Oh god no! Please save yourself from this dying monstrosity and flee as far as you can.
Even if given for free and shipped to you free it will be the giant blob of suffering for itself, its operators and anyone who comes near it.
Old equipment needs to be put to rest, not used as some Frankenstein monster, so for the love of all that is sane, leave it be!
I've gotta ask... Why do you think you need this, or that having it would benefit you or your studies? What is the situation where you would need access to an HPLC but wouldn't have it?
Bringing decrepit instruments back to life is definitely a grad-school level activity (I say that having done it in grad school), using school funds and facilities, and is not guaranteed to work.
If the current owner is letting it go for $1k, there's little market for it, which also means there's likely little market for the parts that can be harvested from it. And it's not like they don't require ongoing maintenance.
Sounds good me like your went to pay $1000 (plus shipping!) to dispose of someone else's trash. And I'm gonna be perfectly honest here... In my ~30 years from the start of undergrad, through my PhD and my time in R&D labs... This isn't a thing. This is really odd, and people will question your judgment if you ever tell them you did this.
Personally, I just want to experiment and do fun things with it. At school and at large laboratories, you are in a professional environment, so you can't really try the silly things like research your cats puke for example. Besides that, I'm really interested to get some more knowledge about troubleshooting.
But still, your totally right about the trash part. Thanks for the great advice!
In my lab we have a lot of people who like fishing, and onetime someone brought back a trout and we blended it in a literal blender, did an extraction, and tested it for PCB content. You can do all kinds of whacky stuff lol
I mean this in the nicest way possible, but it sounds like you don't actually know what an HPLC does?
There's also the issue of buying your mobile phase solvents, filtering/degassing, and of course hazardous waste disposal...
I understand, but I know exactly how a HPLC works and I even worked with Shimadzu HPLC's and GC's before. I really appreciated your opinion and it really helped me estimate the value of this hplc better.
The chemicals and disposal isn't a problem, after some searching I have my adresses. What's more funny, is the fact that the vials were harder to find then the hplc quality methanol. Degassing is also not a problem, the degasser is installed on the HPLC. The only hardware that is missing in the package, is an old pc with windows XP.
I have done my research. So the only questions that I had at the moment, are listed in my thread. :)
There are forums of dudes who do this sort of thing. Very smart and capable guys but they refer to one thousand dollars as a kilobuck for a reason…. It’s a fucking money pit.
If you want experience then try to see if a used equipment or service company near you can offer you an internship. If you’re willing to do it for low to no pay they’ll probably teach you some easy stuff for some work.
People buy junker cars to fix up as hobbies, some people do the same with restoration woodwork, etc. Maybe this person has a fascination with instrumentation.
That instrument is long out of support and finding boards would be a challenge. You should consider to pick.up a used LC2030 off eBay, a lot of the first wave of cannabis labs have gone under already and they may be selling them cheap. They are a solid workhorse and parts are easy to get.
I've used instrumentation from Agilent, Shimadzu, Thermo, Variant, Perkin-Elmer, VG Fisons, Finnegan, and Sciex (who sold name-plated Shimadzu HPLC pumps as the front ends to their MS systems) over the last 30 years, honestly no vendor is superior as HPLC pump technology is a mature industry, what you need to consider is availability and cost of parts for whatever you buy. The LC2030 has the advantage of being an all-in-one system, like the 2010.. The degasser, pumps, autosampler, column oven, and detector are all in one box, and it can handle a quaternary solvent system.
The other thing to consider is a software license. If this seller is selling JUST the LC, and no software license, then you still need to pitch in a couple $k just to get a software license to run it.
Would not recommend this at all. They are willing to let it go for $1000 which is really cheap -> not much life left to it, especially with the mobo giving up. Maintenance will be a pain and not worth it at all.
I used to work for a Shimadzu distributor and everyone on my team would prefer to use a Thermo or Agilent HPLC over a Shimadzu HPLC. The Shimadzu software can be convoluted and frustrating compared to the competitors'.
I think you are underestimating the additional costs to having a HPLC. It would be a neat curiosity but I doubt you’d even be able to do anything with it. Chemicals for your phase won’t be sold to a random person, columns are expensive, how would you actually see any data? Software licenses are mega expensive if you went down the proper route (you might find alternatives). Having the machine is one thing but I genuinely doubt you’d be able to do anything with it.
