Is it necessary to reboot instruments regularly? - WKB208069

ENVIRONMENT

• Empower
• Waters instruments

ANSWER

There is no specific requirement to reboot Waters instruments, but it is recommended to reboot all instrument modules whenever the LAC/E is rebooted.

This is typically determined by usage, but Waters recommends a weekly reboot of LAC/Es. (WKB16146)

A special case is the requirement for lamp optimization, and this applies to Waters PDAs, TUVs, FLRs, and ELS, for which lamps age. The diagnostics must be rerun to reoptimize the energy. It is recommended that diagnostics be run regularly to check performance, but a reboot is not strictly necessary.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

One exception is the Alliance, which does require a regular reboot due to the way it measures elapsed time. This should not need special arrangement, provided it aligns with the reboot schedule of the LAC/Es (every 30 days or less).

IMPORTANT:  Waters high-end MS instruments also have specific guidance on starting up and normal operation requirements. Refer to user manual and driver release notes. They are not typically supported in Empower.

Note: Third-party instruments may have specific requirements to be rebooted regularly. Refer to the user manual or driver release notes.

Note: It is also recommended that when an instrument has an error to first take the instrument offline in Empower and then reboot the entire instrument stack and the LAC/E in order to help clear the error state and release any previous processes.

For detectors like 2487 check the manual 2487 Dual-Wavelength Absorbance Detector Operator's Guide. The operators manual states the accuracy is checked at power up.