ESI Down Until Further Notice (12/10/19)

It appears that the ESI's EPC is failing to boot and will likely need to be replaced. ESI will be down until this issue can be resolved.

All Instruments Operational. Please report any issues. (10/22/2019)

ESI resolution issue resolved. There have been no new reports of issues with loading the MALDI sample plate. Please report any issues.

HP-GC/GCT Operational. LCT ESI showing low resolution. Work in Progress (10/18/2019)

HP-GC has been repaired. Please report any issues you have. MALDI stage remains as previously, but there have been no new reports of issues with loading the sample plate. LCT Premier resolution has dropped by half. It is unclear what may have caused this and work is ongoing to diagnose and repair the issue.

LCT/GCT Operational. MALDI Open, but Stage is Having Issues. HP GC Damaged (09/25/19)

MALDI is available for use, but the stage is still failing intermittently. The stage is ejected without problems, but when inserting a plate the mechanism may fail or take an extended period of time to operate. Please report if this happens or any other issues. To be clear, once the plate is inserted, the rest of the instrument functions as expected.

LCT/GCT Operational. MALDI Down, Stage Not Working. HP GC Damaged (09/25/19)

MALDI sample carrier fails to be reinserted into the instrument. Working on repairs.

MALDI/LCT/GCT Operational. HP GC-MS Damaged (09/24/19)

MALDI, LCT, and GCT are now opperational and accurate mass data is again being collected. The HP GC-MS remains down while I work through a backlog of samples. Work on the HP GC-MS to start in the second half of this week.

MALDI/LCT Available. GCT In Progress. HP GC-MS Damaged. (09/18/2019)

LCT Premier tuned and calibrated. GCT Premier fails to ignite filament, work in progress. HP GC-MS Status unchanged.

MALDI Available. LCT/GCT In Progress. HP GC-MS Damaged. (09/18/2019)

Facilities completed repairing lab plumbing. MALDI is online, but was only tested briefly, please report any issues. LCT-Premier (ESI-TOF) and GCT-Premier (GC-EI/CI-TOF) detector conditioning completed, tuning and calibration in progress. HP GC-MS is damaged and will be down until further notice. Cooling fans were found non-functional during shutdown. On attempt to begin troubleshooting this, faults were found in the GC and in the vacuum gauge. Diagnosis is on going. Repairs appear likely to require full disassembly and will take some time.

MALDI Operational, Unavailable Due to Plumbing Repairs. Service Resumes 09/18 (09/17/2019)

Facilities Staff are doing plumbing work around the MALDI and ESI. MALDI will be unavailable until their work is completed. Expect service to resume on Wednesday morning 09/18.

MALDI Operational. LCT/GCT in Progress. HP GC-MS Damaged. (09/16/2019)

Instruments were pumped down starting Sunday afternoon. MALDI is online, but was only tested briefly, please report any issues. LCT-Premier (ESI-TOF) and GCT-Premier (GC-EI/CI-TOF) are undergoing detection conditioning, testing will begin 09/17. HP GC-MS is damaged and will be down until further notice. Cooling fans were found non-functional during shutdown (appear shorted somehow). On attempt to begin troubleshooting this morning faults were found in the GC and in the vacuum gauge. Diagnosis is on going. Repairs appear likely to require full disassembly and will take some time.

All Instruments to be Shut Down 09/13 (09/06/2019)

All MS lab instruments and computers to be shut down on the afternoon of Friday, September 13 ahead of power outages scheduled for September 14 and 15. Instrument maintenance will be performed during and after this time. Instruments will begin pump down starting Monday, September 16. Please refer to this page for updates as they become available.

Open Access MALDI/GCMS/ESI Training by Appointment (08/14/2019)

All instruments are operational. Pre-planned ESI training has ended,but training for open access use of the MALDI, HP GC-MS,and ESI is available by appointment. Please contact Dmitriy at uchenik@chem.ucsb.edu to schedule training.

