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Sulfur contamination is a common problem and causes noise and/or a higher baseline
offset in the FPD. To minimize sulfur contamination and achieve the lowest MDLs,
use at least 99.9995% pure gases, clean tubing, and regulators with metal diagrams.
To protect your FPD over its lifetime, Agilent recommends gas generators or supply gas
filters designed to remove sulfur.
The FPD is susceptible to build up of residue on the surfaces of the igniter coil, jet,
combustion chamber, and chamber window. The residue increases detector offset
and reduces the signal-to-noise ratio. The sample or column bleed usually cause the
residue. After a period of time, you may need to rebuild the detector and replace the
transfer line. Do not clean the transfer line, jet, or other parts with brushes or solvents.
To increase the time between servicing, remove the column, cap off the detector,
and run it at 250°C with the flame to bake off some of the residue. Replacing the igniter
may reduce baseline output. If these tactics are not effective, rebuild the detector.
If your solvent or sample is corrosive, it can erode the aluminum vent tube. Agilent
recommends using alternative stainless steel vent tubes for these applications.
The original FPD design has three more internal seals than the new design. Temperature
cycling of the detector causes the ferrules to shrink and leaks to occur. The most common
leaks are around the fused silica transfer line. To eliminate these leaks, remove the
detector from the GC and tighten the transfer line fittings.
For both the original and new FPD, leaks can develop at the column nut or capillary
column adapter, the gang fitting at the EPC module, around the vent tube, or around
the igniter glow plug. If you are replacing fittings or O-rings, always use conditioned,
graphitized-vespel ferrules and Agilent's low sulfur O-rings. Make sure ferrules are
the correct size for your column.
Gas purity
Contamination
Air Leaks
For more information about gas
purity and selection, including the
Renewable Gas Purification System,
see pages 3-12.
Maintenance
Managing gas purity; contamination from column bleed, sample residue, and corrosion;
and air leaks can help keep your FPD at peak performance.
Glow plug
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