Chromatography Forum

does it necessary cleaning the collector ?

If a FID is dirty and contaminated noise will be generated in the signal.

Usually, deposits from silylating reagents are the problem. Most other chemicals eluting from the column burn and leave little or no deposits.

Noise is also generated by contaminated gas, carrier, fuel, or air. Use high quality clean gases. Also be sure the cables are not frayed, loose, or corroded at the detector or the amplifier ends.

does it necessary cleaning the collector ?

I will say that you clean it only when your experiments didn't generate satisfactory results due to possible performance defects in detector.

usually, the white residue is the result of column bleed. the residue generates a lot of noise in your baseline and the FID might require some cleaning. The black residue is usually the result of your analytes, and it doesn't affect as much as the white residue.

I run a simulated distillation of lube base oils. The samples are diluted in CS2. The sulfur deposits on the chimney of the FID. It has a fairly nice yellow tint. Since the column is a wide bore 0.53u, the jet is the small orfice for packed columns. This jet becomes clogged with white residue. I can actually look down the chimney and see the flame burning, which normally you can't see. Eventually, the signal will become noisey and sometimes drop out to nothing. Check the bottom seal and replace if hard and cracked.

thanks for explaination.