Chromatography Forum

Hello,

I'm looking for advice on the best way to wash a Dionex IC instrument in Chromeleon 7.2 after finishing analyses. Washing the system for 15-60 minutes before shutdown is good practice. In other softwares, I can run a wash method without injections or saving data. However, in Chromeleon, a Sequence is required and can't be rerun once "measured" or errors occur.
Does anyone have tips for setting up a wash Sequence in Chromeleon that can repeat for an extended time? I'm looking for the simplest way to wash the instrument without running into errors. Any advice is appreciated!

Good morning,

For post-sequence operations, I use either Smart Standby or Smart Shutdown. Either can be selected in the queue under "After running the queue:". We leave our IC running at 0.050 mL/min while in standby mode.

These operations are configured in an instrument method under the "Startup/Shutdown" tab.

Regards,
Scott

Thank you for your response, Scott.

I have been using the Smart Standby feature, which leaves the instrument running. I want to shut down the instrument completely, except for the pump (achievable using Smart Standby), which would run for about 60 minutes. Then, the pump would also shut down (this is not achievable using Smart Standby).

If I have a sequence that finishes late at night, I don’t want the IC to stay on standby and running until I return the following day. However, I don’t feel comfortable shutting it down entirely after the end of the sequence. Instead, I want it to be turned off with fresh mobile phase in the microfluidics, hence the need for washing after analysis before shutdown.

Make a instrument method with 0 injection volume from an empty vial and a 60 minute run time. Set the data acquisition to only record for a couple seconds.

Run this "wash sample" at the end of your batch then shut down.

Thank you for your response, DReggio1.

That is indeed the usual way of doing this in other softwares for other instruments. However, in Chromeleon, the injected volume cannot be set to 0 (nor can the vial position). So far, I have been using a vial with deionized water. However, that must be refilled occasionally, which is annoying.

... However, in Chromeleon, the injected volume cannot be set to 0 (nor can the vial position). So far, I have been using a vial with deionized water. However, that must be refilled occasionally, which is annoying.

Have you tried to define that last sample as "blank"?
That's the way to have chromatographic run without injection in Chromeleon.

Edit
Just checked and indeed sample is not introduced on column but the loop is filled with sample. At least with Dionex AS-DV sampler.

Just played around with "Smart Shutdown". With the motor set to "Off", I set a flow gradient of 0.200 mL/min for 5 minutes.

After the last injection, the IC continued to pump eluent for 5 minutes at 0.200 mL/min with a 2mM OH- eluent then shut down. I turned off the suppressor but left the conductivity cell heater and column oven on.