Chromatography Forum

Hello,

When I first load up system control, I get a message telling me that a Mass Calibration is required. When I run the FC-43 Mass Calibration, I get a message that says "Unable to locate mass 69." Any clue how to fix this? Also, when I run a diagnostics, the Waveform test fails telling me, "Either the filament or multiplier endcap is disconnected, either in the vacuum system or in the manifold electronics assembly." Does this have something to do with why it's not finding mass 69?

Thanks!

Yes, but is this an instrument that has been working properly for some time and this just started happening?

Well it was shutdown about a month ago and we had to do some maintenance to it (change ferrules, o-rings, bits and pieces) and we've had it running for about a week and a half, but we've been dealing with problems that have come up. There are no peaks in the Air/Water check, the cal gas adjustment has been acting weird, but today fell back within the OK range. Just a bunch of different stuff.

I would shut down and check the trap to make sure everything is clean, connected, nothing is shorting, and the filaments are good. Make sure you have no leaks.

I would also check the spring/pin on the bottom of the manifold. If this is bent/out of shape it can cause the issues you're seeing.

Run diagnostic and see if it says "filament is open". When you have the answer we'll think what to do next.

I will definitely check that out. I think I do remember it being bent the last time we had it open. Would you happen to know where I could find a part number to replace it?

Thanks for the info!

Not sure of the part number, should have a couple spares in the kit that comes with the instrument. Sometimes it's just too compressed. If you can't find a spare, you can try stretching it out and, if it's straight, that usually works.

I will definitely check that out. I think I do remember it being bent the last time we had it open. Would you happen to know where I could find a part number to replace it?

Thanks for the info!

The part for the spring is:

21-709255-00 >>CONTACT SPRING, SILVER

I'd also be tempted to change:

14-920009-00 >>WAVY SPRING WASHER
03-930552-01 >>TRAP GATE CONDUCTOR

Thanks for the numbers! I talked with Agilent yesterday and they luckily found it for me. I guess I should also try and order the other two parts as well. Thanks again for the info!

Just a little update:

I ordered the spring, the washer, and the trap conductor. I'm still getting the "Unable to locate mass 69" message when I try to mass calibrate. Everything else looks good. The filaments are working, the RF tuning is fine, and the cal gas is in an acceptable range. Is there something I need to do first before I mass calibrate? Any help would be great.

Thanks!

Oh dear, not such an easy fix then.

Do you definitely have calibrant in the FC-43 vial?
Are you sure you haven't got a massive leak somewhere?
Is the GC column flow at something sensible (1ml/min)?
Have you tried tuning at a lower manifold temperature?
What is the history of the system, is this something that 'just happened'?
Is the electron multiplier okay?
When was the last service?

Well, I have finally got it to run. Sort of.

I tinkered with the SapWave board and I was able to mass calibrate and also finish the electron multiplier tune. I still have the problem where it shows that my air check is okay but the water check still reads massive. I did run a COLTEST with the sample mix and the data wasn't that great. It didn't look like the chromatogram in the manual and the professor I'm working with believes it's a column bleed. Although the some data did show up, it didn't look too similar to the data in the manual. We are using the same column they use and I am using the COLTEST method that is in the directory. Any clue? Our system is quite old so it might just be the age of the instrument, or maybe the electronics are going out. Thanks again for the help.

Adam