WATERS CORPORATION 2424, Operator'S Manual, Page: 155 / 196

Chromatography troubleshooting 5-29
Poor peak resolution
Before you address problems with peak resolution, be certain that peaks elute
at the correct retention time. The most common causes of poor peak resolution
can also appear as retention time problems.
If peak retention times are correct, determine whether poor resolution occurs
throughout the chromatogram or at a single peak pair.
If efficiency of early peaks is poor, extra-column band broadening, such as
auto injector or guard column failure, can be at fault. If peak efficiency is poor
throughout the chromatogram, post-column band-broadening or loss of
column efficiency can be the cause.
If only one peak in a chromatogram is badly-shaped, the peak component may
be interacting with the column through a chemical mechanism different from
the components in the other peaks. To troubleshoot this resolution problem,
you need to understand the separation chemistry.
Reproducibility
errors
Solvent not properly
degassed/sparged
Degas or sparge solvent (see
page 6-7 ).
Incorrect chemistry
or integration
Check chemistry or
integration.
Column not
equilibrated
Equilibrate column.
Injector problem Troubleshoot injector.
Troubleshooting general chromatography problems (Continued)
Symptom Possible cause Corrective action