Thermo Scientific Dionex ICS Series User manual

Dionex ICS Series VWD Variable Wavelength
Detector Operator’s Manual
Document No. 065377
Revision 01
January 2012

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The contents of this document are subject to change without notice. All technical
information in this document is for reference purposes only. System configurations and
specifications in this document supersede all previous information received by the
purchaser.
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accurate, or error-free and assumes no responsibility and will not be liable for any errors,
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information in the document is followed properly.
Revision history: Revision 01 released January 2012
For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

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Contents
1 • Introduction
1.1 Detector Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Principles of Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 About This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Safety and Regulatory Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4.1 Safety Messages and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4.2 Safety Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4.3 Declaration of Conformity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2•Description
2.1 Front Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2 Interior Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2.1 Tubing Slots and Tubing Chase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2.2 Leak Sensor and Leak Drain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2.3 Flow Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.2.4 Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3 Optical System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.4 Rear Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.4.1 Main Power Switch, Fuse Cartridge, and Power Receptacle . . 16
2.4.2 Digital I/O Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.4.3 USB Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

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2.4.4 Analog Outputs (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
2.4.5 Tubing Chase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
2.4.6 Drain Port and Drain Tube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
2.5 Operating Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
2.5.1 Wavelength Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
2.5.2 Mobile Phases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
2.5.3 Mobile Phase Delivery System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
2.6 Chromatography Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
2.6.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
2.6.2 System Wellness and Predictive Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
3 • Operation and Maintenance
3.1 Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
3.1.1 Initial Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
3.1.2 Connect to the Chromeleon 7 Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
3.1.3 Connect to the Chromeleon 6.8 Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
3.1.4 Turn On the Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
3.2 System Equilibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
3.3 Direct Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
3.4 Automated Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
3.5 Optimizing Detector Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
3.5.1 Time Constant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
3.5.2 Data Collection Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
3.5.3 Step (Chromeleon 6.8 only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

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3.5.4 Average (Chromeleon 6.8 only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.5.5 Sample Wavelength Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.6 Shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.6.1 Short-term Shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.6.2 Long-term Shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.7 Routine Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.7.1 Daily Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.7.2 Periodic Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4 • Troubleshooting
4.1 Audit Trail Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.2 ALARM LED Is Lighted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.3 No Detector Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.4 Lamp Does Not Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.5 Noisy Baseline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.6 Drifting Baseline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.7 Peak Broadening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4.8 Poor Reproducibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.9 Faulty USB Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5•Service
5.1 Replacing Tubing and Fittings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.2 Wavelength Calibration and Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5.3 Replacing a Deuterium Lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

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5.4 Replacing a Tungsten Lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
5.5 Cleaning the Flow Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
5.6 Replacing the Flow Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
5.6.1 Remove the Flow Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
5.6.2 Install the Flow Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
5.6.3 Perform Wavelength Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
5.7 Replacing the Fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
A • Specifications
A.1 Electrical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
A.2 Environmental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
A.3 Physical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
A.4 Detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
A.5 Flow Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
A.5.1 Standard Flow Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
A.5.2 Semi-Micro Flow Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
A.6 Digital I/O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
A.7 Analog Outputs (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
B • Installation
B.1 Facilities Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
B.2 Positioning the Dionex VWD in the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
B.3 Unpacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
B.4 Installing the Flow Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

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B.5 Connecting the Drain Tube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
B.6 Connecting the Digital I/O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
B.7 Installing the Analog Outputs (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
B.7.1 Installing the DAC Plug-In Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
B.7.2 Connecting the Analog Outputs to the External Device . . . . . 92
B.8 Connecting the Dionex VWD to the Chromeleon PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
B.8.1 Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
B.8.2 Connecting the USB Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
B.9 Connecting the Power Cord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
B.10 Turning On the Dionex VWD Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
B.11 Setting Up the Chromatography Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
B.11.1 Chromeleon 7: Assigning the Dionex VWD to
an Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
B.11.2 Chromeleon 6.8: Assigning the Dionex VWD to
a Timebase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
B.11.3 Selecting Configuration Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
C • Reordering Information
D • UV Absorbances
D.1 UV Cutoff Wavelengths of Common Mobile Phases . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
D.2 UV Absorbance Wavelengths of Chromophores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

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1 • Introduction
1.1 Detector Overview
The Thermo Scientific Dionex™ICS Series Variable Wavelength Detector
(Dionex VWD) is a high-quality instrument designed for IC analysis applications
requiring a UV-Vis detector and for LC analysis applications requiring an inert
(PEEK™) flow path. The Dionex VWD can be used with the following Thermo
Scientific Dionex systems: the ICS-5000 (analytical systems only), ICS-2100,
ICS-1600, ICS-1100, and ICS-900 (as well as some legacy systems). The Dionex
VWD can be used in numerous laboratory environments for routine analysis, as
well as for sophisticated research tasks.
Two versions of the Dionex VWD are available: a single-channel version
(P/N 070220) and a four-channel version (P/N 070221).
•The detector is a dual-beam, variable-wavelength photometer with one
measurement and one internal reference beam. See Section 2.3 for details
about the optical system.
Figure 1-1. Thermo Scientific Dionex ICS Series Variable Wavelength Detector

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•Two light sources, a deuterium lamp for ultraviolet detection and a tungsten
lamp for visible and near-infrared wavelength detection, provide a
wavelength detection range from 190 to 900 nm. For details about the lamps
and wavelength detection ranges, see Section 2.2.4.
•The four-channel detector measures at up to four wavelengths, by indexing
between wavelengths several times per second.
•To suppress higher-order radiation, two optical filters are inserted
(automatically) into the light path (see Section 2.3).
•The wavelength accuracy can be verified via the built-in holmium oxide filter
(see Section 5.2).
•The detector is controlled with a PC (personal PC) running Microsoft®
Windows Vista® or Windows®XP and either the Thermo Scientific Dionex
Chromeleon®7 Chromatography Data System or Chromeleon®6.8
Chromatography Data System. Chromeleon 7 and Chromeleon 6.8 also
provide data acquisition and data processing functions.
NOTE Thermo Scientific Dionex Chromeleon® Xpress software
can provide real-time control and monitoring of the
detector, but does not include data management
capabilities.
•Various monitoring, diagnostic, and calibration features are provided for
system wellness and predictive performance (see Section 2.6.2).