GC and GC-Ms instrument transport

[josebenjamin]

Dear Friends,

At the lab I am working there will be a switching of quarters and a good number of instruments need to be moved. I would like to hear from anyone one of you about problems, special precautions, and general recommendations you have to ensure success and no damage to the units, in particular on those with MS and FTIR detection.

The instruments are:

GC 5890 Series II with MS detector (5972 Series),
Trace GC-MS Finnigan Polaris

Agilent Model 6890 GCs, withhead space sampling, and another one with FTIR detection.

I know suppliers would be very happy to do it for big bucks. If you want to share info about this I would like to hear it as well.

Thanks,

josebenjamin

[Steve Reimer]

We are in the process of moving GCs and LCs into renovated space from temporary quarters. One year ago everything had to be moved out, now it's going back. If the gas lines and support equipment are clean and in place before you start to move, it can go quickly and smoothly. It is also a good time to do preventative maintenance.
Of course if you happen have a 5972 MS fall off a cart and land on its top, not everyone will be happy.

[Consumer Products Guy]

We'll also be moving in a few years, and we have some pharmaceutical products, so we'll have to have installation qualifications performed. The 5972 is out of factory support, so Agilent may not provide any help. Definitely make sure the 5972 stays UPRIGHT during the whole process, very important. Label all the gas lines, fluid lines, and electrical connections, maybe even color-code. Just this week I'm putting together a 1050 HPLC system with modules shed from one of our production locations, they just shipped out on a pallet, everything seems to be fine. I don't think there are any real technical issues.

[josebenjamin]

Dear Steve and CP guy,

Thanks for your comments. I still hope Agilent would like to give me some tips. If you have searched their website and found any useful information, please let me know.

Thanks again,

josebenjamin

[MikeD]

We have relocated our lab twice in the last 15 years to different towns. Both times we used specialist and general removal contractors. How much Agilent and PerkinElmer cost I don't know - in the context of the whole relocation it was trivial. Their service was to decommission, separate components if necessary and box in protective packaging. General removers then just moved boxes from A to B. At the new location Agilent and PerkinElmer unpacked boxes and re-commissioned. Our decisions were based on down time costs. I think equipment being out of support is a different issue from this specialist service, but I can understand that free advice might be hard to get on older equipment.