HPLC 1260 ALS error EE34308

This error messages states that the grippe arm was failing in putting a vial back into place. The vial seems to be still held in the gripper fingers.

After the injection, the gripper arm is picking up the vial from the injection position and puts it back into its dedicated tray location. The gripper releases the vial by opening the fingers and the gripper arm is being moved upwards. Then the gripper fingers are being closed to check for free operation and in case the fingers cannot be closed the module is throwing this error.

Most likely the vial just got stuck somehow on the fingers either due to some sticky stuff or based on some mechanical interaction.

Please also verify that you are using correct vials and caps.

The caps must not have a larger diameter than the vials.

Also think about replacing the finger caps as they can wear or just be contaminated somehow.

The vials and caps are the same ones we have been using for years now; they are your standard 2mL GC/LC vials. I opened up LabAdvisor and ran the gripper test. It failed to release the vials even after re-initialization. I removed the gripper caps, wiped them off and put them back on. I didn't notice anything on them but the gripper test is passing. I'm starting a short sequence to see if this error occurs again.

The unit is still under warranty until then end of November so if the error happens again I'll just contact Agilent and have them fix it.

The vials and caps are the same ones we have been using for years now; they are your standard 2mL GC/LC vials. I opened up LabAdvisor and ran the gripper test. It failed to release the vials even after re-initialization. I removed the gripper caps, wiped them off and put them back on. I didn't notice anything on them but the gripper test is passing. I'm starting a short sequence to see if this error occurs again.

The unit is still under warranty until then end of November so if the error happens again I'll just contact Agilent and have them fix it.