Hi,
I've run into the same problem. If there's a piece of the insulation missing from the inlet itself, it may have difficulty reaching over 300 degrees C.
Agilent's website has some part numbers for both the PTV & purged/packed inlet insulation block, for both 7890s and 6890s, but I didn't find one for the SSI.
http://www.agilent.com/store/en_US/LCat ... 901/Inlets
They also show parts for the cup insulation, which I've used by tearing apart and jamming it in where the missing insulation block is.
That solved the issue for me both times, and I was heating my inlet to 400C. Really important to have consistent insulation around the inlet to maintain a stable temperature.
Hope this helps.