Varian LC-212 and Prostar 410 - no communication with PC

[krischan]

Hello everybody,

maybe someone of the more experienced Varian users could help us: We are having problems with the communication between our LC-pumps and our autosampler with the PC. We own the following components:

- 2x Varian LC-212 Chromatography pump
- Varian Prostar 410 Autosampler
- Varian 320 Triple-Quad MS equipped with ESI
- Software: Varian Workstation

The problem is the following: The Software only recognizes and communicates with the MS. But neither the chromatography pumps nor the autosampler shows up in the software. We tried different COM-Ports and settings but this didn’t change anything. Maybe this is a common problem and somebody might help?

Thank you very much for your help already in advance.
Krischan

[Chris0000]

Hello

Go to the system configuration , it is a completely grey screen.
At the bottom of the screen, there is a line, below this line, all available instruments are shown. If you can see your devices here, just drag and drop the pump inside the big grey area.
The autosampler is dragged into the box on the left side ( autostart module). You can leave the grey screen with a double-click.

Best regards
Chris

P.S. At the Autosampler 410, there is a button "serial" on the LCD of the Autosampler - it is important to set the autosampler to "serial" after switching it on, else it will refuse to communicate with the software.

[krischan]

Hello Chris0000,

thank you very much for your reply. But our problem was, that the instruments didn't show up below the line. Therefore the drag and drop procedure wasn't possible.
But Fortunately we could solver the problems in the meantime: One problem was, that we didn't use a null modem cable for the connection between LC-pumps and the PC. The other problem was the cable to the autosampler: It had no electromagnetic shielding and was located just next to the power supply of a X-ray diffractometer...
Now everything communicates well.

Nevertheless thank you very much for your help.

Best regards
Krischan

[travismoller]

I wanted to hop on this thread, I have a varian 500MS with a varian 212 LC pump and a Varian Prostar 410 autosampler. In my instrument configuration, I can see the LC pump, autosampler and Mass spec. I havent been able to gain control of the LC pump and at one point my Mass SPec had a green light in the configuration window but now the mass spec and the LC pump are have red lights. The prostar autosampler has a green light and is in the autostart box. The other two instrument icons are in the large gray area above the available modules box.
I have my roughing pumps attached to the 4 RS-232 connections on the right side of the back of the instrument. I have a USB cable that connects the Mass SPec to the computer. I have a large serial connection cord with multiple serial connections that plugs into both LC pumps, the autosampler and then into the computer. Am I missing any connections? I pressed the run button on the two LC pumps and their light is green and the autosampler is in serial mode. I can post pictures if needed. My email is educatedambition@gmail.com

[travismoller]

It turns out I had the same problem as Krischan. I was using a regular RS-232 cable and not a null modem cable. I would have never gotten that if it wasn't for her/his post. So I have my connections as:
1. An RS-422/485 ribbon cable with multiple female connectors attached that connects to the output connections of both Varian 212 LC pumps and then connects to the "communication" port on the Prostar 410 Autosampler and then connects into a special board onto the PC using some type of adapter (RS-422/485 Serial DB9 Terminal D to Serial block adapter?).
2. A null modem cable, which resembles an RS-232 cable but I assume has a different wiring diagram, that connects pump A to the computer.
3. I then have USB A to USB B cord that connects the 500MS to the computer through a regular USB connection.
4. Then each of the two roughing pumps has two communication cables each, for a total of four, that connect the pumps directly to the 500MS.
5. In the "Setup Comm Ports" window, Comm 1 is assigned to the 212 LC. Comm 2 is selected as RS-422/485. Then below the RS-422/485 comm box is another series of vertically stacked boxes where one of them is assigned to the 410 Autosampler.
6. In the "Instrument Configuration" Window I have the 212 LC, 410 AS and the 500MS dragged into the instrument section with the 410 AS placed inside the "Autostart" Box.

-I hope this post can clarify the necessary connections for anybody else who may be trying to keep these instruments alive.