I've always said that if you ask any three people how to do something you'll
get three answers... but if they tell you different from me they're wrong...
My preferred methods are, in no particular order:Pull the probe and push a piece
of reasonably stiff plastic tubing up from the bottom until somebody at the top
can fish it outOr, crank the VT gas up super high and use it in conjunction with
the eject gas to blow the sample out I would claim that my methods are more
brute force and yours is a bit more elegant.
Cheers,Mike
On Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at 01:02:22 PM MST, Richard Fitch via groups.io wrote:
Hi all,
On the subject of removing stuck samples, there are probably as many variations
as persons in this conversation. My preferred method is to use a thin
dowel or piece of straight (relatively) plastic tubing of appropriate length
and put a loop of tape on the end (just smaller than the bore). I insert
the dowel until it reaches the sample, give a gentle twist to catch the tube
with the tape, and lift the sample out. Works like a charm.
All the best,
Rick
Richard W. Fitch
Professor, Department of Chemistry and Physics
Councilor, Wabash Valley Section, American Chemical Society
Indiana State University
600 Chestnut Street
Science Building, Rm. S35E
Terre Haute, IN 47809
Phone: (812) 237-2244
Fax: (812) 237-2232
“Do an apparently simple experiment that gives you an important bit of information...”
Julius Axelrod
The love of money is the root of some evil. Fear and insecurity are the root of most of it.
> From: main_at_ammrl.groups.io On Behalf Of Steve Clemens via groups.io
> Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2026 10:38 AM
> To: main_at_ammrl.groups.io
> Subject: Re: [AMMRL] dummy samples frequently get stuck in sample changer
I'm curious as to why you keep a dummy sample in the magnet when it's not in use.
Over the years I've had several samples go into the magnet with the lift gas
off. All but one of them landed without damaging anything: the
backpressure of the air in the bore coming past the spinner as it falls slows
it down a lot, and when the spinner enters the constricted part at the top
of the shim tube (lower part) the sample is aligned to the probe cavity
(note: this is with lightweight spinners like the blue POM or white Kel-F).
The one that did break went down when there was already a sample in the magnet.
It landed on top of the sample that was in there and broke. Luckily Bruker
designed the spinners such that they can hold the volume of a typical 5 mm sample
in the top so it didn't leak into the probe. Getting it out was the challenge -
I had to remove the probe and push it up from the bottom.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group.
View/Reply Online (#3173): https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://ammrl.groups=
.io/g/main/message/3173__;!!PvDODwlR4mBZyAb0!U5hrsW-c0AA-HTXScDp189gnVR1075=
AYERhBprjlGo5sMee560ZfRm3XUgqT3JLfZaFeeRUr0kw-SpvD0MuktCrjiyIr$
Mute This Topic: https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://groups.io/mt/117474748=
/7559972__;!!PvDODwlR4mBZyAb0!U5hrsW-c0AA-HTXScDp189gnVR1075AYERhBprjlGo5sM=
ee560ZfRm3XUgqT3JLfZaFeeRUr0kw-SpvD0MuktK8a5IDB$
Group Owner: main+owner_at_ammrl.groups.io
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Received on Wed Jan 28 2026 - 14:12:41 MST