Chromatography Forum

I have a Waters 2414 RI detector that I am trying to connect to an Empower system. I have the drivers installed, so the system does now recognize that the 2414 is there. (The 2414 was part of another, older, HPLC system. My lab inherited all this equipment from a sister lab that got shut down. We don't seem to be on speaking terms with the people that worked there.)

I have two problems. One is that the detector won't always power-up successfully. Most of the time when I turn it on, the screen is grey and there is a constant alarm going off. Sometimes it will power-up and initialize successfully; I think this may be random.

If I leave the detector on for a long time, at least a day, the alarm will sound again, though the screen doesn't go grey.

A possibly related issue is that I get a Communications Failure message for the detector when I open up Run Samples.

there was something similar in another thread, guess it was about a 2487 UV detector. You may search for it.

there, it was an issue with an internal fan to get rid of the heat inside. Or just dusty airways inside.
That may be the issue after turned on for hours.
On the other hand, it also sounds for me as if the mainboard battery lost it's voltage. Therefore the problem at startup. After a while turned on, it may startup well again, but after longer period with power off, it may fail. Maybe it's not that random than you think?

Are there any error messages in the message center or console?