HPLC and GC Maintenance, Service and Troubleshooting Guides
Maintenance guides, troubleshooting notes and buying advice written by our engineers.
Buying a Refurbished HPLC in India: A Practical Checklist
How to choose a refurbished HPLC in India: what refurbished should mean, which models are easy to support, what to test before you pay and the questions to put in writing.
7 min readRead guideGC Broad or Tailing Solvent Peak: Causes and Fixes
Why the solvent peak in your GC chromatogram turns broad, tails or splits, and the order to check the column cut, splitless settings, liner, backflash and FID gas flows.
8 min readRead guideHPLC AMC Checklist: What Every Maintenance Visit Should Cover
A practical HPLC AMC checklist: what the contract should say, what the engineer should check on each module at every preventive maintenance visit, and the reports you should get.
7 min readRead guideHPLC Pressure Problems: High, Low and Fluctuating Pressure Explained
What normal HPLC pressure looks like, and how to find the cause of high, low or fluctuating pressure on Shimadzu, Waters and Agilent systems, one connection at a time.
9 min readRead guideHPLC Pump Repair or Replace? How to Decide
When to repair an HPLC pump and when to replace it: wear parts versus real failures, parts availability, software support, re-validation and the refurbished middle path.
7 min readRead guideUV-Vis Wavelength Accuracy Check: How to Verify Your Spectrophotometer
How to check the wavelength accuracy of a UV-Vis spectrophotometer with deuterium lines and holmium oxide standards, what the limits mean, and what to do when the check fails.
7 min readRead guideAgilent HPLC Pump Troubleshooting: Pressure Ripple, Leaks and the Purge Valve
How we track down pressure ripple, leaks and purge valve problems on Agilent 1100, 1200 and 1260 Infinity HPLC pumps, in the order that saves the most time.
8 min readRead guideShimadzu HPLC Troubleshooting: Common Error Messages and Fixes
The error messages we meet most often on Shimadzu LC-2010 and LC-2010C HT systems, what each one usually means on the bench, and what to check before you call an engineer.
7 min readRead guideShimadzu LC-2010C HT Pump Problems: High Pressure, Fluctuation and “No Pump Home”
The pump is the heart of the HPLC. Line filter, check valves, pump seal, and the sensor that counts — what we check, in the order we check it.
5 min readRead guideGC Column Selection Guide for Routine Analysis
How stationary phase, film thickness and column dimensions affect separation - and how to pick a sensible starting point.
2 min readRead guideUnderstanding IQ/OQ/PQ Qualification for Analytical Instruments
What each qualification phase actually verifies, and why auditors ask for all three.
2 min readRead guideAMC vs CMC: What's the Difference?
AMC covers service visits and labour; CMC adds the spare parts. A side-by-side table, what drives the cost, and how to choose the right contract for your lab instruments.
6 min readRead guideHPLC Baseline Noise and Drift: Causes, Diagnosis and Fixes
Most noisy or drifting HPLC baselines come down to ten causes. This is the order our engineers check them in on Shimadzu, Waters and Agilent systems, with a pattern table and a simple stop-flow test.
10 min readRead guideWhat can I find in the analytical instrument knowledge centre?
The knowledge centre brings together published analytical instrument articles and links to troubleshooting information by model. Use the article topic and instrument name to find relevant reading. If your laboratory needs help with a specific HPLC or GC issue, send the model, observed symptom and error message so the service discussion starts with the correct equipment.
How should a laboratory use an instrument service article?
Read an article in the context of the named instrument and the laboratory procedures that apply to your work. Similar symptoms can have different causes, and a general note does not establish the cause of a particular breakdown. Keep a record of the observed behaviour and discuss the instrument details when requesting service or spare parts.
How do I turn a maintenance question into a service enquiry?
Start with the article or topic that prompted your question, then describe the instrument actually in your laboratory. Record the model, the observed behaviour and any displayed error message without assuming that the article establishes the diagnosis. Explain whether you want to discuss maintenance, a spare part or a breakdown assessment. Include your laboratory location and a contact who can answer technical questions, so that the conversation can move from general reading to the specific equipment and requested scope.
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