Agilent Technologies 8890, Maintaining Manual

Page: 40 / 282

4 Maintaining Capillary Columns
Preparing the column installation to the CFT fitting
40 Maintaining Your GC
Figure 7. Thread the column through the internal nut, ferrule, and swaging tool
4 Insert the column into the swaging tool until it bottoms.
5 Thread the internal nut into the swaging tool until finger tight. See Figure 8 .
Figure 8. Thread the internal nut into the swaging tool
6 Begin to swage the ferrule to the column using a 1/4-inch open-ended wrench.
The design of UltiMetal Plus Flexible Metal ferrules reduces the probability of column
breakage and minimizes the damage to the thread of the corresponding fittings.
Unlike other ferrule designs, a reliable leak-free seal is best made by tightening the
internal nut to a recommended number of degrees, not by applying more force. Applying
excessive force will not provide a better seal. Also, compressing the flexible ferrule less
minimizes damage to fittings.
To swage the ferrule to the column:
a Find your ferrule type in Table 6 and note the range of degrees to tighten the internal
nut.
b Tighten the internal nut clockwise to the lower end of your ferrule’s range.
c Check if the ferrule is gripping the column. If yes, stop. If not, continue to tighten the
internal nut in small 5- to 15-degree increments. Check after each increment to see if
the ferrule is gripping the column. Stop as soon as gripping occurs. See
Figure 9 .