Open Access ESI Avaialable Contact Staff to Reserve Training Time (07/30/2019)

The LCT Premier ESI is being made available to trained users on an Open Access basis. Training will be held twice a day from Wednesday, July 31 through Friday, August 9 at 10am and 2pm and by appointment after that. I am hoping to get a groups of 3-5 people for any given time slot.

Manager Out of Lab 07/03-07/09 Open Access Remains Available (06/28/19)

MS lab manager will be out of the lab between July 03-09. The open access instruments will remain available to trained users. Please be sure to lock the door after yourself. Please email if anything goes wrong, but any significant problems will need to wait until I come back.

MALDI Up and Running. (05/13/19)

MALDI vacuum issues resolved, MALDI pumped down well below setpoint overnight and is now available. It appears that some contaminant caused a leak in the load lock.

MALDI Vacuum Issues, Will Investigate Monday (05/11/19)

MALDI stage was left open overnight 05/10, but vacuum issues are persisting. Manger is out of town for the weekend, issue will be investigated starting Monday 05/13. The MALDI is out of operation until the vacuum issue can be resolved.

Lab Manager Out of Town 04/12 - 04/15 (04/11/19)

Open access instruments remain opperational, but the lab manager is out of town until 04/16. Please be careful and be sure to email lab manager with any issues.

MALDI Available for Use. (01/29/2019)

MALDI has been repaired and tuned. Please be sure to use the newest tune files in the Methods folder.

MALDI Parts Arriving Today. Click for Details. (01/28/2019)

The new source should be arriving today. If all goes well, MALDI should be fully operational Tuesday evening. Please make sure to use the new method files that will be generated.

MALDI is Partially Operational. Click for Details. (01/25/2019)

MALDI source was damaged during cleaning. Without the ion lens operating you will have reduced sensitivity, especially for high MW compounds. New source is on its way and will be installed next week. If possible, please hold analysis until new source is installed. I don't have a time frame for the installation yet, but will update the banner when I do. Appologies for the incovenience.

EDIT: Routine MALDI Maintenance Thu 01/24 — Fri 01/25 (01/23/2019)

MALDI Engineer was delayed, will not be arriving until Thursday morning. Apologies for the delays.

Routine MALDI Maintenance Wed 01/23 — Thu 01/24 (01/22/2019)

MALDI performance maintenace will be starting at noon Wednesday January 23. The maintenance is expected to take two days with instrument available for use Friday morning. Changes will be posted here.

All Instruments Up and Running. Please Report Any Issues (11/09/2018)

MALDI exhibited problem with Linear Detector High Voltage on Nov. 1. Issue could not been replicated. Please report any difficulties.

Manager on Vacation Nov. 02-08. Open Access Remains Available. (10/29/2018)

I'll be on vacation from Nov. 02 through Nov. 10, returning Nov. 11. The open access instruments will remain availalbe to trained users. If anything goes wrong, you can reach me by email, but any significant problems will need to wait until I come back.

MALDI Up and Running. Report any Issues. (10/17/2018)

MALDI is back up and running after replacing power supply and ion source. High voltage error appeared intermittently on the morning of the 16th, but was not observed with further use. Please report any problems.

MALDI Down: Service in Progress (10/15/2018)

Bruker Engineer is on site. Replacing the high voltage power supply resulted in improvement, but not a complete fix. Source has been replaced, instrument is currently pumping down and further testing will begin in the morning.

MALDI Down Pending On Site Service (10/05/2018)

Bruker notes that as the issue persists after source cleaning, there is likely a deeper issue, but has not indicated which components may be at fault. A service engineer will be coming in to replace instrument components. Date of service will be indicated here once scheduled. It is likley that the pulsed ion extraction box will be replaced at a minimum.

MALDI Down: High Voltage Failure, Work in Progress (10/04/2018)

Maintenance steps did not recover the high voltage operation. Working with Bruker to isolate the issue, but deeper repairs will be necessary.

