Basic second hand data centre - Help needed

[dgraham]

We have inherited at our school multiple bits of HPLC hardware. There has been a motion to bin it as nobody knows what to do with it. We currently run a rates of reaction section of senior chemistry that involves student experimentation and fermentation is one of the most popular areas however determination of sugar and ethanol content during the stages of fermentation is always problematic. I have managed to convince two people that the high end students can use HPLC for separating the sugars and ethanol. We have several pumps (waters and LBK), Waters injector units and an RI detector and have ordered a 0.45um filter plus ultrasonic bath to use with our vacuum pump for sample prep so am confident the necessary parts are all present. The only hardware that is causing grief are 2 old (ancient) omniscibe chart recorders that have no pens and little paper. I get the impression that I would be flogging a dead horse trying to get the recorders operational so have instead looked at getting a second hand earlier basic data system. Really I just want an analogue to digital converter and software that can digitally record the output from the RI sensor into a chromatogram. There is an e-corder syetem for 4000 pounds that is way too expensive. I have seen the a03- syetem shown on eChrom that looks alright but nobody seems to want to give a price. Also saw a Dionex interface that looked like it would work but no idea how much the software costs. Are there other older (10-20 years) systems around that come up second hand? Would probably be happy to spend $500-750 dollars. Any help and advice appreciated.
Also, does the signal from the injector feed directly into the recorder or can it be routed via the sensor?
Thanks

[uzman]

You may search on e-bay for ''chromatography data system '' , and I am sure you will find one around $300 ( Chinese origin) including software , A/D converter and cables.

I am using it , and it is working well.

You may connect your RI detector analog signal output and your injector start signal to it .
If your injector does not have start signal output , there is a hand switch to give a start signal.

[dgraham]

Thanks for the info. Have just purchased one from Canada for $320 that looks like it should do what I want.

[sepscientologist]

I just bought a 16 bit a/d system from Dataq for $159. It includes digital inputs which I can use to start
the data acquisition. Just put a cherry switch onto the body of the injection valve so that when you rotate
to inject it makes a contact closure to start data acquisition.

for a column I would go with the biorad 78H which will separate sugars and ethanol as well as any organic
acids isocratically.