Chromatography Forum

Hi

My company are looking at getting a new hplc and I was looking for suggestions for which brands are out there in the uk

Waters, Agilent, Shimadzu...

Hi danw9,

Also Thermo Dionex, Knauer, Cecil and Jasco.

It is probably safe to say there are other brands...my suggestion is to also consider the software that runs the LC and may be used to perform the quantification...what are your needs in that regard? What is the cost of ownership? How easily will the vendor be able to get out to you for repairs, PM, PQ...whatever else? Will you want or need method development support?

Or, if you're very handy and will do your own repairs, how will it be to get spare parts, take the LC apart and rebuild it?

Best wishes for your decision. I've used Waters, (Thermo) Dionex, Shimadzu and Agilent hardware in my career. All have strong and weak points.

Hello.
Agilent not 1260

What's the issue with a 1260?

I don't know, I've used the Agilent 1260 with DAD and 6130 MSD, two different jobs, they seemed to work OK to me. Agilent 1290 is also very nice, not as flexible as the 1260 regarding solvent types you can use (THF and normal phase solvents) without prior thought into what the pump/detector components are made up of. 1260 will work well with 3.0 mm ID columns and greater, 1290 will work well with 2.1 mm ID columns and greater, right out of their respective boxes. ISET is a very nice feature if you need it, I think only the 1290 is "set" to use ISET with the OpenLab software.

These days, I use the Waters Acquity-H...also a nice LC. I've worked with people that use Knauer, they are solid systems. Shimadzu...well, they are a little tight inside and I'm ham-handed, I don't like those as well, but I have used the Prominence and demoed a Nexera a few years ago.

My personal recommendation for Pumps would be the Waters 510. Good efficient model. Just, for the love of god, don't try to clean it with hydrochloric acid. Frickin' new guy...