Hi all!

I'd like to pick your brains for advice on
protecting a new Agilent 6890/5973 GC/MS
from power outages. We'd like to protect it from
accidental venting during pump failure. Does
anyone know of a way to get the MSD to vent in
a rational way after a power outage? Could
you set it up with a UPS to do an automatic
vent cycle, then shut off? Has anyone done
this through Chemstation or directly through
the MSD?

thanks!

Jon

After a power shutdown or pump failure,the msd stay under vacuum,a piston in the vacuum pump prevent,the system to be vented.
Try to shutdown the system...the system is vented only if you choose vent in the vaccum control menu of the msd chemstation.

CED,

thanks for responding.

You're right. . .as long as the check valve
is functional. I would prefer, though, not
to leave an expensive machine under the protection
of a check valve installed in a pump.

I could be convinced by people
who have watched repeated
power failures cause no problems to
equipment like mine.

am I being over-cautious? Maybe. . .but valves
are mechanical and they can and will fail
eventually.

Jon,

Of course,i keep in mind that the chek valve is functionnal...and could also fail
But from my little experience,and the 3/5 shutdown we watched,my 2 GC/MS stayed under vacuum.

Moreover as soon as the power comes back,should the system pump down...

Why would you gently vent the system after a power outage?

CED,

thanks again. This idea occured to me a while back when the power went out on a Saturday night and stayed out until mid-sunday. There I sat in the dark, wondering about my GC-MS. We don't use it every day, so I'd rather shut it down properly in case a power outage lasts 12 hours or more. I can see that if you're using the thing 24/7, it might make more sense to err on the side of getting it back online faster.

It's entirely possible that the sales and service people have succeeded in frightening me beyond necessity.

We had an electrical engineer in for an unrelated problem, and he told me that a lot of people he works with have computer systems that can take a signal from a UPS. That way they can shut down properly, and by the time the UPS fails, they're already down, with data saved, etc. The alternative seems to be hoping the UPS can function for the duration of the outage. Never heard of this with non-computer equipment, but there are some very clever people out there and I'm always hoping. . .

cheers

You right we use them 24/7.
In your case i understand that you would vent the system,it's the best choice.

Sales and Service people have a lot of idea...to succed

Don't forget to tell me in future if the ups function with our equipement..

Cheers