Guides
Before you order
Most bad purchases in a chromatography lab are made confidently. These are the checks worth running first, written by our founder from methods he has had to fix.
Maintenance
HPLC startup in the morning: prime, wash, then equilibrate
How long to prime depends on how long the system stood and what's in the lines. Degassing, the seal wash, the autosampler prime you shouldn't stop halfway, flow before the lamp, and how long to equilibrate.
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Instruments
Column temperature in HPLC: what the column heater controls, and what it doesn't
Column temperature moves retention time by 1 to 3% per degree. Why 'ambient' isn't a temperature, why the same set point can mean a different column temperature on two systems, and the limits of the column itself.
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Maintenance
How to clean an HPLC detector flow cell, in the right order
A dirty flow cell gives noise, low energy and failed startup tests, the same signs as a weak lamp. How to clean it, mildest solvent first, the low pressure limit that can break it, and what to do when it leaks from inside.
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Maintenance
Shutting down after a buffer run
Buffer left in an HPLC or UPLC dries into salt. What to flush, in what order, and what changes when the instrument will stand for more than a day.
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Instruments
HPLC vs UHPLC (UPLC): what changes at 2.1 mm and sub-2 µm
UHPLC and UPLC are the same idea under different names. What really changes from HPLC is pressure, the volume inside the column, and how clean everything has to be. Checked against Agilent, Thermo, Shimadzu and Waters documents.
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Buying guide
What "equivalent" means when you buy an aftermarket part
A manufacturer asked me to write "alternative" instead of "equivalent" on their cross-reference table. They were right. Here is what a substitute part can honestly be promised, what it cannot, and the four things to ask for in writing.
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Buying guide
Which HS code and origin decide the duty on lab consumables entering Canada?
The tariff items most chromatography consumables fall under, with the MFN and US rates, and why the country of origin decides whether Canada's September 2026 surtax applies. How to get both on a supplier's quote.
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Primer
What every part in an HPLC does, and how it fails
A guide to the wear parts in an HPLC for anyone new to the instrument. Where each part sits, what it does, what you see when it goes bad, and which symptom points at which part.
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Troubleshooting
Which lamp is failing in your UV-Vis spectrophotometer
A UV-Vis has two lamps, and the wavelength where the fault appears tells you which one to buy. Here is the changeover point, the test that costs nothing, and what to re-verify afterwards under USP <857>.
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Buying guide
Who pays for the lamp when the instrument is under a service contract
Most service plans cover a lamp damaged by a repair, not a lamp that reaches end of life. Here is the distinction, what Agilent publishes about it, and the four questions to ask about your own agreement.
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Troubleshooting
Fitting a lamp with no RFID chip, and what you have to do yourself
A chipless deuterium lamp gives 'UV lamp tag not ready' and will not ignite until you change one setting. Here is the setting, the lamp-hours step almost everyone forgets, and what it means in a GMP lab.
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Troubleshooting
Pressure that will not settle: check valve, seal, or neither
Three parts get replaced on an unsteady HPLC pump, usually in the wrong order. Here is the free test that tells you whether a check valve is involved, when a seal is really the problem, and why a scored plunger makes you do the job twice.
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Buying guide
Which lamp your Agilent detector takes, and why the system name does not tell you
A 1260 can take a 3-pin lamp or an 8-pin lamp, and they are not interchangeable. How to read the detector module number, and what G1314-60100, G1314-60101, 5182-1530, 2140-0820 and 5190-0917 actually fit.
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Troubleshooting
Before you replace the deuterium lamp
A noisy baseline gets blamed on the lamp before anything else. Here is how a dying deuterium lamp actually behaves, the 3 checks that cost nothing, and what to confirm before you order one.
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Troubleshooting
Your recovery is low, and it is probably not the instrument
A method that loses half its analyte is usually losing it during the extraction. Here is where it goes, and the experiments that tell you which one is happening.
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Buying guide
Choosing a flash cartridge, and why most bad runs are decided before you start
Cartridge size, phase and loading are set by your TLC plate, not by what you have in stock. Here is how to pick, and the loading mistake that ruins more flash runs than any other.
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Buying guide
Choosing a column for a polar analyte
A polar compound on a standard C18 elutes at the void and there is nothing to integrate. Here is how to pick the column before you buy the wrong one.
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When a guide is not enough
The guides cover the failures we see most often. If you have read the one that matches your symptom and the method is still wrong, send it to us and we will look at yours properly. Your conditions, your chromatogram, a written diagnosis back.
CA$300 · 5 working days