Novel methods for Triplus / CombiPal

[jymmit]

Has anyone used either the Thermo Triplus or CTC CombiPal to do anything "tricky" in terms of sample prep? I'm not talking regular headspace or SPME here, but something like in-vial liquid-liquid extraction (of say TPH or pesticides), addition of internal standards, derivitisation etc.

We are in the process of buying a new autosampler system, and would like people's thoughts on what can / can't be done using these "robotic" autosamplers.
Thanks.

[jymmit]

Ok then, has anyone used these autosamplers at all? Any thoughts / suggestions? Are they worth the extra money over a regular autosampler?

[aldehyde]

It depends on what you want to do. They work very well and a lot of the mechanisms are magnetic so there are (at least in my opinion) fewer things that break. I have a lot of customers that use them for various applications and I never really hear of any complaints. I know they are capable of doing in vial extraction/deriviatization but I've never seen anyone use those functions.

[Peter Apps]

I have a CTC, and I have used the Gerstel clone. They are good at handling liquids, less so with headspace. Interfacing with GC software is often less smooth than it could be. The simple dial up operations are not very versatile, but I hear that there are macros that will make them do fancier things. I am often surpised that the manufacture does not make unit operation programming more of a feature, because it would enable skilled users to do almost anything with them.

The best people to ask are the manufacturers - then ask for an on-site demo.

Peter