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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=353333715-04042014>Sabine, I agree with Jack, really your fundamental
problem is that you don't have a service contract. The immediate problem is
almost surely with the wavelength drive assembly. With a contract, if Beckman
must replace many other parts in order to replace that one, this is their
problem not yours. That situation arose recently on my XL-I, and without a
contract it would have cost us $40K to replace a very minor part! If you are
going to use this instrument you really need a service
contract.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=353333715-04042014></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=353333715-04042014>Like Jack's, my 1990-vintage XL-A has had most of its
parts replaced over the years, but it still works fine, and I expect it to
continue to do so. My biggest concern is not the parts availability, it is the
imminent retirement of most of the senior service engineers in the US who really
understand these instruments.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=353333715-04042014></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=353333715-04042014>John</SPAN></FONT></DIV><BR>
<DIV lang=en-us class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT size=2 face=Tahoma><B>From:</B> rasmb-bounces@list.rasmb.org
[mailto:rasmb-bounces@list.rasmb.org] <B>On Behalf Of </B>John J.
Correia<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday, April 04, 2014 6:52 AM<BR><B>To:</B> Sabine
Kaltofen; rasmb@list.rasmb.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [RASMB] how to fix an old
XL-A<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Sabine, if you purchased a new XLA/I the technology would be essentially
the same as a 20 year old instrument. When they replace parts it might be a
newer version, the monochromator mount and wavelength assembly being examples,
but its still that era technology. Beckman has the spare parts for our machines
although maybe not in stock at any moment. My machine is ~1990 vintage and we
have probably replaced every part at least once. It also now has an FDS and a
turbo molecular pump, so many more things are altered. But I see no reason we
can't keep running for 10 more years since Beckman must support the only version
of the XLA/I they make. That said replacing parts with new parts sometimes
reveals other underlying problems. My philosophy has been have a service
contract and expect competent regular service, which for 20 years I have
received, with rare exceptions.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><SPAN id=OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; BORDER-TOP: #b5c4df 1pt solid; FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; COLOR: black; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-TOP: 3pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From: </SPAN>Sabine Kaltofen <<A
href="mailto:sabine.kaltofen@biochemistry.lu.se">sabine.kaltofen@biochemistry.lu.se</A>><BR><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Date: </SPAN>Friday, April 4, 2014 4:33 AM<BR><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To: </SPAN>"<A
href="mailto:rasmb@list.rasmb.org">rasmb@list.rasmb.org</A>" <<A
href="mailto:rasmb@list.rasmb.org">rasmb@list.rasmb.org</A>><BR><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject: </SPAN>[RASMB] how to fix an old
XL-A<BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr>
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<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; COLOR: #000000; DIRECTION: ltr">Dear
All,<BR><BR>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). <BR>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. <BR>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. <BR><BR><BR>All the
best,<BR><BR>Sabine<BR>
<DIV><BR>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Mind
your carbon footprint: please don't print this message.<BR></FONT><FONT
size=2><BR><BR><FONT face=Arial>Sabine Kaltofen<BR><SPAN class=Apple-style-span
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<DIV><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 13px">Biochemistry &
Structural Biology</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 13px"><FONT size=2><FONT
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class=Apple-style-span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 13px">Lund
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face=Arial><A
href="mailto:sabine.kaltofen@biochemistry.lu.se">sabine.kaltofen@biochemistry.lu.se</A></FONT><BR></DIV></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></SPAN>Individuals
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