Bruker SampleJet owners:
I'm wondering how many of you who are operating the SampleJet have had problems with the shuttle. This is a critical part, and if it breaks it costs $2,000 and takes 15 days to replace. I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it to have a spare on hand. Recently (after a sample broke in the gripper right above the bore) I had to dis-assemble and thoroughly clean the shuttle. It's working now but it doesn't grip the tubes very tightly. The mechanism involves a plastic plunger that pushes down and relaxes the grip of a plastic gripper (six tines) that holds the tube. When the plunger is released (by the BST I think), the gripper should go back to the "gripping" state, but when crud (glass bits, sample goo?) gets into it the relaxation process is slower or it doesn't ever fully relax. The result is that the tube falls when released by the gripper arm of the robot, stopping only when the cap hits the top of the shuttle. It loads but spinning fails since the tube is now resting on the bottom of the probe. When the tube/shuttle is ejected there is a "lost sample" failure because the gripper arm can't reach it.
I'm trying to figure out if cleaning is enough and the shuttle will last forever, or will it eventually die altogether. Bruker charges $250 for the 1.7 mm SampleJet shuttle and $2,000 for the 5 mm SampleJet shuttle. Go figure.
If anyone wants to know how to dis-assemble and clean the shuttle I can send my drawings of how it comes apart.
Neil
Neil E. Jacobsen, Ph.D.
NMR Facility Manager
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of Arizona
1306 E University Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85721
520-621-8146
Received on Tue Nov 05 2013 - 14:01:32 MST