6
Maintenance
Cleaning the LDA Components after Disassembling the LDA
Thermo Scientific
Accela Pump Hardware Manual
59
Cleaning the Displacement Chambers and the Inlet Module
Clean the displacement chambers if the primary piston seals have started to decompose and
you notice black, fibrous, particles in the chamber.
Y
To clean the displacement chambers and the inlet module
1. Pry the piston seals out of the bores of the displacement chambers:
a. Carefully insert a piston into the hole in the center of the seal, but do not push the
piston further into the bore of the displacement chamber.
b. Gently pry the seal out of the bore.
2. Using a needle, graphite pencil, or equivalent tool, carefully remove the PEEK film seals
(see
Figure 38
). Be careful not to scratch the displacement chambers as you remove the
film seals, as this might cause leaking.
Figure 38.
View of the PEEK film seal inside a displacement chamber
3. Place the displacement chambers and the inlet module in an ultrasonic bath. First use
water (to remove any buffer precipitate) and then use acetone.
4. After cleaning the displacement chambers and the inlet module, reinstall the PEEK film
seals if they do not show signs of damage.
5. Replace the primary and secondary piston seals before assembling the LDA.
Note
Both ends of the lower displacement chamber, the lower end of the upper
displacement chamber, and the bottom of the outlet module contain a PEEK film seal
for a total of four film seals.
PEEK film seal
