Trace GC Preventive Maintenance Intervals

Topic

Here is the maintenance schedule for the Trace GC.

Clean exterior surfaces using lint-free cloth and/or soapy water — Quarterly or as needed.
Leak checks — Weekly.
Helium filters or gas scrubbers — Checked quarterly and replace yearly.
Injector maintenance:
- Change Septa.
- Change Liner.
- Replace seals/O-rings.
- Injection maintenance is sample dependent. Dirty matrices might require more inlet cleaning.
- After every 100 injections.
- Depending on instrument performance. Carryover and syringe contamination could contribute to a dirty liner.
- Typically done when there are leaks.
- Always utilize the leak check function after column installation or trimming.
Column maintenance:
- Columns can last a long-time if properly taken care of.
- Consider using guard columns or backflush connections to minimize downtimes.
- Check for leaks using a leak detector or through the mass spectrometer (if connected).
- Do this on a weekly basis.

The GC oven itself requires little to no maintenance.
Injectors or detectors require the most maintenance.
This e-learning is going to focus on just injector maintenance due to the coupling of the GC to the ISQ.
Column maintenance is another critical routine maintenance procedure.
Column maintenance is determined when instrument performance deteriorates, and troubleshooting indicates that a replacement or trimming is required.