Acquity Column Preheater Leaks

[DylonHussain]

In my lab I've recently had to replace several column pre-heaters that were leaking when the pressure got above about 5000psi. The analysts were using peek ferrules and waters columns. When the systems reached 5000psi, the ferrule allowed the metal tubing (attached to the preheater) to slip and get pushed away from column. When this happened, mobile phase would come out of the interface between the tubing and the top nut (that screws into the gold nut). I attempted to fix it by replacing the ferrule and using a different column but neither of these worked. The problem was remedied, however, when I replaced the column preheater which leads me to believe that something happened to the tubing where the ferrule sits, but I closely inspected the tubing and couldn't find any scratches or bends. Does anyone know how to prevent this from happening in the future or has anyone seen this problem before?

Thanks

[tom jupille]

You might try using fittings made for UHPLC (one example: http://www.analytical-sales.com/brochur ... ttings.pdf ). These are generally backwards compatible with regular HPLC hardware (same thread on the nuts and same cone angle on the ferrules).

[DylonHussain]

We are using UPLC fittings. The system is a Acquity UPLC.

[tom jupille]

So try a different brand (e.g., the link I posted).

[kubowicz.tomasz]

Hello

I know that it might be weird idea but...I'd recommend to use dedicated pre-heaters for column (each column has own pre-heater).
It depends of course how many columns you're using and what the price for one pre-heater is.
In long term this way can really save some money...

Best regards

Tomasz Kubowicz