Varian 3800... about to give up the ship

[MichaelVW]

We have an old 3800 that hasn't been used in about a year. Last time it was on was when a service tech was out here; he replaced the EFC and gave us a new LCD panel. The panels kept blowing out and he told us he thought we had dirty power and we should get a hearty UPS to protect the instrument. We shut the instrument down until such a time as we'd have that.

Cut to a couple weeks ago: got the UPS we need, got it working(ish), plugged in the instrument and hit the power... and got the little fan for the electronics in the back to spin. That's it. The oven doesn't turn on, the panel in front doesn't turn on, no lights anywhere, computer doesn't detect anything. No difference when plugging straight into the wall, either.

So I guess something important and electronic is probably toasted. Really not sure if there's anything else I can do to try and save this thing: the cost/benefit isn't really there to justify buying new boards and things, and our service contract is over. Suggestions welcome. But I was also curious if people have stories about how they knew it was time to "let go" of an instrument. I suppose these things can be difficult sometimes or maybe joyous on others, depending on circumstances.

[CE Instruments]

There is no point throwing good money at a dying instrument. A 3800 must be over 10 years old and Bruker have killed off the modern equivalent. A new GC is not that expensive once you start balancing it against expensive engineer time and circuit boards.
Time to bail

[Peter Apps]

A dead instrument can donate its organs (gas connectors, heater elements, inlet and detector blocks etc) to those still living before it gets its send off to the big lab bench in the sky.

Peter

[varossf]

If you need a single channel instrument just ask for the 7820 GC from Agilent. Not too expensive in my eyes.

[WillyOne]

look at the fuses...

[aarthimohan]

Hello everyone,
See the same issue with our Varian 3800 GC. We have been using it pretty continuously and it has not been idle.
Since few months back we have been having several issue: We replaced the EFC, column, the whole injector body 1079, EFC absorber. Yes! that is already most of the instrument.

Two days back, the following symptoms were observed:
1) The GC turns on and the fans run.
2) No LCD display.
3) no communication with software.

Can you please suggest specific batteries or fuses to test? We might not be at a point where we can buy a new instrument although it sounds like that is the way to go. I see a CR2477 3V Li battery on the board which I plan to replace first. Not sure if that will fix it.

[WillyOne]

My suggestion is to check every fuse, even the ones logged in the vertical electronic plates.
It looks like afuse problem or a contact problem.vput of the electronic plates and clean thoroughly the contacts with isopropanol.

Good luck

[aarthimohan]

Not able to attach a picture here. Are you talking about the three vertical plates each containing about 22 fuses, if I understand this right? Do you happen to have part numbers for these fuses just in case?