How to clean an ACQUITY UPLC ELS Detector - WKB230245
OBJECTIVE or GOAL
Clean the ELS detector—as part of routine maintenance or in response to degraded performance.
ENVIRONMENT
- ACQUITY UPLC ELS Detector
PROCEDURE
Cleaning the drift tube
1. In the console, select ELS Detector from the system tree.
2. In the temperatures area, click the Nebulizer field, which contains an underlined set point value. The ELSD Nebulizer Setup dialog box appears.
3. Select On from the nebulizer mode drop-down list.
4. Specify a nebulizer power percent level of 75%.
5. In the temperatures area, click the Drift Tube field, which contains an underlined set point value. The ELSD Drift Tube Temperature dialog box appears.
6. Specify a drift tube heater temperature set point of 100 °C (212 °F), and then click OK
.
7. Remove the column.
8. Flush the system with 100% HPLC-grade water or a mixture of organic solvent compatible with your mobile phase for 60 minutes at 1 mL/min.
9. Reset the system to operating conditions.
10. Reinstall the column.
11. Evaluate chromatography.
Cleaning the nebulizer using sonication
1. Stop the liquid flow, and remove the solvent inlet line.
2. Power-off the detector and disconnect the power cable from the rear panel.
3. Open the detector door, gently pulling its right edge toward you.
4. Use a 5/16-inch wrench to loosen the compression screw that holds the inlet tubing in place, and then disconnect the solvent inlet tubing.
5. Stop the gas flow.
6. Push in the quick-disconnect tubing fitting on the right-hand side of the nebulizer, and pull out the gas inlet tubing.
7. Push in and turn the nebulizer counterclockwise so that the quick-disconnect tubing fitting is at the twelve o’clock position, and then remove it from the nebulization chamber.
8. Remove the red packing ring from the nebulizer.
9. Place the nebulizer upright in a beaker so that the solvent inlet fitting stands up.
10. Pour 100% HPLC-grade water or a mixture of organic solvent compatible with your mobile phase into the beaker, but do not submerge the gas inlet fitting or solvent inlet fitting in the water.
11. Place the beaker in an ultrasonic bath for 10 to 15 minutes.
12. Remove the beaker from the bath.
13. Remove the nebulizer from the beaker.
14. Insert the gas inlet tubing into the quick-disconnect tubing fitting on the right-hand side of the nebulizer, and place the nebulizer in a dry beaker so that it stands up.
15. Run gas at 410 kPa (4.1 bar, 60 psi) for 5 to 10 minutes through the nebulizer to blow out any excess liquid.
16. Reinstall the nebulizer by pushing it into the nebulization chamber and turning it clockwise until it snaps into place.
17. Reset the system to operating conditions and evaluate chromatography.