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If Your Fittings Leak
| Check to make sure your tubing is
seated properly |
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| When using universal Fingertight fittings, the tubing
must bottom out in the fitting before the nut and ferrule are tightened.
If, after tightening the fitting a gentle tug disengages your tubing,
remove fitting and try again. |
| The fitting may not be tightened enough |
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| Stainless steel nuts and ferrules require a wrench
to tighten them, even after repeated use. Fingertights also require
a good turn with your fingers, but not with a wrench as this may damage
the fitting. |
| You may be using incompatible fittings |
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| Make sure you are using a nut and ferrule that are
compatible with the components of your system. To avoid this
problem and ensure compatibility, use Upchurch Scientific®'s
universal Fingertight fittings. Because the ferrule does not
permanently swage onto your tubing, a Fingertight can be used
over and over again with most types of systems. |
| Check the condition of the nut and
ferrule |
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| After repeated use, nuts (and especially ferrules)
will gradually become deformed to the point of being incapable of
creating the seal they were designed to make. Always keep an extra
supply of all the nuts and ferrules you are using so that you can
replace them quickly and avoid unnecessary down time. |
| Sometimes a leaking connection has
nothing at all to do with the nut and ferrule, but with the receiving
port |
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| Female fittings that have had stainless steel fittings
swaged into them are especially susceptible to damage. Check the receiving
port for visible burrs or scratches and replace if necessary. |
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| NOTE: Using fittings made of material
that is incompatible with your mobile phase is a sure
way of creating leaks--and possibly causing permanent
destruction of the fittings. |
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| Tell-Tale Signs Of System Leaks |
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Before you even see your first drip from a fitting,
your system can tell you that the problem exists. The most common
signs of system leaks are as follows:
1) No flow or pressure
2) Pump pressures up, but no flow
3) Noisy baseline
4) Baseline drift
While all of these symptoms could also indicate problems completely
unrelated to leaking fittings, it is always easiest to start
there. Not only are fitting leaks usually easy to repair, they
are also the least expensive part of the system that can cause
problems.
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