Hi,
I have been getting a Hexapole 2 RF fault on a 6545 QTOF for the past few weeks. The logbook shows that it came on for short periods for a couple of days, then went away for a few days, then came on continuously since then.
I called it in, and it was noted that I could try restarting the system. Otherwise, service would be needed to adjust the voltages. I tried two restarts -- the system reset (without venting); then, venting, completely shutting down and unplugging the system, and starting up again. The error is still occurring.
When I was reviewing my records, I found out this had occurred twice before. First in 2019 during a service visit after a faulty turbo pump was replaced, the fault appeared and the hexapole was "dipped" since the service engineer was already present. The second time was last summer when restarting the instrument after a long shutdown -- the fault went away on its own after a couple of weeks of pumping down.
For the current instance, the fault just started appearing while the instrument was on and in standby mode.
The service visit is of course under consideration now, but I was wondering if there is any advice on why this would be a recurring issue or how to reduce the chances of it happening again after it is fixed? Are there any environmental factors (temperature, gases) or other physical issues with the instrument that could contribute to this?
Thanks!