MALDI Down: Evacuating, Tests in Morn. (10/03/2018)

Instrument evacuation in progress. Tests in the morning will determine whether further repairs will be necessary.

MALDI Down - High Volage Failure (10/03/2018)

MALDI High Voltage failure reported at 12:10pm, not resolved by standard resets. May imply component failure, awaiting Bruker response (ca. 4h phone queue). Further updates will be reported here.

Fall Quarter Schedule Change (09/28/2018)

Our hours for fall quarter have changed. New hours are M,W,F 9:00am to 6:30pm; Tu, Th 9:00am to 3:00pm. Open access instruments will remain open 24/7 with reservation to trained users. Standard facility hours will resume in Winter quarter (January 2, 2019).

All Instruments Available for Use (04/16/2018)

HP GC-MS fails automated calibration, but has been calibrated manually and is now available for use. MALDI continues in good operation. ESI and GC-EI TOF is available by sample submission.

MALDI Available. HP GC-MS Down for Repairs (12/21/2017)

Facility is being brought back up. The MALDI is up and running. ESI and accurate mass services may be available by Friday. HP GC-MS will be down for repairs until further notice.

Facility Down Dec 11-15 (12/11/2017)

As of Monday, December 11, the Thomas fire continues to impact Southern California Edison's power transmission lines. As a result of the unpredictable power situation, all instruments have been shut down. Unless conditions improve dramatically, the facility will be shut down until at least Friday, December 15. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dmitriy via email (uchenik@chem.ucsb.edu)

Facility Down Due To Blackouts (12/10/2017)

All instruments have been shut down to protect from power irregularities. Expect instruments to be opperational ~12-24hrs after stable power has been restored.

MALDI and HP GC Available for Use Post-Blackout (12/06/2017)

MALDI and HP GC have been brought back up after yesterday's blackouts. Please be sure to inform us of any errors observed during operation.

MALDI Available for Use (10/31/2017)

MALDI source has been cleaned and the instrument is available for use. Please ignore the message to clean the source, the timer has not been reset yet.

MALDI Still Down. Laser Calibration in Progress. (10/28/2017)

Maldi cleaning was completed, but on pump down laser was found to be out of focus resulting in peak broadening. Work is ongoing.

HP GC Back in Operation. (10/27/2017)

HP GC vacuum issue has been partially resolved*. The instrument is open for use, but will be brought down for more thorough disassembly in the near future.
* Special thanks to the de Vries Group for the loan of diagnostic equipment.

HP GC Vacuum Failure. Repair Ongoing. (10/26/2017)

Vacuum could not be reistablished after backing pump replacement. Reservation will be open once repairs are completed.

Bruker MALDI Down for Maintenance 10/26-10/27 (10/21/2017)

The Bruker MALDI will be down for source maintenance Thursday and Friday. Rservation will be open once work is completed.

HP GC/MS Down for Maintenance (/09/13/2017)

Update, 09/14: Work is done. The instrument is ready for use.

The HP GC/MS instrument will be down for maintenance work for ~ 2 days. Reservation will be open once the work is completed.

NOTICE: Off-campus Usage Rates Revised (08/04/2017)

Effectively immediately, all mass spec instrument usage rates for off-campus users have been revised to reflect more closely cost of maintenance and upkeeping. All other rates remain the same until we examine in the near future existing rates based upon cost of maintaining the facility.

Mass Spec Status (04/24/2017)

All MALDI users must first talk to Jacob Berenbeim, our assistant for the summer, about new steps and cautions we have for the Bruker MALDI. These steps are being implemented to minimize risks of instrument damage.

Jacob's weekly schedule is posted and updated each week on the mass spec room door.

Presently, only REGULAR (weekly or biweekly) users will be trained by Jacob. All other non-regular users may have their samples collected by staff.

-- H. Zhou.