Chromatography Forum

Hey all,

I was wondering if anyone has had this error with the Agilent 1290 Infinity Binary Pump: Drive encoder LED power insufficient.
My runs are stopping about a minute to 3 minutes in, and this error keeps recurring. When I check the manual it just says to contact a service representative. Has anyone dealt with this issue before and maybe has any tips? Thanks in advance!

PS. This is my first post here so if this is the wrong board for this question, let me know.

It looks like , the LED in the photocoupler ( which decodes the position of motor ) is not giving enough light to the phototransistor.

It may be because of dirt accumulation on it , not enough voltage to the LED or a defective LED.

I am having this issue, too.

Has anyone got a solution to this problem and what was the cost to resolve it?
Many thanks,

Hello

I'd recommend:

-Check pump heads inside (perhaps plunger is broken and there is no resistance when pump is homing motors and checking positions. Or there is some mechanical blockage inside).Of course replace seals etc. If you've never done it before it is better to call service (there is special alignment tool to assembly pump)

-after reassembling you can check it - reboot pump and see if it works with no errors. If not you can reload firmware to make sure it is not corrupted.

Regards

Tomasz Kubowicz

Thanks Tomasz for your reply,

The pump had a PM (Preventative maitenence) done in december 2016, so I guess it could be connected.
Now I am trying to see if the pump A or B is the culprit by pumping 100% A and then 100%B.

Best regards
Jurij

I'd recommend:

-Check pump heads inside (perhaps plunger is broken and there is no resistance when pump is homing motors and checking positions. Or there is some mechanical blockage inside).Of course replace seals etc. If you've never done it before it is better to call service (there is special alignment tool to assembly pump)

Dear Tomasz,
The serviceman said it is most likely a malfunction of the B pump motor and he suggests a replacement, which is very costly - equals to around 4500€ with tax).

We rarely exceeded 600 bar backpressure. Even though the pump is 6 years old, the total volume of pumped solvent in B channel was really low and I am wondering how is such a malfunction possible for a well maintained system (annualy done PMs) with very reasonable load.
Is it possible that it is just a sensor dirty and do you know how to clean/disassemble it?

If you have any addittional suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated!
Best regards,

Jurij

Hello

Dear Tomasz,
The serviceman said it is most likely a malfunction of the B pump motor and he suggests a replacement, which is very costly - equals to around 4500€ with tax).

We rarely exceeded 600 bar backpressure. Even though the pump is 6 years old, the total volume of pumped solvent in B channel was really low and I am wondering how is such a malfunction possible for a well maintained system (annualy done PMs) with very reasonable load.
Is it possible that it is just a sensor dirty and do you know how to clean/disassemble it?

If you have any addittional suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated!
Best regards,

Jurij

My first question would be: How service men diagnosed problem? Did he open pump inside to take look and run some diagnostic or ir was on the phone?
As I mentioned proper way to do it is to open pump and check all components inside. Sometimes it is something simple and it can be costless repair but sometimes it is serious problem (like pump drive) and it doesn't matter if pump is new (it can happen even with new pump).
I fixed few pumps with similar problem - some of them had defective drive but some of them required just good diagnostic and easy cheap repair.

Regards

Tomasz Kubowicz

As I mentioned proper way to do it is to open pump and check all components inside. Sometimes it is something simple and it can be costless repair but sometimes it is serious problem (like pump drive) and it doesn't matter if pump is new (it can happen even with new pump).
I fixed few pumps with similar problem - some of them had defective drive but some of them required just good diagnostic and easy cheap repair.

Dear Tomasz,
many thanks for your answer! You are still giving me some hope there.
My service engineer has not (yet) opened the pump as he performed a PM on this unit in late November last year but he has spoken to guys at Agilent about our problem and they said that with this type of error, the pump drive electronics is most probably the reason for failure and since the Drive Encoder is not a serviceable part he sees no other alternatives but to do an "exchange" or to buy a new drive for pump B.
Thank you very much for your help, any additional advice is highly appreciated
All the best,
Jurij

My first question would be: How service men diagnosed problem? Did he open pump inside to take look and run some diagnostic or ir was on the phone?
As I mentioned proper way to do it is to open pump and check all components inside. Sometimes it is something simple and it can be costless repair but sometimes it is serious problem (like pump drive) and it doesn't matter if pump is new (it can happen even with new pump).
I fixed few pumps with similar problem - some of them had defective drive but some of them required just good diagnostic and easy cheap repair.

Regards

Tomasz Kubowicz

To give some update about our 1290 binary pump problem:

After dismantling the pump, cleaning the drive encoder with compressed air, the error went away completely for 1 week, but then reemerged again and persisted therafter. It was a repeatable error at approx 0.5 mL-1 mL/min at 100-300 bars. So the pump went in for an exchange.

Thanks for all your help regardless.