54 1200 Series Quarternary Pump User Manual
4 Using the Quaternary Pump
Algae Growth in HPLC Systems
normal wear of the piston seals do not cause the PTFE frits to block over
short-term usage. Please refer to the section “Exchanging the Purge Valve
Frit or the Purge Valve” on page 85 in this manual.
• Short lifetime of solvent filters (bottle head assembly). A blocked solvent
filter in the bottle, especially when only partly blocked, is more difficult to
identify and may show up as gradient performance problems, intermittent
pressure fluctuations etc.
• Algae growth may also be the possible source for failures of the ball valves
and other components in the flow path.
How to Prevent and/or Reduce the Algae Problem
• Always use freshly prepared solvents, especially use demineralized water
which was filtered through about 0.2 µm filters.
• Never leave mobile phase in the instrument for several days without flow.
• Always discard “old” mobile phase.
• Use the amber solvent bottle (part number 9301-1450) supplied with the
instrument for your aqueous mobile phase.
• If possible add a few mg/l sodium azide or a few percent organic solvent to
the aqueous mobile phase.