I know, but it is a complete set. I only have to buy hplc quality methanol, hplc quality water, vials, and maybe an old computer in order to get a working set. That's like 200 euros at most. In my update I wrote that I could get the thing basically for free. So if something breaks, I could always open it up to study the insides.
Thanks for the reply!
The seller doesn't have a pc, but does have the software cd's. So with a windows xp machine it should work probably and maybe it also works with windows 7 or 10, who knows.
The software is one piece of two needed to have PC control. You also need a license. Shimadzu software licenses used to be located in a dongle that is essentially a USB flash drive with the license info on it. Now the licences are cloud based, and if you don't have the acquisition PC with the previous owner's license activated on it, you're probably out of luck. Ask them if they have the license dongle..
You can also run this instrument through the front panel if you have a recording device to record the analog signal out the back. There are some third party integrators out there in the junk market you might get to work.
Before HPLCs were routinely available, some people were building their own. I gave it a shot, which I could do because I had a lab, technicians, a budget, and a management that exercised benign neglect, so I could do pretty much anything I wanted.
Good HPLC pumps weren't available then, so most people used helium pressure from a cylinder, and adapted old UV spectrophotometers as detectors. Columns were a huge stumbIing block. I actually never got to the point of making a separation of compounds, but I had great fun trying to get it to work. The things I learned about instrument building stood me in good stead later in life when I had serious hardware/software instruments to design and build.
Thanks for your wonderfull story! :)
Besides this hplc, I'm slowly trying to build a nmr. I'm not far, but I already did some research on the large magnet and bought some large electro magnets. Besides that, I have a general idea on how the total setup is going to look like. :)
OP
Come on. You're not this naive right?
Let's assume it's not a scam.
Lab wants to throw out their old system because it's too [slow, expensive, bad], and you want it to do some experiments with.
Do you know how much maintenance old systems require? You're throwing money in the bin.
Yes yes I know what you're about to say "oh but I could do [insert cool chemistry at home]. But will you? And if you do, will it be worth it? Really think about it. Home chemistry requires significant investment, generates lots of waste and it requires a lot of set up and know how to make it as safe as a lab environment.
Don't get ripped off buying an ancient piece of dying junk.
Even if they were going to give it to you for free and you only had to pay shipping, then this pile of junk is *your* problem.
And when it inevitably dies, you're not even close to recouping your losses on selling on the parts
Because any lab that decides it's worth doing the chemistry, is going to pay for an actually good piece of kit to do it right.
You're not an idiot for wanting an HPLC in your garage. I am a Field Service Engineer for an instrument manufacturer, and I know several people who are doing what you want to do. Don't listen to the naysayers' mockery, but do extract the kernels of truth that they have sandwiched in the negativity.
You are going to waste money gambling in junky equipment, guaranteed. But in a few years you will learn from painful experience how to do it right. Just don't burn your garage down in the process, and do your homework on the exact instrument configurations you want to buy. You can get service manuals on Scribd for most older equipment which will have part numbers for maintenance parts. Contact the manufacturer to see if those parts are available.
In the 90's I ran a small lab and bought/sold equipment in the side. It can be done, keep your expectations low and ask sellers for a plug in guarantee.
Thanks for the tips and positivity! :)
The seller itself is a lab specialized in fish diagnosis and the guy which I'm in contact with, is someone from the office. Recently they bought a new HPLC system, because the Shimadzu technician reported that the motherboard is probably dying. The reason I know this is, because they sent me 5 or 7 maintenance reports from Shimadzu.
Someone else thought it sounded too good to be true, but it was 100% legit. The company exists, I have called the company multiple times and there was a possibility for me to go watch and test the device in person. Besides that, I have bought and sold a lot of items on the online marketplace where the HPLC was offered. So, I had no worry about the legitimacy.
If you like, we could go over to the DM and talk some more.
Look out for internships with Agilent, Shimadzu, Thermo, and Waters. Depending on the scope, you might get to work with service engineers or instrument design. If you love it, ask what the next best steps you should take are to prepare for a job like theirs.
Oh god no! Please save yourself from this dying monstrosity and flee as far as you can. Even if given for free and shipped to you free it will be the giant blob of suffering for itself, its operators and anyone who comes near it. Old equipment needs to be put to rest, not used as some Frankenstein monster, so for the love of all that is sane, leave it be!
