Maintenance
116
Agilent 55B AA Spectrometer User’s Guide
Burners
Burners should be cleaned after each day of use, particularly if the solutions being
analyzed have a high solids content or a rich nitrous oxide-acetylene flame has
been used.
If they are not cleaned regularly, hard deposits that will be difficult to remove can
build up. The use of organic solvents with a nitrous oxide-acetylene flame
increases the possibility of carbon build up.
Inspect the O-ring on the burner, replace immediately if damaged or worn.
WARNING
Explosion Hazard.
The burner is correctly assembled, sealed and pressure tested during
manufacture. To prevent gas leaks and flashbacks, the burner must NEVER
be disassembled, modified or mistreated.
ALWAYS use the correct procedure to clean the burner slot, since the use of a
burner with an oversize slot can cause a flashback.
Failure to follow correct procedures can cause death, injury or property
damage.
To install a burner:
1
Check the O-ring on the burner. It must be supple and free from nicks or
cracks to ensure that the burner makes a gas tight seal with the spray
chamber. Replace a damaged or worn O-ring immediately.
2
Position the burner in the sample compartment, with the slot along the optical
path and the plate with the warning towards the front of the instrument.
TIP
It is impossible to determine with the naked eye if the inside of a burner is clean.
Even a low power inspection lens will fail to show low levels of contamination. The
best way is to use a binocular microscope which enables you to look down inside
the burner slot.