Chromatography Forum

General inquiry here...

Has anyone used aftermarket (Restek, Chromatography Technology Services (CTS), etc.) replacement parts for Agilent HPLCs? If so, how did they compare to the OEM parts?

Hi,

I do not have experience in after market replacement parts for HPLC but for Agilent GC replacement parts, there are some good alternatives e.g. Restek, Supelco. I sometimes wonder if all of these companies use the same manufacturer for their spare parts and put their name or logo on the package. The difference here is the price, which may be different, but not the quality.
The only experience I had in HPLC parts are the pump seals of a WATERS pump, which I bought from Alltech. I returned back to WATERS, because I felt that the latter were more durable and of better quality. I can be that this is just an impression of mine...
So to conclude, it is taking a chance the change your supplier but often it comes out to be OK

Aftermarket parts are a great way to maintain your instruments without the huge markups of OEM equipment/service. Definitely shop around when you're looking for a supplier - look for a company with a proven track record, good customer service/tech support, and (if possible) made in the USA, Germany, Japan, etc.

I work for a company called Optimize Technologies, we have been in the aftermarket HPLC parts business for over 25 years. We develop and manufacture 99% of our parts at our facility in Oregon. Take a look at the website and contact me if you are interested in sampling some of our wide selection of Agilent repair parts, consumables, and accessories.

www.optimizetech.com

http://www.optimizetech.com/opti-shop/i ... th=3_22_23

/endplug

I've worked in chromatography for a long time and throughout my career have used a fair few after-market parts to keep costs down.

Depending on the supplier they're normally as good as the OEM stuff and in some cases even the same product (which has been rebadged/repacked by the instrument company). The after-market companies rely on their stuff being as good as the OEM parts and word will get around about bad products.

If you're not sure order something low cost that you can switch out with a working component and do an assessment.

Thanks for the info. I'll see if I can squirrel away some aftermarket pump parts over the next month or two, then when I need another pump rebuild, I'll use the aftermarket parts and compare against previous rebuilds. Can't hurt to try...

There are also some distributors of Agilent parts that will sell them at a lower price than Agilent. ChromTech, for example, offers discounted prices to corporate customers on standard parts. I have also used the other suppliers and had frequent, but not universal, success.