How to Remove the Pump Head From an Agilent 1260 Infinity Binary, Quaternary or Isocratic Pump

Answer

This Information Applies To: Agilent 1260 Infinity Binary, Quaternary or Isocratic Pumps.

Issue:

Removal of the pump head from the pump metering drive for maintenance on an Agilent 1260 Infinity Binary, Quaternary or Isocratic Pump Module.

Steps to follow

Caution: When loosening the pump head blots, make sure that the bolts are loosening evenly left and right. Do not loosen one pump bolt fully while leaving the other bolt tight as it may cause misalignment of the pump head and snapped pistons

1. Remove the tubing from your purge valve to your autosampler. (See Figure 1)

 
Figure 1. Remove the purge valve waste line and the capillary from the purge valve outlet.

2. Power off the pump and remove the waste tubing from the purge valve.

3. If you have an Agilent 1260 Infinity Isocratic or Quaternary Pump, remove the tubing to your passive inlet valve (PIV). If you have an Agilent 1260 Infinity Binary Pump, remove the tubing to your Active Inlet Valve (AIV).

4. Remove the tubing from your outlet ball valve on the top of the pump head to your damper. (See Figure 2)

5. Next remove the tubing from your damper to piston 2, which is located on the bottom of the pump head. (See Figure 2)

 
Figure 2. Remove tubing from the outlet valve and from damper to piston 2.

6. To separate the pump head from the metering drive, use the provided Allen wrench to loosen the pump head bolts 2 to 3 turns each, moving side to side, to make sure you are loosening the bolts evenly (see Figure 3). Only loosening one side can twist the pump head on the metering drive and can lead to piston breakage.

Caution: In the next step, make sure to keep the rear of the pump head titled slightly up to prevent the piston failing out of the back of the pump head.

7. Once the bolts are removed, slide the pump head gently off the metering drive. Be careful to keep the back of the pump head tilted upwards to prevent the pistons falling out of the pump head and breaking. (See Figure 3)

 
Figure 3. Removing the pump head from the pump metering drive.

Caution: Do not remove the small bead of grease you see on the face of each piston at the back of the pump head. This is required for lubrication of the piston face against the metering drive.

Learn more on how to effectively troubleshoot your Agilent 1260 Infinity Pump: HPLC-1260-2230z - Changing Pump Seals in Agilent 1260 Binary and Quaternary and Isocratic Pumps e-learning course available from Agilent Education