Chromatography Forum

Hello,
I have Agilent 5973 and i was getting "MS Status Temperature fault 2048" and i was unable to pump down. So, I replaced the side board and now i'm able to pump down. However, i'm unable to tune the MSD because i keep getting error "difficulty in mass filter electronics" it keeps trying to scan/tune but it does not produce ion 502 peak. Then the MSD gives up and displays the error message "MS Status fault 4 - See troubleshooting". There is no mention of such issues in the 5973 troubleshooting/user manual. If anyone had any such issues in the past, please guide.

Thanks

When you replaced the side board did you DIP the quads? That is did you adjust the two big screws to bring the mV reflected on the quads to their lowest values. If you haven't done this it could be having trouble getting the peak widths correct for the mass 502.

Thanks for the reply. Do you mean the screw that holds the source in it's place? Yes I did that. Sorry, I didn't get " bring the mV reflected on the quads to their lowest values" this part. How do you i go about doing that. Please explain a bit if you don't mind!

Thank you,
Sincerely,
CP

Thanks for the reply. Do you mean the screw that holds the source in it's place? Yes I did that. Sorry, I didn't get " bring the mV reflected on the quads to their lowest values" this part. How do you i go about doing that. Please explain a bit if you don't mind!

Thank you,
Sincerely,
CP

The ones I am talking about are the two large black plastic screws on the outside, on the large square part in the middle of the side board. They are used to fine tune the RF going to the quads which sets the mass the quad passes through. When my instrument is not running I will go in and get the exact menu that is needed and do a quick summary of how to do it. It is usually necessary when replacing the side board as they must be adjusted to match the quads in each analyzer.

Thanks a lot James that's very important fact that I just learned about the side board and the analyzer. I will set them to lowest or appropriate setting. Thanks again

If you are using the E version of the software then you go into "Tune and Vacuum Control" and under the "Execute" menu use the "Optimize Quadrupole Frequency" menu item. Begin with a mass setting of 100 and adjust each of the big screws slowly, maybe 1/4 turn adjusting both the same amount, if the mV reading goes up then turn them the other way. Once you achieve the lowest reading, you then begin again with 500 mass and move on to 800 mass. With each mass setting a smaller amount of adjustment is needed to fine tune the settings, though even at 100-200 mass if you get that to the lowest point it should fix most of your problems if they are out of adjustment.

Older versions of software may call the menu item "Set RFPA" instead of "Optimize Quadrupole Frequency".

Just be careful to make small adjustments and make them to both screws in the same direction or you can get it way out of adjustment.

Thanks a lot again. I just adjusted mass 100 to the lowest mV setting i could get to that is 68. I tuned just fine with that. Thanks a lot.

Sincerely,

Thanks a lot again. I just adjusted mass 100 to the lowest mV setting i could get to that is 68. I tuned just fine with that. Thanks a lot.

Sincerely,

Glad it worked!