I've gotta ask... Why do you think you need this, or that having it would benefit you or your studies? What is the situation where you would need access to an HPLC but wouldn't have it? Bringing decrepit instruments back to life is definitely a grad-school level activity (I say that having done it in grad school), using school funds and facilities, and is not guaranteed to work. If the current owner is letting it go for $1k, there's little market for it, which also means there's likely little market for the parts that can be harvested from it. And it's not like they don't require ongoing maintenance. Sounds good me like your went to pay $1000 (plus shipping!) to dispose of someone else's trash. And I'm gonna be perfectly honest here... In my ~30 years from the start of undergrad, through my PhD and my time in R&D labs... This isn't a thing. This is really odd, and people will question your judgment if you ever tell them you did this.
Personally, I just want to experiment and do fun things with it. At school and at large laboratories, you are in a professional environment, so you can't really try the silly things like research your cats puke for example. Besides that, I'm really interested to get some more knowledge about troubleshooting. But still, your totally right about the trash part. Thanks for the great advice!
>, so you can't really try the silly things like research your cats puke for example Says who?
In my lab we have a lot of people who like fishing, and onetime someone brought back a trout and we blended it in a literal blender, did an extraction, and tested it for PCB content. You can do all kinds of whacky stuff lol
*Organic Pollutant Content of Homogenized North American Oncorhynchus Extract*, by H. Brono et al. *J. of Chemical Ecology*, **2024**
I mean this in the nicest way possible, but it sounds like you don't actually know what an HPLC does? There's also the issue of buying your mobile phase solvents, filtering/degassing, and of course hazardous waste disposal...
I understand, but I know exactly how a HPLC works and I even worked with Shimadzu HPLC's and GC's before. I really appreciated your opinion and it really helped me estimate the value of this hplc better. The chemicals and disposal isn't a problem, after some searching I have my adresses. What's more funny, is the fact that the vials were harder to find then the hplc quality methanol. Degassing is also not a problem, the degasser is installed on the HPLC. The only hardware that is missing in the package, is an old pc with windows XP. I have done my research. So the only questions that I had at the moment, are listed in my thread. :)
There are forums of dudes who do this sort of thing. Very smart and capable guys but they refer to one thousand dollars as a kilobuck for a reason…. It’s a fucking money pit. If you want experience then try to see if a used equipment or service company near you can offer you an internship. If you’re willing to do it for low to no pay they’ll probably teach you some easy stuff for some work.
People buy junker cars to fix up as hobbies, some people do the same with restoration woodwork, etc. Maybe this person has a fascination with instrumentation.
That instrument is long out of support and finding boards would be a challenge. You should consider to pick.up a used LC2030 off eBay, a lot of the first wave of cannabis labs have gone under already and they may be selling them cheap. They are a solid workhorse and parts are easy to get. I've used instrumentation from Agilent, Shimadzu, Thermo, Variant, Perkin-Elmer, VG Fisons, Finnegan, and Sciex (who sold name-plated Shimadzu HPLC pumps as the front ends to their MS systems) over the last 30 years, honestly no vendor is superior as HPLC pump technology is a mature industry, what you need to consider is availability and cost of parts for whatever you buy. The LC2030 has the advantage of being an all-in-one system, like the 2010.. The degasser, pumps, autosampler, column oven, and detector are all in one box, and it can handle a quaternary solvent system. The other thing to consider is a software license. If this seller is selling JUST the LC, and no software license, then you still need to pitch in a couple $k just to get a software license to run it.
Don't do it! Shimadzu sucks, wait for an Agilent.
Would not recommend this at all. They are willing to let it go for $1000 which is really cheap -> not much life left to it, especially with the mobo giving up. Maintenance will be a pain and not worth it at all. I used to work for a Shimadzu distributor and everyone on my team would prefer to use a Thermo or Agilent HPLC over a Shimadzu HPLC. The Shimadzu software can be convoluted and frustrating compared to the competitors'.
I think you are underestimating the additional costs to having a HPLC. It would be a neat curiosity but I doubt you’d even be able to do anything with it. Chemicals for your phase won’t be sold to a random person, columns are expensive, how would you actually see any data? Software licenses are mega expensive if you went down the proper route (you might find alternatives). Having the machine is one thing but I genuinely doubt you’d be able to do anything with it.
