltage power supply with a coaxial plug, check it hasn't got one of those silly swap-round two-pin connectors built into the plug to allow you to do centre-positive or centre-negative; if you accidentally unplug this, you'll have no idea which way round to replace it.

Rule 9: when you can't remember how to put it back together because you didn't follow rule 8, first look for diagrams on the internet (you're probably not the first to make this mistake), and then see if you've got another of the same thing that you can take to pieces to see how the first one went together. Then think about how to explain to your boss that both the photon-hydrolysis-entropic-paradigm separators happen to be in pieces at the same time and no one knows how to reassemble them.

Rule 10: when you've finally fixed the instrument you broke, make sure your boss thinks someone else broke it, but you fixed it.

This should be part of all preventative maintenance training programs

Update to Rule 8; your cell phone has a camera, use it or a real camera to take pictures of things before you take it apart. Extra; make sure the picture is usable (focussed on the part in question) before proceeding!

Update to Rule 8; your cell phone has a camera, use it or a real camera to take pictures of things before you take it apart. Extra; make sure the picture is usable (focussed on the part in question) before proceeding!

Where were cellphone cameras when I was first learning.

Growing up on a farm with a father who was a mechanic have me a great head start on doing repairs of instruments. I learned how to take things apart and lay out all the little bits so it made sense how to put them back together. It always amazed my boss how I wasn't afraid to disassemble everything. Of course that drove my mother crazy when I was a kid lol, and dad hated having to put everything back together

Steve Reimer, yes, good idea. My phone is the bottom-of-the-range talk-only thing because small child used to eat phones, but I could upgrade, or get a lab camera. I also think it's useful for samples that look weird, in case you need to let client know later. For example a set I got where they were almost exactly the colour of marker-pen ink as dissolved in methanol...

James_Ball, yup, I used to take alarm-clocks to bits and put them together again. Good practice.

For example a set I got where they were almost exactly the colour of marker-pen ink as dissolved in methanol...

I wish that was the worst I ever had Got samples a few weeks ago that were fabric softener and laundry detergent and they wanted volatiles ran on them. Even at 1000:1 dilutions two still foamed in the purge and trap.

Lab cameras are definitely a must have, especially when clients send in samples that arrive broken or incorrectly sampled. That way you can document their mistakes so it doesn't come back on you.

When two vials of the same sample arrive, one is almost clear water and the other brown sludge.
It's good to have a photo for the training on what constitutes a representative sample.