11. Maintenance
OPTIC-4 needs little routine maintenance other than replacing consumables. In some cases, the inlet
may be affected by contamination and require cleaning. If there are any problems with the
operation of the system, please see Chapter 12 “Troubleshooting and Diagnostics”.
WARNING!
Read and follow the maintenance procedures described in this section to prevent
accidents. Switch off the OPTIC-4 control unit and GC before performing
maintenance.
11.1 Routine Maintenance
OPTIC-4 does not need any special routine maintenance other than that required by Good
Laboratory Practice for GC equipment:
• The liner should be inspected regularly and, if contaminated, should be re-packed or replaced.
Especially important to inspect liner before starting a new series of analysis.
• The septum should be changed regularly. The guideline for replacement is approx. 100
injections.
• Replace the O-ring when replacing the liner or when there is a leak.
• Replace the ferrule when the gas leak cannot be eliminated by tightening.
• Replace the split filter every 6 months. Write on the filter tag the first installation date or its
replacement date.
• Clean the inlet regularly using a procedure described in the next section.
11.2 Inlet Cleaning
If carryover or background contamination is evident in the chromatogram, and the problem has
been traced to the OPTIC-4 inlet, it should be cleaned as described below.
In general, it is advisable to establish a cleaning schedule for your inlet on a regular basis. Depending
on the cleanliness of the sample, the cleaning frequency can range from a few weeks for dirty
samples to a few months for clean samples.
1. Cool the inlet and the host GC oven to the ambient temperature.
2. Turn the OPTIC-4 controller and the host GC off.
3. Remove the inlet top boss, take out the liner and disconnect the column from the inlet
bottom.
4. Take a cotton swab, moisture it with solvent and wipe the inlet inside repeatedly. Start from
the inlet bottom and move it up to the top. Take a clean swab and repeat the procedure
again. Change the cotton swab several times until it remains clean after the inlet is wiped.
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