Hardware manual

Maintenance 4
Agilent 7500 Series ICP-MS Hardware Manual 4-47
Figure 56 Nebulizer Orientation
Cleaning the Spray Chamber and the Transfer Line
To clean the spray chamber and the transfer line, complete the following steps:
Makeup Gas
Connecter
End Cap
Nebulizer Holder Nut
PFA Concentric Nebulizer
Carrier Gas
Connecter
CAUTION
• Do not use chemicals such as Hydrofluoric Acid (HF), which erodes quartz, to clean
the spray chamber.
• An ultrasonic wash must not be used to clean spray chambers that are made of
quartz. Use an ultrasonic wash for spray chambers made of polypropylene.
• The polypropylene spray chamber has lower wetability than the quartz chamber.
If the polypropylene spray chamber is not used for more than half of a day, soak it in
1% TMAH (Tetra Methyl Ammonium Hydride) or 1% ammonia water (NH
4
OH). This
is very effective to reduce memory (especially boron (B)) and to improve the
stabilization of signals. Take it out of the washing solution before using and fully
rinse with pure water. If washing with TMAH is not enough, the peak of carbon
contained in TMAH (C: 12 amu) will be overlapped with boron (B: 11 amu) and it may
interfere with signals.