Chromatography Forum

does everyone use forceps typically when handling gc parts? if you have gloves on (such as nitrile) and are free from contaminating anything with oil from your skin is it generally ok to handle parts or do you absolutely need forceps? do they have to be specialty forceps specific to whatever material you're handling or can it be any type?

That all depends on what you're doing. I only use forceps to remove hot liners from split/splitless injection ports or jets from FIDs. Other than that I wear gloves to handle detector and injector parts that have been cooled/cleaned. It is really dependant on what you are handling as to whether or not gloves are necessary. If you want to supply some info about what GC parts you are working with and what type of analysis you are conducting I could be more help.

we don't really handle any parts until they're cooled to room temperature. we use a basic cool on column injection port and FID. the manual says to handle septa with forceps and some of the injector and detector parts. doesn't say to handle these with any "specialty" forceps, but can i handle them with tweezers i buy from the grocery store or do i have to order them from agilent/restek?

Tweezers from the grocery store are fine, just rinse the tips with a bit of acetone before you use them. Unless you are working at very low levels you can safely handle any component with gloves, and I have to confess that I often just use fingers.

Peter

I tend to do same as Peter.

that's perfect. i'm headed for the beauty aisle tonight.