1) Turn on the helium tank. Open the valve (red circle) all the way.

2) Turn on the deionized water valve (arrow). Open the valve all the way counterclockwise. The valve is made of Teflon, which is a very soft plastic. Do not force it.

3) The float (red circle) in the flow meter should rise to the top of the meter column.

4) Turn on the column oven and the degas pump switches (red circles). Normally the other modules are powered by the oven, unless someone has been fooling with the switches. At this stage, the pump, conductivity detector, eluant generator, oven, and autosampler should all be on (P, CD, EG, O, A).

5) On the front panel of the pump, press MENU, 8, 7. This lets you monitor the LEFT and RIGHT 'P-POINT' values when the pump is running.

The cation computer failed after 9 years. The new computer has the new Dionex Chromeleon software, which is quite different than the old software on the anion computer. I will update these instructions when I have some free time!

10) Load your samples into the autosampler racks. The first sample should be right most next to the black dot (yellow circles). Sample order should be like that below. The numbers below refer to the row numbers in your schedule (see above), not any sample numbers you may have written on your unknowns. Notice that the last sample (deionized water) has its top pressed down only part way using the other end of the cap pusher.

 

11) Load the autosampler with the racks. The first rack should be in the front, dots to the right.

 

12) Press the Hold/Run button on the autosampler (red circle) so that the green light is lit on the Run side. This puts the autosampler under computer control.

13) On the main menu bar of the RUN window choose FILE, SELECT SCHEDULE (circled in red). Choose the proper schedule (the one you just saved), and agree to whatever the window asks. Press the start button (circled in yellow) to start the run. Listen for the autosampler to start humming. Sample should inject at 2.30 minutes. Watch the chromatograph as it comes out on the screen. Keep an eye on the test samples to make sure the chromatograph looks good.