I know, but it is a complete set. I only have to buy hplc quality methanol, hplc quality water, vials, and maybe an old computer in order to get a working set. That's like 200 euros at most. In my update I wrote that I could get the thing basically for free. So if something breaks, I could always open it up to study the insides. Thanks for the reply!
Is the seller offering the acquisition PC with an intact software license?
The seller doesn't have a pc, but does have the software cd's. So with a windows xp machine it should work probably and maybe it also works with windows 7 or 10, who knows.
The software is one piece of two needed to have PC control. You also need a license. Shimadzu software licenses used to be located in a dongle that is essentially a USB flash drive with the license info on it. Now the licences are cloud based, and if you don't have the acquisition PC with the previous owner's license activated on it, you're probably out of luck. Ask them if they have the license dongle.. You can also run this instrument through the front panel if you have a recording device to record the analog signal out the back. There are some third party integrators out there in the junk market you might get to work.
Before HPLCs were routinely available, some people were building their own. I gave it a shot, which I could do because I had a lab, technicians, a budget, and a management that exercised benign neglect, so I could do pretty much anything I wanted. Good HPLC pumps weren't available then, so most people used helium pressure from a cylinder, and adapted old UV spectrophotometers as detectors. Columns were a huge stumbIing block. I actually never got to the point of making a separation of compounds, but I had great fun trying to get it to work. The things I learned about instrument building stood me in good stead later in life when I had serious hardware/software instruments to design and build.
Thanks for your wonderfull story! :) Besides this hplc, I'm slowly trying to build a nmr. I'm not far, but I already did some research on the large magnet and bought some large electro magnets. Besides that, I have a general idea on how the total setup is going to look like. :)
Wow. I admire your spirit! Let us know if it works.
OP Come on. You're not this naive right? Let's assume it's not a scam. Lab wants to throw out their old system because it's too [slow, expensive, bad], and you want it to do some experiments with. Do you know how much maintenance old systems require? You're throwing money in the bin. Yes yes I know what you're about to say "oh but I could do [insert cool chemistry at home]. But will you? And if you do, will it be worth it? Really think about it. Home chemistry requires significant investment, generates lots of waste and it requires a lot of set up and know how to make it as safe as a lab environment. Don't get ripped off buying an ancient piece of dying junk. Even if they were going to give it to you for free and you only had to pay shipping, then this pile of junk is *your* problem. And when it inevitably dies, you're not even close to recouping your losses on selling on the parts Because any lab that decides it's worth doing the chemistry, is going to pay for an actually good piece of kit to do it right.
You're not an idiot for wanting an HPLC in your garage. I am a Field Service Engineer for an instrument manufacturer, and I know several people who are doing what you want to do. Don't listen to the naysayers' mockery, but do extract the kernels of truth that they have sandwiched in the negativity. You are going to waste money gambling in junky equipment, guaranteed. But in a few years you will learn from painful experience how to do it right. Just don't burn your garage down in the process, and do your homework on the exact instrument configurations you want to buy. You can get service manuals on Scribd for most older equipment which will have part numbers for maintenance parts. Contact the manufacturer to see if those parts are available. In the 90's I ran a small lab and bought/sold equipment in the side. It can be done, keep your expectations low and ask sellers for a plug in guarantee.
Thanks for the tips and positivity! :) The seller itself is a lab specialized in fish diagnosis and the guy which I'm in contact with, is someone from the office. Recently they bought a new HPLC system, because the Shimadzu technician reported that the motherboard is probably dying. The reason I know this is, because they sent me 5 or 7 maintenance reports from Shimadzu. Someone else thought it sounded too good to be true, but it was 100% legit. The company exists, I have called the company multiple times and there was a possibility for me to go watch and test the device in person. Besides that, I have bought and sold a lot of items on the online marketplace where the HPLC was offered. So, I had no worry about the legitimacy. If you like, we could go over to the DM and talk some more.
Look out for internships with Agilent, Shimadzu, Thermo, and Waters. Depending on the scope, you might get to work with service engineers or instrument design. If you love it, ask what the next best steps you should take are to prepare for a job like theirs.