Chromatography Forum

Hi,

I am starting some ion-pair work with a new column from Waters but we have an Agilent 1100 system and I was wondering if I would need to get Waters fittings in order to obtain the best resolution.

The column is an Xterra MS C18 2.5um 4.6x50mm.

The sytem has 1/16" 0.005" i.d. PEEK tubing at the moment, with PEEK fittings.

ks

Water columns have a deeper seat for the tubing. If you have PEEK tubing and PEEK fittings, they should be adjustable.

There should be no trouble with this at all. A stainless steel ferrule will "fuse" on to a stainless steel tube leaving a protruding piece of tubing suited to the column fitting used at the time. Subsequent use with a deeper column fitting may create a dead volume.

However, PEEK ferrules and fittings do not permanently fix in place and will adjust to whichever fitting you use. After many uses however, it is just possible that a PEEK ferrule or fitting may deform into the shape of the column it has been used with, or the ferrule may become lightly stuck to the tube. In this case, merely replace the ferrule or the integral fitting on the column side, and carry on.

Thanks guys, I'll give it a shot with some shiny new PEEK acccessories.