Chromatography Forum

My Head space sampler having a problem, it is moving to the vial and picking up the vial, then it is unable to pull up and giving the mechanical error. can anybody help me is this a mechanical problem, which i can resolve or I must call the service engineer?

Check to see if it is the correct vial.

Many times when problems occur with the autosampler it turns out to be that the autosampler is fine, it was just that the wrong vial (or cap/septum) was used.

Since you say that your vials are getting stuck (they can't be picked up) then maybe the vials are the wrong size. A small difference in vial diameter can have a major impact on its use in the autosampler (I have seen this before).

Make sure that you have the vials that the manufacturer recommends. Did you have this problem before? Did you (or your vendor) recently change the source of vials and the problem occurred with the new vials?

If not the vials, then your autosampler may need repair.

Regards,
Dan

Try cleaning the rails and belts or screw rods of the transport mechanism.

Peter

We also have occasional problems with things like paper labels getting caught in the works and caps that are "domed" (i.e. the cap sticks up too far). Autosamplers are like Rube Goldberg mechanisms. Any tiny little imperfection can mess everything up.