Chromatography Forum

I'm not quite sure what the next step should be in getting my 5890 Series II back to operational status. Originally I was having problems with my FID (couldn't receive a signal or get peaks on ChemStation). I replaced the castle and the FID board and got it working again. After performing my analysis I put my GC into "Idle" mode (low flow rates and temperatures for overnight). The GC turned off and I received a PWR OFF error message on ChemStation. I turned the GC off and left for the day.

The next day when I came in and attempted to turn the GC on I receive the normal startup message (TESTING SIGNAL PATH), but then the GC shuts off and starts up again displaying (TESTING SIGNAL PATH) and then shuts off and continues through this cycle indefinitely.

I removed the HP-IB COMM board from the main board and tried 3 different boards (thinking there might have been a problem with the original). It is unlikely that all of these boards are bad, and switching them out did not fix the problem. However, once the comm board is removed, the GC passes the self test. This is great, except that now I can't talk to the GC through the computer!

I'm not sure what to do next and I seem to have "maxed out" my technical support group - any ideas?

I still think that your communication baord is defective. I can't explain why
you had replaced three boards but not solved the issue.