[RASMB] how to fix an old XL-A - now with image attached

[Sabine Kaltofen]

Sorry for the multiple messages, here is the image I was talking about.

Best
Sabine

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Sabine Kaltofen
Biochemistry & Structural Biology
Lund University
+46 462220851
sabine.kaltofen at biochemistry.lu.se




Dear All,

I am working with an XL-A that is about 20 years old. It has been working nicely but now the old lady is starting to have problems. We are experiencing failures in setting the wavelength (wavelength servo timeout). The problem was occurring only occasionally in the beginning but has become more and more frequent (which sounds a bit like a mechanical part that is becoming more and more worn out).
Our service engineer had a look at the wavelength drive motor and the pin. There was no obvious damage so he cleaned and reinserted everything and the pin moved properly afterwards. However, that cure did not last, so the problem is permanent now and the pin is not moving at all. One might have to exchange the motor and pin - but since the machine is old and the layout of the parts has changed, Beckman essentially suggests to exchange the whole lamp assembly, motor pot, lamp holder et al (see picture attached). This sounds rather expensive and they are not even sure the problem can be fixed by changing these parts.
I was thinking whether there is another solution, like finding a spare part from another old machine, having parts rebuilt by the workshop etc. I guess problems like that will become more frequent in the future, since it gets increasingly difficult to find spare parts for older machines. Therefore I would be grateful for any thoughts and suggestions you might have on how we could fix our machine.


All the best,

Sabine


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