Agilent Technologies 1200 series - Hints for Successful Use of the Preparative Pump

52 Agilent 1200 Preparative Pump User Manual
4 Using the Preparative Pump
Hints for Successful Use of the Preparative Pump
Hints for Successful Use of the Preparative Pump
• Flush the pump extensively, when changing to a new solvent.
• The system pressure must be higher than 20 bar at the pump outlet for
optimum performance of the pump.
• Place the solvent cabinet with the solvent bottles always on top of the
preparative pump (or at a higher level).
• Prevent blocking of solvent inlet filters (never use the pump without solvent
inlet filters). Growth of algae should be avoided (see “Prevent Blocking of
Solvent Filters” on page 54).
• Regularly clean the filter cup and the filter frit installed in the multi
assembly. A back pressure greater than 10 bar, when pumping pure HPLC
grade water at a flow rate of 50 ml/min while the EMPV is open indicates
that one of the two filters is blocked or that the EMPV does not switch
(open) properly. Make sure to follow the correct procedures for cleaning
filters (see “Simple Repairs” on page 114) and the EMPV (see “Prep Pump
EMPV Cleaning Description” on page 103). Always clean the pump’s filters,
after exchanging seals.
• Confirm that the pump and the rest of the system are completely leak tight
by performing the built in Leak-test (see “Prep Pump Leak Test
Description” on page 98) and Pressure-test (see “Prep Pump Pressure Test
Description” on page 94), regularly.
• When using buffer solutions, flush the system with plenty of water to
remove all buffer solution from the entire system before switching it OFF or
before changing to an organic solvent.
• Always use the seal wash function.
• Check the pump seals. Scratched plungers will lead to micro leaks and will
decrease the lifetime of the seal.plungers for scratches when changing the
piston.
• For the generation of gradients in systems with multiple pump setups make
sure that none of the pumps delivers less than a minimum flow rate of
5 ml/min at any time during the gradient run, in order to achieve best
performance.