Hi Ewerton,

Welcome to the wacky world of EA maintenance! You'll experience this and more as you learn the ropes.
Cracked glass (often in the EA itself), leaky fittings, spent O-rings; twisted connectors; dead GC columns, you name it. It will happen.

Keep a log of what you've analyzed--number of samples and type. You'll get a sense of which ones are problems (filters and rocks) and which are easy (animal tissues and standards).

Isogeochem archives are a good place to refer to. 

Have fun. 

Marilyn


Marilyn L. Fogel
Distinguished Emerita Professor of Geoecology
Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences
University of California Riverside
Riverside, CA, USA



On Tue, Jun 8, 2021 at 3:51 PM Santos, Ewerton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Dear all,

I was removing the reactor from the Smart EA when I realized that it was cracked (copper oxide and copper electrolyte). After removing it I put it on the fume hood, and instantly after put it on the reactor cracked in almost the middle. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of the crack to show. I am worried if I made the process incorrectly or if it is a problem that someone had experienced.

Note:  Before removing the reactor, I had reduced the temperature slowly (100 by 100 degrees celsius, until reach 60C). After cooling it, I had removed the top screw (autosampler) after that, I had removed the bottom screw. This reactor has only a few months of usage.

If someone had seen something like that, could you please share the experience with me, and consequently with us. I would not like do the same mistake again.

Thank you in advance,

Ewerton Santos

Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
Brown University
324 Brook Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02912
U.S.A.