Agilent Technologies G6600-90006 - Manual (Page 106)

106 Operation and Maintenance Manual
Solving Detector Problems
A basic understanding of the Detector helps one systematically diagnose and
solve Detector problems. Many symptoms may be caused by more than one
problem and these are the most difficult to troubleshoot. It should be pointed
out, however, that analysis of sulfur or nitrogen compounds has traditionally
been very difficult because of the inherent reactivity and instability of the
compounds themselves. Often, problems blamed on the Detector actually
originate from either poor chromatographic technique or other system failures
(most of these problems are injector related).
Therefore, the first step in troubleshooting is to isolate the problem: in the
chromatographic system, the Burner assembly, or in the Detector itself (ozone
generator, vacuum pump, photomultiplier tube or electronics). Diagnosing the
location of a problem is often facilitated by returning to
Chapter 4 and
attempting to verify initial conditions. The table at the end of this section lists
many common problems, their most probable causes and corrective action that
should be taken.
As a good practice, keep a maintenance log (as advised in Chapter 6 ) and use it
to aid troubleshooting. in the maintenance log, keep track of detector flow
rates (oxidizer and hydrogen), pressures (burner controller and reaction cell
in detector), and background signal (the difference between ozone “on” and
ozone “off”).
For assistance with troubleshooting Detector problems, contact Agilent with
the serial number of the unit, the conditions used by the instrument, and any
recent changes that have been made.