5
ChromQuest Diagnostics for the PDA Detector
Adjusting the Light Output from the Lamps
Thermo Scientific
Surveyor PDA Plus Detector Hardware Manual
79
Figure 71.
Lamps page
The Lamps page in ChromQuest is used for lamp maintenance and control. Three direct
control buttons for each lamp are available on this page: On, Off, and Reset.
To use the lamp controls
Do one of the following:
• Click
On
to ignite the deuterium lamp. The Status readback displays
Starting
during
the 10-second ignition period, and then it changes to
On
. If there is a problem with
the lamp, the Status readback displays
Failed
.
• Click
On
to turn on the tungsten lamp. The tungsten lamp turns on immediately. If
there is a problem with the lamp, the Status readback displays
Failed
.
• Click
Reset
to reset the stored total run time for the associated lamp to zero and
update the Last Reset readback to the current date and time. After you replace a
lamp, reset its lamp usage hours to zero.
Adjusting the Light Output from the Lamps
The Surveyor PDA Plus Detector has two attenuators that control the light output from the
lamps. During the lifetime of the Surveyor PDA Plus Detector it might be necessary to adjust
the attenuators to increase or decrease the amount of light falling onto the array.
Decreasing light output increases baseline noise. Increasing light output can cause saturation
of the diode array. If the array is saturated, the response from the Surveyor PDA Plus Detector
is a flat baseline.
The attenuators require adjustment when you replace the lamps or the flow cell. When you
replace these items, check the light intensity by following the Operational Verification
procedure and adjust the attenuators to provide light intensities in the specified operating
ranges.
