Table of Contents

Column Conditioning

When contaminations adhere to liquid phase of capillary column, the baseline may be unstable or ghost peaks may be detected. In this case, column conditioning is required.

When to perform¶

When using a new column or a column not used for a long time
When ghost peaks are detected
When the baseline is unstable
When noise level is high

For details on when to perform inspection, refer to the GC Instruction Manual.

Procedures¶

Step 1¶

Set carrier gas flow rate at a value used for the analysis.

Step 2¶

Set the column oven temperature to 20 °C higher than the maximum temperature expected during analysis.

Note

Liquid phases of some types of columns are easily damaged. Check allowable temperature range of used column before setting conditioning temperature.
If the set value exceeds allowable temperature range of the column, the column may degrade or be damaged.

Step 3¶

Set injection port temperature at a value used for the analysis.

Step 4¶

Set detector temperature about 20 °C higher than column oven temperature.

Step 5¶

Leave the instrument for 2–3 hours under this condition.

Hint

Normally, 2 to 3 hours are enough to remove contaminations, however, when heavily contaminated, leave it for another several hours. It is noted that conditioning at a high temperature degrades the column. Do not leave the instrument for more than 24 hours.
When heavily contaminated, remove the column on the detector side to prevent contamination of the detector, and open the column into the oven. At this time, seal the connector on the detector side with appropriate ferrule.
For convenience, it is recommended to previously create a method for conditioning.