Is your GC okay? The Lucidity GC tells you if it’s not…

by Lucidity
in Uncategorized
on November 11, 2022

We’ve talked in a previous post about how you know whether your sample is matching reference runs previously generated from that or similar samples, but how do you determine whether it’s an issue with the analyzer or an issue with the sample…?

Here’s how.

Your Lucidity GC-FID ships with a Check Standard and a Starter Column. Using the easy swap feature, insert your Starter Column into the Lucidity GC, put your Check Standard into one of the positions on the turntable, load the Check Standard method, and start the run. Your system will inject the Check Standard and show a factory saved reference result in the background of the run to show you what the chromatogram should look like during the run.

At the end of the run, go into the result, and the system will automatically compare the run with the factory saved reference results to determine whether or not the system is running correctly. It will compare the retention time and peak areas of the 3 compounds in the Check Standard to the reference result and show the results of each of these comparisons on the right hand side of the screen along with green check marks for peaks that passed, yellow question marks for peaks that weren’t found, and red X’s for peaks that are out of range.

If all 3 peaks are matched and within spec then you will see a green check mark and the word “Passed”, if they are not then you will see a red X and the word “Failed”. This indicates whether the system is performing correctly or not. This in turn will help to understand whether there’s a hardware issue (improper gas flows, leaks from a septum not being installed correctly or no longer sealing, contamination that needs to be baked out, temperatures out of range, etc.) or an application / sample issue (method issues, column / sample mismatch, sample prep issues, concentration issues, etc.).