I know this might be a dumb question, I can't find it specifically addressed in the HP literature: can hydrogen carrier gas be used instead of helium with the HP GC-MSDs? Anyone have experience with using Whatman hydrogen generators to provide carrier gas with HP GC units?

You will probably see some changes in certain spectra. Hydrogen is not nearly as inert as helium. It's much better with an FID.

I am running a 5973 now and it has a warning on top:

"WARNING: Hydrogen (H2) carrier gas requires special precautions to prevent explosion. Refer to the Hydrogen Safety Guide (HP part number 5955-5398)"

Try the new Agilent web site and see if you can get a copy of the Hydrogen Safety Guide!

www.agilent.com/chem (I think that's it)
Lisa

Using hydrogen gas on a GC must be done very carefully to avoid the explosion hazard that Lisa has alluded to. The other things to consider with MS is the ability of your vacuum pump to handle hydrogen versus helium (not sure if you have a turbo or diffusion, probably a turbo). To answer that question I would call Inficon/Balzers and find a good technical sales rep. The second thing to consider is the filament. Would the hydrogen shorten the life of the filament? I must admit I have not used H2 in GC/MSD, so again I would suggest you call a technical person at Agilent and ask them this specific question. You may need to use a different type of filament, another source to talk to would be the folks at Scientific Instrument Services.

Hope this is helpful
Dave
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/analytical_chemistry

Walt Jennings has published a short article on the use of hydrogen as a carrier for MS work on the J&W Scientific home page. He covers a number of issues involving the use of hydrogen in detail.

This link will take you to a printable PDF document with a couple of pages dedicated to GC/MS and hydrogen carrier instead of helium

http://www.chem.agilent.com/scripts/CAG_LitResults.asp