Preventive Maintenance
This chapter includes maintenance, cleaning, and leak•testingHP 5890 SERIES II (hereafter referred to as HP 5890) inlet and detector systems.
Conditioning columns
Columns may contain contaminants; conditioning drives off unwanted volatiles, making the column fit for analytical use.
New packed columns should be conditioned since they often contain volatile contaminants absorbed from the air. It may also be necessary to condition a used column that has been stored for some time without end caps or plugs to exclude air.
Conditioning is not a serious problem with capillary columns since there is little stationary phase. For the same reason, however, conditioning must be gentle not to drive stationary phase from the column.
The following are general guidelines for conditioning:
1.Switch off detectors! Shut off support gases, if any, to detectors (particularly H1!).
2.a. If the column to be conditioned is already installed, disconnect its detector end.
b.If the column to be conditioned is not already installed, connect one end to an available inlet. Do not connect the remaining end to a detector!
For a split/splitless (or split•only)capillary inlet, if a capillary column is to be conditioned, install the proper insert and attach the column in the normal manner, making certain about 7.5 mm of column extends above (in front of) the column nut (•25 mm from
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