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HPLC PC not talking to Agilent pump or sampler

GraemeW

Posting this here as it seems like best place to get a response

I run the general chemistry labs at a small college (~100-120 students per year in class) and was in 2019 gifted a second hand Agilent Series 1100 with binary pumps (G1312A), autosampler (G1329A) and DAD(G1315A). The thing has been a godsend to my teaching lab, a workhorse in terms of throughput and we published an article having general chemistry exposed to HPLC and it also is a key part of my research

Unfortunately this summer, there was a major power outage and when things came back on, the aging computer running the instrument would not boot. My campus ITS guy did a great job as he said the thermal paste in it was shot and so he replaced that, got things up and running but redone computer needed the software reinstalled as starting regular one gave BIOS error so I got the disks out and installed 2016 version of Chemstation (A02.02) that was on the disks I got with machine. HPLC parts connect via LAN and internet cable which looks in good condition if a wee bit dusty.

I found the TCP that all agilent systems use and punched it in after creating an instrument and I did autoconfigure upon which it found my pumps, sampler and DAD and fetched their Model AND their serial number so evidence it is talking to them?

But when I start to run the instrument (even after complete restart) it finds the detector and I can turn lamps on and off but pumps and sampler are offline with no wee button to turn on, DAD starts as Not ready but can be turned on but there seems to be no communication to Pumps or Sampler, no NOT READY, just offline. I thought through during config it talked to them as it knows their serial number but no other communication once I run the operating software. I've definitely got the standard TCP for each when I go into Open Lab control panel program and look at configurations, they seem ok with that Agilent TCP. I've not changed any cables or settings with switches on back, computer was taken apart in ITS, I just disconnected from internet cable.

Machine is not on internet as it's an older model and ITS will not allow to be networked which was fine - we got data off via USB

Oh and pumps and sampler bot make standard noises, arm swing when turned on so they do their own warm-up ok, just will not talk to the PC it seems

any thoughts or advice welcome

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  • 0

    Hi   I would first check that the modules are connected via CAN cables in a daisy chain via the CAN connectors on the back of each module. See the installation section of 1100 User manual which can be found on Agilent.com. Power off each module before making CAN connections. The CAN cables differ from normal LAN (RS232) Cables, so make sure the correct CAN cables are used to connect each module in a daisy chain arrangement.

    If the CAN connections between modules are ok then this sounds like it could be Firmware/Software compatability issue. If you are connected to the Chemstation PC via the DAD module, then the other modules may not be recognized via the CAN bus in Chemstation A.02.02. I think a good starting point would be to install Agilent Lab Advisor Diagnostic SW on your old PC and then try to connect to the LC system and see what modules and FW version can be detected. See the following article - (+) How to Install Lab Advisor - Articles - LC Portal - Agilent Community

    If you can then find a FW set that would be compatible with A.02.02 Chemstation then you may be able to re-flash that FW set on the LC system and potentially re-establish communication with Chemstation. The commuication protocol between LC modules and Lab Advisor SW is simplier then Chemstation, so may show what Chemstation cannot. If you can't get the Autosampler and pump to talk to the DAD, then you may need to swap the network card into the pump or the autosampler (if possible) and then try to re-flash the FW on those modules using Lab advisor, then connect them all back togethter once they are all running a matching FW set. Could be some trial and error involved.

    Pesoanally I would update each 1100 module to the latest FW either singularly or via the CAN bus, then see what you can see in Lab Advisor. At least if they are running the same FW set then you will be able to see them as a connected system in Lab Advisor provided your CAN and LAN connections are ok. Worse case scenario you can then either downgrade the FW of all LC modules to a version that works with Chemstation A.02.02, or use a later Chemstation version and a newer PC and make ithe system a little more future proof. Given both the 1100 modules and A version of SW are well out of support there is a limit to the level of support we can give these old systems.

    (+) How to Update or Downgrade Firmware for Agilent LC and CE Modules - Articles - LC Portal - Agilent Community

    A couple of other very handy articles:

    (+) How to Check, Configure and Use the IP Address of an Agilent HPLC Module - Articles - LC Portal - Agilent Community
    (+) Where to Find the Firmware Version Info of an HPLC Module - Articles - LC Portal - Agilent Community

  • 0 in reply to Damian O'Neill

    Appreciate the info. All cables are the same as they were before the computer died so I know they are CAN as machine worked very well back before the brownout

    With the joy of USB thumbdrive since the machine is not allowed to be on campus internet, I copied and installed the Lab Advisor and the .Net Framework. When I run that, it seems to find all 3 bits and get their serial numbers and even better it allows me using Lab Advisor to turn on the pump. It also seemed to recognize the detector and I could turn on the detector in lab advisor as well. So all good but when I tried runing the HPLC software again, I did so without quitting lab Advisor which meant it found nothing (no detector, injector or pumps ) first time. So reboot, restart software and it still only finds detector.

    I then went and it looks like it is firmware as DAD is running A.06.32 {003] while the non-communicative Sampler and Pumps languish on A.06.01 [012]. The software version on my disks is more recent than the version that came with it so I suspect older version could talk and now I'm trying to do the 2016 version, the pump and sampler need to be caught up. Have to start a lab but hopefully tomorrow some downtime and I can work on getting the FW upgraded

    thanks so much for the info, I feel this identifies the issue and now I just need to get the time and do the reading on how to get the upgraded FW

Reply
  • 0 in reply to Damian O'Neill

    Appreciate the info. All cables are the same as they were before the computer died so I know they are CAN as machine worked very well back before the brownout

    With the joy of USB thumbdrive since the machine is not allowed to be on campus internet, I copied and installed the Lab Advisor and the .Net Framework. When I run that, it seems to find all 3 bits and get their serial numbers and even better it allows me using Lab Advisor to turn on the pump. It also seemed to recognize the detector and I could turn on the detector in lab advisor as well. So all good but when I tried runing the HPLC software again, I did so without quitting lab Advisor which meant it found nothing (no detector, injector or pumps ) first time. So reboot, restart software and it still only finds detector.

    I then went and it looks like it is firmware as DAD is running A.06.32 {003] while the non-communicative Sampler and Pumps languish on A.06.01 [012]. The software version on my disks is more recent than the version that came with it so I suspect older version could talk and now I'm trying to do the 2016 version, the pump and sampler need to be caught up. Have to start a lab but hopefully tomorrow some downtime and I can work on getting the FW upgraded

    thanks so much for the info, I feel this identifies the issue and now I just need to get the time and do the reading on how to get the upgraded FW

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