ALS 7693 Autosampler tray gripper cannot release sample vial

Question

Dear forum, 
 we are using an ALS 7693 Autosampler Tray to deliver samples to the injector turret. 
 The issue is, that the Sampler-Gripper sometimes goes in to error mode when releasing the samples back in to the Tray. The Gripper tries one more time and then places the sample into a default position in the back of the tray. My observation is, that the movement of the gripper jaws extends too much to the left and right. The gripper jaws collide with samples standing in adjacent positions (left and right of the gripper). In most of the cases, these samples move aside and allow the gripper to release his sample. However, from time to time and not reproducibly, the sample is not released and put to aforementionted default position. If this happens twice during a sequence, the whole sequence ist aborted. 
 Is there a way to calibrate or alter the range of the gripper jaw movement during sample release back to the tray? How can I affect travel of the Gripper Z-axis? Would the "Aligning the Sample Tray" procedure found in the manual alleviate the problem? Is there a way to restore alignment parameters to factory setting, if the new alignment would worsen the situation? 
 Thanks in advance and have a great day 
 Martin

CMZainea · Answer

Hello MarKon , 
 
 No worries at all :) I reach out whenever I have the time, and sometimes this is faster than others. 
 
 Now, if you look in the same manual for the Sample Tray faults, the five flashes error code means a "Gripper error". It is possible that it is a mechanical issue and it cannot be addressed by aligning the tray. 
 
 The alignment on page 247 does calibrate the gripper strength as well, as you can see it mentioned towards the bottom of page 247. But I would not think this is a guaranteed fix. To answer one of your previous questions, the alignment on page 247 does not require any special vials at all, you just press the alignment button and you let it do its thing. You would, of course, need to make sure that there is nothing in the way of the tray arm that would physically prevent its movement. 
 
 If you ever want to calibrate the tray (page 249), then you would require a calibration vial, but it's not the case here; that calibration addresses different symptoms. 
 
 I am not sure how your local Agilent team addresses ALS/Tray issues; but since there are some concerns on your end on running the procedure, my recommendation would be to reach out to your local Agilent Team .