Tips on buying my first GC?

[maxh]

I am on the market for a GC. My budget is rather limited at around the $1000 to $1500 range, so I'm thinking my best bet would be to find a decent, old machine on one of the auction sites (labx, ebay, ...).

I would greatly appreciate any information anyone can provide on older GC's in this price range. Specifically, personal experiences with specific brands/models, as well as more general tips on choosing a machine, and things to look out for would be very helpful.

I will be using it at first to analyze samples of biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters as a result of transesterification of various vegetable oils) mainly to determine reaction yields. Later, I'll probably get into qualitative analysis of unreacted vegetable oils as well.

Thanks,
Max

[Ary]

Hi Max

At $1000 you are really going to struggle. My guess is if thats all the cash you have you are probably at a University or other none profit organisation. If so then try getting in touch with people at the major manufacturing/industrial companies in your area to find out if any of them are looking to get rid of any equipment. They often donate older equipment to universities etc. Also try speaking to the reps at the instrument companies to see what leads they have for new purchases and try and follow these up again to see what you can get for free. Youre going to need your $1000 for consumables. Try it you never know your luck.

[Les]

If the GC is so old that it would require too much work to get into shape, maybe renting a GC would suffice. Equipment isn't that expensive to buy as it is to maintain. Supplies far exceed the equipment costs.
Also, renting allows the option to try before buy. Maybe the GC isn't the best solution to your problem. Atleast you can return a rental and seek better solution. Many paths for many solutions.

[maxh]

Thank you for your replies.

I'm not at a university (though not long out), nor with a non-profit organization. I'm just working on my first non-scholastic chemistry project which may (hopefully) someday turn into a real business.

Both of you bring up good ideas which had not yet occurred to me. I will try contacting some of the local manuf. companies, although I don't know how much luck I'll have considering I'm not non-profit.

I will definitely look into renting, as well. While I have no doubt I would be able to make work whatever older GC I managed to find and buy, I would certainly appreciate saving that time for something better. Does anyone have any suggestions on good places from which to rent?

One of my reasons for leaning towards GC was my perception that the supplies cost would be relatively smaller than that of other methods, such as HPLC. What more is there than supply/fuel gas(es) to be bought regularly?

Thanks for the help.

[pochengjean]

I think the detector might be a cost concern. Different analysis might require differenct detector to achieve the desired sensitivity. You might want to take that into consideration. Detector such as ECD might require some kind of certification depending on the regulation in your area.

[arie2044]

HI
The best solition for your problem is to finn a laboratory that will do for you the work. they usually have all the equipment allready installed and calibrated. the money you have is not enough to buy gases, calibration gases or mixtures, pressure regulators, dryiers and traps, the detector and other small pieces you will need, even for a rented GC.

[pochengjean]

Hmm....start a business in science is not easy. Assuming you are able to do all the scientific work yourself, but most scientific business are linked to regulations, including ISO, cGMP or GLP, OECD...., and you will need to set up the lab and run the experiment in complient to those regulations. The cost for consulting is considerable, and it is not likely be a continuous cost. Besides, GLP require quality assurance to function in a complete seperated department. Therefore, the cost of staff is also part of initial cost.

The cost, of course, is always transferred to the client. However, the initial capital might be too great and you might need to get a loan or to find a group of investors. On the other words, all this factors add on to the risk. You might have other business planned out, and these are just my two cents.

Good luck. I would not start a business as a scientist, never. If I have to start my own business related to scientist, there is always a much much better option to business as auditors, internal or external.

[tom jupille]

A sure-fire way to make a small fortune in the science business:


Start with a large fortune and work down from there.

[theavenger]

Hello:

Besides being an environmental chemist, I dabble in the used lab equipment business on the side. It is possible, with a little luck to find a decent working no-frills instrument for your project in the price range you indicate. I bought my employer a HP 5890 with FID for $700 not too long ago. Great deal! If you are initially starting with a FID G.C., (which you surely are, with FAMEs) these detectors have not improved substantially in 20-30 years. An old Varian 3700, 3400, HP5880, 5730, 5710, Tracor 560, 540 will get you about the same sensitivity on FID as a 5890 will. G.C. columns on the other hand, have improved greatly in the same time frame. In my opinion, the Tracor 540 is the best bargain in used G.C.s today. Shunned by so many Agilent/HP only labs, this is a good instrument. If one has reasonable repair skills, you can keep an old G.C. working practically forever. I use a Varian 3700 every day for diesel analysis. Data crunching wise, you'll be running an integrator instead of ChemStation or whatever, but an integrator will do a fine job for your needs. The company I work for started about 10 years ago with one chemist and used equipment. While not huge today, we are a major player in town, and are debt-free! The American dream can still work, even in science. I really like LabX over Ebay. Good luck to you.

Glenn