Hello All,
We are donating a Q-Exactive Plus (I know, orbitrap based MS, be kind 
) but the receiving lab plans to store the instrument exposed to atmosphere for ~six months. No vacuum or inert gas (N2, Ar) flow entering the instrument. My concern is residual water vapor + air entering the instrument and oxidising/corroding the metal parts inside the QE+ (e.g. quadruple, orbitrap) over those six months. Additionally, the QE+ will be stored in the same room that glass cleaning takes place, so any residual humidity will be higher relative to the other rooms in the lab.
To my understanding, the metal used inside the mass spectrometers is selected for its ability to conduct a current (AC/DC) to generate an electromagnetic field (EMF), not resistance to corrosion. So any corrosion that may occur will impact the current and contribute to unequal/turbulent EMFs impacting data acquisition and may result in variable data
Am I being overly paranoid about the instrument storage? I am receiving conflicting information from Thermo tech support so wanted to get some outside opinions to see if I am being paranoid. I wouldn't be as concerned if venting were for a few days, or ~three weeks, but six months raised some red flags.
Thanks in advance!!