Waters Prep Series - Troubleshooting Flowcharts; Baseline Noise

Troubleshooting 3-5
Troubleshooting flowcharts
The troubleshooting flowcharts in this section help isolate possible causes of
these problems:
• High system pressure
• Baseline noise
• Erratic or incorrect retention times
• Poor peak resolution
•Column
If the troubleshooting flowcharts fail to address your problem, see
“Chromatography troubleshooting” on page 3-16.
High system pressure
System pressure reference point
Choice of mobile phase, column, flow rate, and temperature can influence
system pressure, and it can vary significantly from one method to another.
You must therefore identify a pressure reference point. Each time you start a
new method, record the system pressure. Thereafter, to diagnose a problem
with system pressure, compare current system pressure to the reference
pressure you established.
System controller
screen is blank
Screen saver feature
active
Press any function key to
display the screen.
Increased system
backpressure during
injection using
Rheodyne injector
Normal condition. When
the injector is in the
Inject position, the
sample loop generates
additional system
backpressure.
To decrease system
backpressure, after
loading the sample,
return the injector to the
LOAD position.
General PrepLC troubleshooting (Continued)
Symptom Possible cause Corrective action