Chromatography Forum

Hey all. I've decided to remove the capillary inlet adapter from my Thermo Trace GC Ultra's S/SL inlet. It's the sort at the following link, which slides up into the inlet and gets compressed on with a nut and a silver sealing ring (https://blog.restek.com/wp-content/uplo ... oinlet.jpg). Does anyone have any tips on how to get the thing off?

It is ON there good, probably through a combination of buildup around the giant surface area overlap with the inlet, and the seal itself. This thing has been there for a truly irresponsible amount of time without being swapped. I don't want to reef on it with a pair of pliers, as I don't want to risk deforming the end of the inlet. I don't want to try to jam a screwdriver into/under the silver seal, as I don't want to risk damaging the sealing surface. And I'm worried about what might actually give if I stick some sort of tool/rod down the inlet and hammer on the top of it with a mallet.

Anyone got any hints or tips?

I don't have experience with this type of adapter, but in general it is metal and it has been heated. So if you try to freeze it en warm it up again a few times it might come lose.
I use a can of compressed air (dust-off) that I hold upside down. It freezes instantly.

I don't want to reef on it with a pair of pliers, as I don't want to risk deforming the end of the inlet. I don't want to try to jam a screwdriver into/under the silver seal, as I don't want to risk damaging the sealing surface. And I'm worried about what might actually give if I stick some sort of tool/rod down the inlet and hammer on the top of it with a mallet.

That's exactly how I used to get it off. I used a needle nose pliers around the part that seals with the silver ring. Doesn't matter if you mash that up so much. Just don't grab onto the threads for the ferrule nut. I would grab it tight, and wiggle up and down until it broke loose. I would still use "dust off" to shrink the metal as BMU stated. Turn the can upside down so the liquid comes out of the straw and hit that part for a good 5 - 10 seconds to make sure it's good and cold. Then grab it with the needle nose pliers and wiggle till she's free.

Remember the bottom part is a consumable so don't worry too much about "reefing" on that as it can be replaced. Also, the silver is soft so it will form a pretty good seal even if you mar-up the metal surface a little bit. Just give the new seal a couple extra "uhga dughas" and it should seal. Don't forget to leak check when done. My old Trace Ultra was notorious for leaking in the inlets or in the DPFC module itself.

After you're done with that, upgrade to the 1310 Trace and never worry about that again (Agilent dimension SSL inlet).

Good luck.