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new in GC MS 5975

Discussions about GC-MS, LC-MS, LC-FTIR, and other "coupled" analytical techniques.

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I am new user of GCMS HP7890 _ 5975 and i want some basic information about it

1st what is the right procdure to start up and shut down MS pump

2nd how many time i should tune MS ( before use , weekly , monthly )

3rd how to monitor level of PFTBA level ( calibration vial level)

Please help
Thanks
Amr
I'm rather new myself but I'll try to answer the way it works for me.

1. We leave the pump running 24/7, no gain to turn it down even for a week between runs.

2. I tune it fully after I clean the ion source (once a few months, we have mainly clean groundwater samples).

3. I keep a log of PFTBA reading at 502 peak, when we go 20% off the initial value we take the source out and clean it/retune MS.

We are a small lab, with infrequent use of our MS, so your req'ments might vary.
Hi, we tune 3 times a week, and the PFTBA lasts years, older machines about 8 years newer machines , running for so far 6years with no refilss, samples can be dirty , so we watch the tune and clean when background starts creeping up and repleeler increases.
I agree with GRovian leave pumps running 24/7 better for them than stop and start.
When you vent a mass spec, moisture enters the system. Even turning off the pumps with the intention of maintaining vacuum allows moisture to enter the system. Moisture goes away slowly, so you have to leave an instrument pumping several hours before you can use it if it has been opened to the atmosphere. And, prolonged exposure to moisture harms the detector. So, pumps off only for instrument maintenance and scheduled power outages.

Tuning adjusts for drift in the electronics. For qualitative work, small changes in limit of detection, mass resolution, mass accuracy, and relative ion ratios may not be a problem. For quantitative work, you want to keep these more tightly controlled. At least run a tune check fairly frequently. Monitor mass resolution, mass accuracy and the intensity of masses. Personally, I recommend at least a tune check once a week. And, a leak check daily when you are using the system. The best check on the tune is a low level standard, checking the signal to noise of the analyte peak. Remember that when the tune check fails for a check standard fails, all samples are suspect back to the last good run. How many runs can you afford to reject based on failing QC checks? (Also bracket samples sets with QC samples so that you know that the instrument was good when you finish a set. Better than no QC and then a problem a week or two later when checking out the system. Was it an issue of the instrument standing, or where there bad results published? :roll: )
Thanks alot
Useful information
Ours run until they need to be cleaned, so for dirty semi volatile work it is about once ever three months they are shut down, for volatile purge and trap analysis it can go as long as 18 months between venting. Otherwise they are powered on and at temp.

For tune we check with injections of either Bromofluorobenzene for volatiles or DFTPP for semivolatiles as listed in the EPA methods. We only use the PFTBA tuning gas if one of those tune checks fail, and if I can make small adjustments without opening the tuning gas valve I do that instead. It just seems to take a while for the vacuum to recover after opening the tune valves, more so on 5973 and older but even the 5975 takes a little while to recover. If you need frequent air and water checks then something is wrong with your setup since I have never had one begin to leak unless I have vented it or changed a column.

I keep an eye on the area counts of my internal standards and if they become low I remake the internal standard mix and if that still fails I usually just go into manual tune and bump the Electron Multiplier voltage a couple clicks to compensate, or if you are running with the Gain setting you can bump it up a little. I run mostly volatiles so I will burn through the multiplier before I get a dirty source usually, and I hate being down for a day for cleaning and pump down.
The past is there to guide us into the future, not to dwell in.
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