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Lab Life-Line Monthly
Practical Advice for the Busy Lab from
ACCTA, Inc.
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| Vol. 4, No. 1/2. January/Feburary, 2015 |
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HELP! My columns are only lasting a month!
We hear this complaint more often than we should.
You should not accept that "this is just the way it is!" No, a column, whether GC or LC, should not need to be replaced every 4 - 6 weeks. Something is wrong. But what?
We have found that column failure is usually caused by one of these problems:
- Manufacturing defect
- Stressful operating conditions
- Sample preparation and/or operator abuse
You might think (hope) that this list goes from most likely to least likely. Sorry. I listed failure causes from the least likely to most common.
Manufacturing Defect
The column manufacturers are doing a pretty good job of making reliable columns. While I have seen a few examples of bad lots or poorly designed phases, generally the column is the last thing that I suspect.
Stressful Operating Conditions
The most common problems are:
- Operating GC columns at or near their temperature limit for long time periods.
- Operating LC columns at the pH extremes of the column, often while at the high temperature limit of the column.
- Using large concentrations of buffers in LC mobile phases.
- Operating an LC column at greater than 75% of its pressure limit.
Sample Preparation and/or Operator Abuse
We don't have space to list all of the things that we have seen, but these are the worst!
- Not filtering samples (even if they are cloudy).
- Not removing microbial contamination and visible particulates from the aqueous mobile phase.
- Injecting samples in the wrong solvent (a solvent that is not part of your mobile phase).
- The sample contains components that contaminate the column.
- Not cleaning the column regularly.
- Not removing buffers and cleaning the column before storage.
Take Home Message:
If you want your columns to last longer, and you want to save money at the same time, compare your lab's procedures to these lists and change those activities that are likely to reduce lifetime.
Of course, if you would like some help with this process, we would be happy to help. Just contact us for details.
Join Our Discussion and Learn How To Do Better HPLC
See below for a description of the next session of Best Practices in HPLC, where we will discuss ways to avoid the most common problems. |
Join Our World-Wide Presentations
Our most popular webinar is back!
On 6-8 April, 2015, we are offering three presentations of this practical presentation. One presentation will be available for three global regions - Americas, Europe (Amsterdam), and Asia (India).
We will cover:
- Review of general maintenance requirements
- Column and system equilibration - are you ready for analysis?
- Improving column lifetime
- Is your column dead and can you recover it?
- Evaluating chromatograms and other data analysis issues
We have assembled practical suggestions for every phase of HPLC operations, and combined them into one presentation. If you want to do better HPLC, this is the fastest and least expensive way to learn what your lab should be doing.
See the announcement (above right) for specific times.
Get More Information and Register now!
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"Neither the bounties from insight nor the bounties from chance, however, relieve the investigator from the necessity of hard labor, for the suggestion which is presented from either source still has to pass the rigorous test of critical proving before it can be admitted to the realm of truth."
– Walter Cannon |
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Webinar Schedule
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Best Practices in HPLC
Europe
(Amsterdam)
GMT + 2:00 |
3:00 PM CEST
7 April 2015 |
Americas
(Chicago)
GMT – 5:00 |
1:00 PM CDT
7 April 2015 |
Asia
(New Dehli)
GMT + 5:30 |
9:30 AM IST
8 April 201 |
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Other Training Events
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11 August 2015
17 March 2015
9 June 2015
4 November 2015
20 January 2016
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| Download Section |
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Minnesota Chromatography Forum, May, 2014:
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Contact Details
Merlin K. L. Bicking, Ph. D.
ACCTA, Inc.
3534 Jessie Ct, Saint Paul, MN 55125 USA
Phone: +1 (651) 731-3670
Email: info@accta.com
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