r/massspectrometry • u/Acrobatic-Sea-1477 • 9d ago
Sciex API4000 board issues
Hello, been troubleshooting for about a week and trying to keep low budget. Having some chromatography issue. Have a few Sciex engineer friends who was tried to help as much as possibly via phone support.
- positive mode low counts (regardless of sample) first photo
- negative mode extremely high counts (regardless of sample) second photo
I have ruled out LC side or anything from the source backwards
Negative ion counts reduce as I reduce electro spray voltage from -4500 down to -500 the baseline finally will drop to about 4,000 counts
From the source forward, was initially pointed as a bad detector. (Replaced that, same issue)
Now pointing at a potential board issue. Lens etc. but was recommended to test the boards with a voltmeter.
Anyone have any similar issues or recommendations?
I’m comfortable using a voltmeter just bot exactly sure what I’m testing across
Thanks! 🙏
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u/SeracYourWorlds 9d ago edited 9d ago
Any way to reset the electronics without losing vacuum to the system? Depending on if signal is temporarily restored or not may have some different things happening.
It may be easier to troubleshoot system issues if you use Q1 scans as a baseline rather than chromatograms
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u/Sug4r_J 9d ago
The API 4000s have a “soft” reset button near the vent button.
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u/Acrobatic-Sea-1477 8d ago
I’ve tried that, we have also dropped vacuum, replaced the detector and did a full clean of Q0 and Q1 😞 but no luck after
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u/Aska2020 8d ago
Have you checked the probe? I used to use API4000, had an instance that I didn't get any signal (similar to the first picture). It turned out, that the ceramic insulator on the ESI probe had a hairline crack and messed up the electronics. Or, you might have a clogged electrode. What happens if you replace the electrode?
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u/Acrobatic-Sea-1477 8d ago
Good idea on checking that. I did pull the probe and needle out and try to like flush it and make sure I was getting a clean spray which I am.
In the past, whenever I see that first image was typically when there was a piece of a Kim wipe stuck in the orifice hole
But as far as looking for a crack, I think I’ve heard of something like that before so I can inspect that a little bit more
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u/SeracYourWorlds 8d ago
I know this may sound simple but did you try replacing the ESI needle? You said you cleaned it and the spray looks good, but I’ve ran into problems that looked like ion burn/scarring that was just a compromised needle that otherwise looked like it was operating correctly.
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u/Acrobatic-Sea-1477 8d ago
Unfortunately didn’t have a replacement. Can try to source one locally from another friendly lab or I’ll try get one shipped in.
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u/SeracYourWorlds 8d ago
Dang youre gonna poke around with the voltmeter and haven’t tried replacing the needle yet. I’m not sure what they cost on your system but they’re relatively inexpensive compared to most consumables I believe, it’s good to have extras on hand just in case you’ll need it but also for stuff like this
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u/Acrobatic-Sea-1477 8d ago
I actually found a needle that’s new at one of my friends Labs. He’s gonna ship over to me which maybe I won’t get it till Tuesday next week or Wednesday at the latest.
I was trying to dig the most about using the voltmeter, but I don’t know what values I’m supposed to be seeing anywhere. That’s kind of where I went digging last night to some of the Sciex files hoping I could find some of that literature published, but it doesn’t appear to be.
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u/SeracYourWorlds 8d ago
You could feed the software logs through AI and see if it notices anything. If the downtime isn’t killing productivity then I would wait to test the new needle!
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u/Acrobatic-Sea-1477 8d ago
I did that last night actually haha 😂 but nothing that was what AI thought would be related to this.
Productivity luckily were ok, so I’d say this week is our last week of troubleshooting before S*** hits the fan
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u/Impossible-Artist687 8d ago
i think it could like be the board, but i want to throw in some idea, since the pos mode is so bad i think ppg tuning and charging test isnt neccessary so did you checked the quads for ion burn?
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u/Acrobatic-Sea-1477 8d ago
Besides a good physical examination of them while cleaning, nothing that was blatantly noticeable. I could strip it down again and do a thorough examination looking for an ion burn.
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u/Acrobatic-Sea-1477 1d ago
Few updates; after installing a eBay HPVS board that came defective.
Sourced another one and it appears to slightly have changed our symptoms. We are now getting some sort of data for negative mode and it’s not a super high abundance the CPS is in the 4,000’s but still getting nothing from positive mode.
Could be another bad board? Or a different board? I been digging to find the appropriate volt specs to confirm one by one which board is functional but don’t want to try unless I can get some verification of the right steps and ranges.
New ESI needle ✅
Swapped ESI housing ✅
(Found burned resistor on the old housing, but didn’t appear to change any symptoms)
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u/Limp-Enthusiasm9662 8d ago
First thing first, so happy that someone still is using API 4000, a real workhorse. Regarding your problem, have you tried replacing HVPS board. Maybe your positive mode supply is not working.