Chromatography Forum

Dear all,

I have some problem with Beckman 166 deckman detector. It runs OK until yesterday. When I tried to run sample or preview, there was a box out saying "detector need to be calibrated". Then I check the "calibrate on" from the direct control panel, but the calibration failed. I got different messeges from different tries. The most common one is: "sample side blocked". I also saw a lot "lower limit sw failure". I tried to reset detector, but did not help.

Anyone could help? Thanks a loooooooooooot!

Make sure deuterium D2 lamp ignite and works. Take out flowcell and watch that it is clean on light.

Hi kamk21,

Yes I agree with elsico. The sample side blocked error means that not enough light is getting through to the photodiode assembly which is in front of the flowcell and hence needs to be cleaned. Follow the nitric acid cleaning protocol in the Install and Maintenance guide. The lower limit SW failure is stating that the value for the diode as it nears the end of calibration is too low, probably due to the flowcell being dirty

Steve Q
Beckman Coulter