Agilent 7000 GC/MS

[Christian_bios]

Hello,
I have a problem with autotuning the MS.

Prior to the current error I had the problem, that the autotune resulted in an error message stating that it could not "maintain voltage".

After this I cleaned all the parts of the source. Now the previous problem is gone, but still the autotune fails. It seems I am not getting any signal... just seeing the background noise.

Can someone suggest possible solutions for the problem? Maybe some typical errors for the agilent 7000 series?

Thanks

[Rndirk]

Do you see the calibration gas peak if you manually turn on the MS (and the calibration gas valve)?

The problem could be caused by:

- Filament broken
- Calibration gas empty or somehow doesn't release into the MS
- A huge leak in the MS, this can completely mask your tuning component

[Christian_bios]

Thanks for your fast reply and your suggestion. I do not see a calibration gas peak. I will check for the calibration gas and filament immediately.

I would not expect a huge leak in the MS, since the vacuum seems to be fine and the pump is operation at around 20W.

I will let you know soon how things work out...

[Rndirk]

Before the next autotune, try to get a normal signal in manual tune mode first, then do an air/water check.

If your EI source has 2 filaments, you can easily switch between them in the manual tune mode to check if it's the filament.

Also check out http://www.agilent.com/cs/library/userm ... intain.pdf

page 46

[Christian_bios]

I exchanged the filament, and the problem is now back to "can not maintain voltage".

I am not sure what is meant by "get a normal signal in manual tune mode"

I have been working through the troubleshoot guide, but could not find any good ideas for a possible solution.

here a picture from error message
http://imgur.com/a/NhgtD

[Christian_bios]

The problem was found: The Lens-Insulator was damaged. This caused a shortcut between the ion-focus lens and the source body via the setscrew.

Easy fix: Loosen the setscrew to stop the shortcut.

Long-term: replace lens-insulator