5
Routine and Preventive Maintenance
Maintaining the Source Block Assembly
88
Surveyor MSQ Plus Hardware Manual
Thermo Scientific
6. If the differential aperture plate is contaminated with ion burn, clean it:
a. Unscrew the three screws that connect the differential aperture plate to the
quadrupole. See
b. Wipe the inside of the differential aperture plate with a cotton swab soaked in
[50:50] methanol / water.
c.
Reconnect the differential aperture plate to the quadrupole.
d. Examine the screws of the differential aperture plate to ensure that they are burr-free
and flush or below the plane of the aperture plate.
If you do not need to clean the remaining components of the source block assembly, proceed
to
“Assembling the Source Block Assembly”
.
Figure 70.
View of differential aperture plate
Cleaning the Extraction Cone and the Source Block
If you use buffered mobile phases or inject samples with complex matrices or both, you might
need to clean the source block and the extraction cone on a weekly basis.
Differential aperture plate
CAUTION
Wait for the source block and probe heater assembly to cool before carrying out
any maintenance.