Chromatography Forum

Hi, I need a GC setup that is reliable. I don't do anything fancy. I need is S/S inlet, FID detector, and reasonable controller + data analysis software, with autosampler. And my budget is tight.
There are many cheap refurbished GC system available online.
(1) HP 5890 II + HP 7683autosampler + PC (XP) + Chemstation B.03
(2) HP 6890 + HP7683 autosampler + PC (XP) + Chemstation G2070
Choice (1) is cheaper, but I wonder how easy it is to get replacement parts for HP5890 if anything goes wrong? Is it worth upgrading to (2) with additional 7-8k?

We still use both 5890 and 6890 GCs here. Your results will be the same. Yes, 6890 is still under factory support, 5890 is not, but lots of parts and used parts still available. They share a lot of hard parts, don't know about the electronics.

Our software is older than that, but those have newer autosamplers than we have. Both models have been so reliable for us that we don't even think twice about them. We even have a working 5890 unit in our warehouse, plus parts I've stripped from a non-used 5890.

6890 should give you a longer lifeetime, but I wouldn't hesitate to go with a 5890. They are very robust and the parts that can fail are still available from groups like Alpha Omega.
We just took our last 5890 out of service in March of this year and it had served us well for at least 20 years.

Thank you for both of you! I feel much better to go for 5890.

I have used both 5890 and 6890. About the durability, they are the same. But for the availability of parts, I should think 6890 is better. PC coupling also is easier with 6890.