old shimadzu Pumps: which manual injectors?

[bigdawg]

I am working on a side project to make a functional HPLC system from legacy parts and install it in the local high school so young students can get a real "feel" of scientific careers. I plan to buy old pumps and UV detectors from ebay, write a data acquisition code using labview and get a basic system going. The aim is to get the entire system hardware for 600 bucks so its cheap enough that if the project fails, I dont lose much money.

I have couple of shimadzu LC-6A isocratic pumps from the 1980s and I am trying to connect it to a computer via the remote controller and write an labview program to control them. I don't need to connect both of them since I don't need to run gradient systems, but if I can do that then its an additional plus. I plan to use an Arduino as an interface between the analog I/O from the pumps' remote controller and my computer. I have made lot of progress in creating an interface and controlling the pump using labview VI.

I am all set to test the pumps, however, I dont have any rheodyne sample injectors (almost 300 bucks on ebay); and I just noticed how expensive those are, and I am wondering if anyone has ideas of cheap alternatives to those injectors since buying those will put a dent to my already low budget.

I'll get one if there is no way around it but I am just looking for ideas about alternatives. I work in industry on agilent 1100s/1200s with autoinjectors so I have no real experience with manual injectors even though in school I worked very briefly with them so I'll be glad if some old-timers can chime in here and tell me of any other ways (if any) you can inject samples to HPLC. ofcourse I am not looking at cGMP level precision or accuracy here but a basic HPLC sample injection method which can test common stuff like caffiene etc for high school demonstration projects and things of that nature.

[Gerhard Kratz]

Maybe some of the manufacturers will "sponsor" you an injector. Ask Knauer in Berlin and/or VICI in the US. Good luck.

[bigdawg]

Gerhard, thanks for replying. I got a few good leads after asking the local industry reps here, and through them I have gotten in touch with the local university who has a few rheodyne injectors sitting in a surplus warehouse. Now, whether they are fully functional or not is another matter. Either way I'll my hands on them soon enough to find out.

[maskarbe]

Hello! I would like to know how did your project go and would like to know what code did you use for arduino to communicate via pc to hplc. Thanks!