Alix's method is great--essentially overpressure an exetainer and  
force water to leak out through the gasbench needle.  One additional  
tip: in order to force flow through the (narrower ID) silica capillary  
(in which the acid usually crystallizes), it helps plug the stainless  
steel capillary with a fitting you can make out of spare parts (a  
union with a plug in one end and the silica capillary in the other).   
Otherwise, most of the flow goes through the (wider ID) stainless  
capillary.

Best,

Jonathan Wynn
Department of Geology
University of South Florida
4202 E Fowler Ave, SCA 528
Tampa, FL 33620
Tel.  +1 (813) 974-9369
Lab. +1 (813) 974-5278
Fax. +1 (813) 974-2654
[log in to unmask]
http://shell.cas.usf.edu/~jwynn

On Jun 8, 2009, at 5:38 PM, Alix Gayle Cage wrote:

> Hi Joe,
>
> I wash the capillary out using a standard syringe with a hypodermic  
> needle.  I
> fill an exetainer vial with distilled water and seal it with an  
> exetainer screw
> cap (with a piercable, rubber septa).  Put the gasbench needle into  
> the vial
> through the septa and using the syringe, push more distilled water  
> into the
> vial to over-fill the vial and drive the water down the gasbench  
> needle and
> capillary.  Works for us.
>
> Best wishes,
> Alix
>
>
>
>
> Quoting Joe Lambert <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>>    I was hoping someone could offer tips/advice for unclogging  
>> GasBench
>> sample needles where acid has crystallized in the silica capillary.
>> There was some discussion in the past which involved adapting a small
>> syringe to flush water through the capillary.  Is there an easy way  
>> to
>> connect a syringe to the small capillary?  Other ideas?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Joe
>>
>>
>> W. Joe Lambert
>> Research Scientist
>> Alabama Stable Isotope Laboratory
>> University of Alabama
>> Geological Sciences
>> 202 Bevill Building
>> 7th Avenue
>> P.O. Box 870338
>> Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0338
>> Phone: (205) 348-4404
>> Fax: (205) 348-0818
>> email: [log in to unmask]
>> Visit our web-site: http:www.geo.ua.edu/asil
>>
>
>
> ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸, ø¤º°`°º¤ø ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø
>
> Dr Alix G. Cage,
> Environmental Change Research Group,
> School of Geography & Geosciences,
> University of St Andrews,
> St Andrews,
> Fife, KY16 9AL,
> Scotland, UK.
>
> Telephone:  +44 1334 463952
> Fax:        +44 1334 463949
> Email:      [log in to unmask]
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> University of St Andrews Webmail: https://webmail.st-andrews.ac.uk