Frequently Asked Questions

Anatune's service engineers are highly trained and vastly experienced in servicing chromatographic instrumentation. Below you will find some of the questions most frequently asked of them.

If you have a question regarding your instrument or Anatune service in general, you may find the answer here. If not, call us on +44 (0)1954 212909 or email Service@anatune.co.uk

Why does the bottom 6mm of the syringe needle on my MPS headspace autosampler keep bending?

This is a sign that the suspension cords may need replacing; The GERSTEL MPS (and all CTC style autosamplers) suffer from this problem occasionaly and it is a quick, simple and inexpensive thing for us to fix. If your instrument is covered by an Anatune service contract, the cords will be replaced as part of the preventative maintainance schedule (in which case you should never encounter the problem). The correct part is made from a corded material and is black. If the cords on your instrument are blue or look like rubber bands, they are not approved spares and should be replaced with the real thing to be sure that the autosampler continues to work properly under all conditions.

Can I use GERSTEL's Maestro control software with my CTC CombiPal?

We get asked this question a lot. Maestro is a great piece of software, it provides full integration of the whole sampling system, so that it behaves like a single instrument, it's prep-ahead functionality can deliver a big increase in speed and throughput (by enabling the MPS to work on more than one sample at a time) and it integrates fully into Agilent's Chemstation and Mass Hunter software platforms.

To do this you will need to upgrade your CombiPal to a GERSTEL MPS, there is a kit available and we can do this for you. You will then also have an instrument that, in addition to having the functionality of a CombiPal, can also run all of the accessories available from both GERSTEL and Anatune.

While this isn't ruinously expensive to do, the fact is that it will cost you more in total to do this than to buy an MPS in the first place.

How can I get lower detection limits when using static headspace sampling?

Careful optimisation can get you a long way. Our applications chemists have a great deal of experience in this respect and a call into Anatune's application laboratory could be a good first step. That said, if you need to get to sub-microgram per litre levels, you will need to upgrade your hardware to gain the required sensitivity. The obvious fix is to upgrade your MPS sampler to a full Dynamic Headspace System, which enables the whole of the sample headspace to be captured on an adsorbent trap, proir to thermal desorption. There are other ways to skin the cat - such as stir bar sorptive extraction (which can be used in headspace mode). Your best choice will depend upon a lot of factors (matrix, analyte, number of samples, budget) so your best bet will be to call Anatune and speak to someone in Technical Sales or in the Applications lab, and they will run you through the pros and cons of the various options.

My Agilent MSD will only heat to 300°C although it says "350°C" on the source?

Agilent introduced 350°C source temperatures with the launch of the 5975C MSD. If you buy a new source it will be rated to 350°C, however, if your instrument is a 5975A or B, you will not be able to run the source above 300°C.

What is the optimum temperature of the headspace syringe?

For most applications it needs to be 20°C - 40°C above the incubator temperature to keep the analytes from condensing in the syringe. It is important to maintain the syringe temperature at this constant high temperaure, even when you are not running samples as if the syringe plunger will tend to leak, if its temperature is cycled too many times. In other words, once you have selected your optimum syringe temperature, set the syringe stand-by temperature to the same value.

My headspace syringe keeps blocking?

Choice of syringe needle is critical for some headspace applications, especially if you are running soil samples. The best needle to use is the wide-bore GERSTEL, which experience has shown to be the most resistant to blockage. The part number for this item is: 009980-052-00.

Can I get my GERSTEL autosampler performance verified with my Agilent 7890?

Yes, our engineers are GERSTEL and Agilent trained and can qualify your system.

Can you provide training on my Agilent GC/MSD with GERSTEL TDU?

Yes we can provide tailored training on the complete system.

How can I tell if I have a problem with column bleed on my GC/MS?

Typical bleed ions for low polarity columns (DB/HP-1 or 5 for example) will be m/z 207, 73, 281 and 355. Extract these ions from chromatograms from older data files and also from the most recent data files. If there is a substantial increase in the response for these ions, then column bleed is occurring.

Can you service my Agilent GCs and GC-MSDs - I am not currently an Anatune customer

The quality of the our after-sales service is an important part of the total solutions that Anatune delivers to customers. As such our first priority is to support Anatune's customers and the products that we have sold. We don't actively seek third party service work as we believe that that this would get in the way of serving our own customers. That said, we do occasionaly take on this kind of work as it can be the start of a more extensive business relationship.

If you are not currently an Anatune customer, but would like us to perform some service work, call or email us and if we can help you then we will.

 

Can you help me automate my Solid Phase Extraction Method?

Anatune offers automated cartridge SPE solutions based around the GERSTEL MPS-SPE platform. This is extremenly flexible both in the way the hardware can be configured and in the way it can be programmed, so the answer is almost always a yes. To be sure, If you already have a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for your method, then we have a tried and trusted process for answering this question. By examining your SOP, we can see how closely we can devise a hardware configuration that can mimic your manual process. Sometimes we can do this exactly. Sometimes we need to adjust your method (often a case of scaling reagent and sample volumes). If so we can provide you with an amended method for you to evaluate. If this proves successful, then we are pretty much home and dry.

From here on in, if you want to proceed with automating your method, then we can set up an evaluation study where we compare the samples extracted automaticly against samples that you have processed by hand.

In every case we have looked at so far, the automated system generates results that are more consistant that those that you can obtain with a manual method.

What are the benefits of taking out a service contract?

Service contracts are best thought of as a kind of insurance policy. If we consider a fully comprehensive contract, the main benefit is that you can budget a fixed amount each year for service costs and eliminate the uncertainty of large unexpected service bills altogether, by shifting the risks onto our shoulders.

When comparing the costs of service contacts, it is important to know, in each case, what you are getting for your money. Anatune offers several different standard contracts that cater for differing customer requirments.As ever, the best advice is to contact us and we can determine the most cost effective contract to suit your situation.

Our policy is for our Service Engineers to be "factory trained" by the original manufacturer of the instruments that we service and we only use original, or factory exchange parts.

 

Can you install GERSTEL Instrumentation on non-Agilent platforms?

Yes we can, however the software interface between GERSTEL and Agilent systems have been designed to provide a seamless solution with single methods and sequence tables.

With other manufacturers the GERSTEL control has to be standalone and requires a separate method and sequence table, but if you can live with this limitation then it can be done.

Can I still get an Anatune engineer to visit if I don't have a service contract?

Yes you can.  Just call Anatune on +44 (0)1954 212909 or email Service@anatune.co.uk and we can arrange a visit. we will charge you an initial callout charge plus an hourly rate and parts.  The visit will be scheduled as soon as possible upon receipt of a purchase order.