Biotage ELSD-A120 - Low Sensitivity; Spiky Peak Tops but Flat Baseline

48 Biotage
®
ELSD-A120 User Manual
6 Troubleshooting and Diagnostics
General Problems
Low Sensitivity
Spiky Peak Tops but Flat Baseline
Probable cause Suggested actions
1 Partial blockage in the nebulizer
or nebulizer inlet tube
Clean the nebulizer as described on
page 67
2 Internal solvent trap is empty Fill the front solvent trap with liquid
until any excess flows out through
the front drain tube
3 Gas pressure too low Ensure that the inlet gas pressure is
>60 psi (4.1 bar)
4 LED power too low Ensure that the LED power is set to
100 %
5 Optical chamber is contaminated Clean contamination from the
windows in the optical chamber
6 Light source power has decayed Replace the light source
7 Diffuser saturated with solvent Stop the eluent flow and increase
the evaporator temperature to a
maximum. Increase the flow rate to
2.8SLM and wait 1hour
Probable cause Suggested actions
1 Inconsistent nebulization Nitrogen is the recommended gas -
others can be used but may not
nebulize as efficiently
2 Incorrect gas being used Change the gas to nitrogen or
evaluate different nitrogen sources
3 Poor regulation of the inlet gases
• If using bottled gas, check that the
gas regulator is functioning
correctly and giving consistent flow
• Alternatively, use a pulse
dampner