Chromatography Forum

hi,

I have an old Dionex Column one for cations (cs3) and one for anions (cs14think i ). They are new. But they are around 10 years old.

Does time alter their properties? The columns have an expiration date on them and they have expired more than 4-5 years ago.

Is there going to be any problem with them or should they work just fine? Anyone have experiences.

I don't really have time to actually test so it could save me some time if someone knew.

thanks

I don't really have time to actually test so it could save me some time if someone knew.

From the tone of your post it seems like you are intending to purchase new columns regardless of the ostensibly good working condition of those in-house and the predictable "pro" and "con" posts that will inevitably appear in this thread. Are you really saving Time/Money by not conducting an assessment of their efficacy?

Good luck.

I don't really have time to actually test so it could save me some time if someone knew.

From the tone of your post it seems like you are intending to purchase new columns regardless of the ostensibly good working condition of those in-house and the predictable "pro" and "con" posts that will inevitably appear in this thread. Are you really saving Time/Money by not conducting an assessment of their efficacy?

Good luck.

I just want a quick opinion that's all.


So to explain, I actually at the moment do not operate my ion chromatograph, and to test those i would need to buy some buffers of pure grade , get the stanards for anions and cations etc. And I am not ready to invest in new columns at the time for ion chromatography. I will probably do that very soon, but IC columns are pretty expensive so I would rather test those too. So before I get to test those, Id rather have a preliminary opinion from people with more experience than me.

thanks

Given you don't know the storage history, it's not possible to say, but I would guess they should be OK, however both may require quite a lot of flushing to get a stable baseline.

I've used similar columns I've stored for 4 - 5 years after use without problems. If I was in your position, I wouldn't bother with purchasing expensive new reagents and standards, but make new solutions using AR grade reagents, just to test the columns before investing in new ones.

If you need carbonate-free NaOH, and don't have ( or wish to purchase ) any, then carefully make up some 50% mass/mass from a freshly opened AR NaOH pellets container ( not fine beads - too much surface = more carbonate ) and CO2-free water eg from a Milli-Q system, ensuring minimal exposure to air.

Allow to stand for a day or so in a container with minimal ullage ( volume above liquid ) and use a pipette to withdrawn some of the clear liquid in the middle. Dilute to strength with fresh CO2-free water. I've found the CO2 concentration good enough for most testing. Some people quickly wash the pellets with CO2-free water to remove the carbonate layer before making the 50%, but I've not found that necessary.

Bruce Hamilton

in order to see if the columns are any good or made to be good,
first read their instruction manual for recovery procedures and test procedure. every column comes certified after QC. test like the QC did and see if you are any closer to their results.
also if you have or had an application to which you know/knew the expected results, then run it and then compare.

If you have not been using the columns for a while and not the IC as well for a long period of time and have not put the instrument into storage conditions, then ask your self first what you need to check to make sure that the instrument is working properly.
there are procedures for this too

To give you a little update. I got the time to try out the column last month. It as as good as new!! Actually it now serves me as we speak!

Thanks for the update. Good to know you saved some money, just remember to ask your boss for a bonus from the savings .

Coincidently, I've been recommissioning a Dionex DX-300 system that has been in storage for about 15 years, and I'm surprised at the minimal amount of work required to make it operational. I haven't needed to purchase any new columns or parts, so far - touch wood.