Holmium filter failure on VWD 3400 - Dionex

[t_morris]

Hello everyone,

So I have a failure with my holmium oxide filter test...I called Dionex and they said to clean the filter they want 12K!!! Is this a simple fix? I am going to take it apart and clean it myself? What are your thoughts? I have plenty of experience tearing apart HPLCs, but not to much optical experience...

Any assistance will be extremely helpful!

Tim

[Parham]

Hello Morris,
I have a good tip for you, you try it first and in the next step open your flow cell because of Opening flow cell is too complicated and hard.
A warm-water flush using the 60 °C setting on your column compartment is an effective way to clean your
UV flow cell.
It working good probably, On the other hand for control wavelength Accuracy check this path:
edqm: ANNEX 1: Qualification of HPLC Equipment
You can easily prepare a Anthracene solution and Qualify your UV detector, I think it is better than opening your flow cell, I have had a bad memory of it. good luck my friend .

[uzman]

I think , holmium oxide filter problem is a different story than the flow cell cleaning
Actually , wavelenght accuracy test is done using the reference beam , so flow cell has no effect.

Some manufacturers of HPLC detectors and spectrophotometers use a holmium oxide filter , inserted in the light path by a magnetic drive , in order to check the wavelenght accuracy of the device.

If the filter becomes very dirty , the wavelenght accuracy test may fail.

You may clean it by yourself using a soft and lint free tissue , if you can disassemble the unit.

These filters mostly located in front of the deuterium lamp where light enters to monochromator housing.

[John Guajardo]

Hi Tim,

What is the actual error message you are seeing? Was anything changed recently (flow cell, lamp)? How old is your lamp?

Here are some recommendations:

• Remove the flow cell and check the optical path to make sure there is no obvious contamination or obstruction.
• If the lamp was recently replaced, confirm that it was installed properly (maybe try a different lamp if available).
• Install the dummy flow cell and run the wavelength calibration test.

I would advise against trying to clean any of the internal optics on your own; leave this to a trained service rep.