Agilent 1100 HPLC Degasser G1322A

[jessicahelene]

Hi everyone,

I have looked at this forum very often in the past and it has been extremely helpful. Thank you to everyone for your contributions to this website.

I have just recently started working with an Agilent 1100 instrument that is basically orphaned in our department so there is not dedicated funding to fix it. I am trying to fix it myself.

It was working until very recently when the instrument starting having problems with the degasser. When I would turn on the instrument, the status light would be yellow for about 8 minutes and then the lights would all go red and the instrument would shut off. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the vacuum pump in the degasser was not turning on at all.

So I was able to buy a new vacuum pump from Agilent and replaced it today, and then much to my dismay, the new pump also is not turning on. It seems this might be a power issue, but the new control assembly part is expensive and I was hoping someone would have some suggestions for troubleshooting and at least determining that the control assembly needs to be replaced.

Thank you in advance - I really appreciate any help on this.

-Jessica

[tkubowicz]

Hello

I see 3 options

1. You can check voltage on power supply (pins for vacuum pump) but main question is if pump is turning at all - if not it is almost certain that problem can be with power supply. You can plug cable at the back of degasser and check voltage (it is easier if you have service manual or you've done it before)

2.You can change switches configuration on small PCB in power supply (2 red switches) - and degasser will be in constant mode. You can check if it makes any difference.

3.I'd open vacuum pump and check if all components are fine (membranes, seals, motor etc)

Regards

Tomasz Kubowicz

[jessicahelene]

Hi Tomasz,

Thank you so much for your reply. So I checked the voltage going into the pump and it was +24V as it should be. Therefore, now I am concerned maybe it is a sensor?

I'm having some difficulty with the continuous mode. Do I change the position of both red switches or only one?

Thank you very much for your help -

Jessica

[tkubowicz]

Hello

I still don't know if your pump is switching on at all...

Tom

[jessicahelene]

Hi Tom,

Sorry - no, the pump is not switching on at all. Totally quiet. Would love to know what could be causing it, since the power seems to be OK.

Thanks!!

-Jessica

[tkubowicz]

Hi

Try to unplugged pressure sensor from power board and try to switch degasser on (without sensor) - perhaps it is defective.

Tom

[jessicahelene]

Hmmm.. I tried three configurations:

Sensor disconnected, SW1 off, SW2 off (normal position)
Sensor disconnected, SW1 on, SW2 off
Sensor disconnected, SW1 on, SW2 on

None of these caused the pump to turn on. But when the sensor was disconnected, the lights on the power board turned off. So I wonder if it shuts down the power if the sensor is disconnected?

Any other idea?

Thank you again for all of your suggestions -

Jessica

[uzman]

If there is 24 volts , pump must on .
In order to isolate the problem , remove the pump from the degasser and power it with a separate power supply , if available.

[tkubowicz]

Hello

I can give you 2 possible ideas:

1. Problem with power supply - needs to be replaced/or check different one to confirm it is defective

2.New pump you have is defective (I know, I know...it is new and so on...but I've seen it many times). I would open new pump and check all components.

Regards

Tomasz Kubowicz

[jessicahelene]

Hi Tomasz,

Thank you again for all of your help. We finally got the degasser fixed today. You will not believe it... but here is what happened.

I got a friend to help me hook the old pump that we removed from the system up to an external power supply and it turned on right away.

So we tested the new pump and it also worked with the external power supply.

Then my friend wanted to test the amps at the pins on the power board but when he touched the leads of the multimeter to the pins on the power board, it sounded like a switch clicked and when he plugged the pump back in, it turned right on and pulled a vacuum perfectly.

Silly, right??

Anyway, it was because of your suggestions that I kept trying to fix it so thank you so much for helping me along. I am so happy to have my HPLC back.

Thanks again!! Take care!

-Jessica

[joeburge]

Does anyone know what the correct part number is for the vacuum pump?
I tried ordering G1322-60000, and they say it is discontinued with no replacement? Not like this is the same pump in every Agilent degasser? there has to be a new part number, but no one at Agilent can find any?

[jessicahelene]

Yep, just ordered it recently - The part number from my Agilent quote is:

5067-6215 1.000 EA 656.00 USD Vacuum Pump

Hope this helps!

-Jessica

[metrim]

As I remember, the degasser can work offline, so you can disconnect the CAN-cable and will not effect functionality of the entire system.

[tkubowicz]

Hello

As I remember, the degasser can work offline, so you can disconnect the CAN-cable and will not effect functionality of the entire system.

Few things:
1.Degasser doesn't have CAN cable
2.By "offline" I guess you mean with remote cable unplugged
3.If degasser is in error state you can unplugged remote cable - it does not affect other modules but degasser is not doing what is supposed to do.
4.The trick with remote cable is really bad idea - if you will have noisy baseline you could blame detector and the real reason could be defective degasser.

Regards

Tomasz Kubowicz

[Multidimensional]

Replacing just the vacuum pump in the G1322A or G1379A is not a good idea. The tubing and perhaps other components may be damaged and replacing the pump alone may cause contamination or damage to it over time (resulting in a short life time). The vac pumps are only designed to last ~ 5 or 6 years at best (these are normal maintenance items). The Vac Tubing should be replaced every 5 years. Also, yes Agilent discontinued the original vac pump for this model, but has replaced it with a cheap quality vac pump that does not work as well. The original G1322-60000 pump is better (and you can still buy them, see link below).

For future reference, next time you have a problem with any HPLC degasser module, start at this link: http://www.chiralizer.com/hplc-degasser-repair.html
They have all of the correct factory parts to repair these systems with (at prices much lower than the factory charges) and perhaps more importantly, they can repair your degasser for less money too.