Gilson ASPEC XL: Special Features

Installing and Controlling Third-Party Devices
Gilson ASPEC XL Autosampler: Special Features

Beyond the functions of the other Gilson autosamplers of the XL series, the ASPEC XL autosampler provides the following special features (nevertheless, all autosamplers of the XL series are controlled by the same Gilson XL Series (Extended) device driver):

Hardware

Device Type:

Autosampler for solid phase extraction (SPE)

Racks:

DEC Racks (DEC = Disposable Extraction Cartridge) consist of a mobile part (upper rack) and a solid lower part (collect rack).

The mobile upper rack holds the SPE columns. The ASPEC needle can move the mobile holder forward and backward. The needle moves down into the Rack Handling Hole (= additional, empty rack position) and then moves the rack into the desired position.

Two positions are defined for the rack:

Sink - directly above the drain cuvet (default: home position)

Collect - directly above the collect rack

Application

Tray Files

The racks of the Gilson autosamplers and fraction collectors are arranged on a tray. That is why you have to define the single sample positions in a tray file (*.gty). The ASPECXL.gty tray file is available for the ASPEC XL autosampler. This file was configured for 5 DEC racks (type 106). For information about the sample positions in this file and in other predefined tray files, refer to Gilson Autosamplers and Fraction Collectors: Tray Files.

In addition to the standard rack positions, DEC racks have a Rack Handling Hole. The tray file must contain the coordinates of the rack handle position (Sink and Collect positions) for every DEC rack. If you use a DEC rack, define the following four zones in the tray file:

Collect: Lower rack
Mobile: Upper rack
Handle_Collect: The handling holes of all upper racks are in the Collect position.
Handle_Mobile: The handling holes of all lower racks are in the Sink position.

Make sure that the Collect position is in the Handle Collect zone and the Sink position is in the Handle Mobile zone. In addition, the positions of the tubes of the collect and the mobile racks (Sink position) are required. The GilsonXL driver accepts injections only from the tubes of the first defined zone. Therefore, make sure that the tubes of the collect rack are in this zone. The tubes of the mobile rack must be part of the second zone. However, number the tubes of both racks in the same way. This will ensure that the numbers of the tubes of both racks match if the mobile part is in the Collect position.

Moving to a specific position of the DEC rack

The tray file contains all positions of the collect rack tubes and the mobile rack tubes (in the Sink position). Thus, you can specify the zone and tube number to move the needle to the respective tube. If you want to move to a tube that is in the Collect position of the mobile rack, specify the zone and tube number of the collect rack. The positions of the mobile rack in the Collect position and the positions of the collect tubes only differ in the Z coordinate.

If you specify a tube number (Tube property), the needle moves to the corresponding position but it does not move down. The needle only moves down with a specific command such as Suck or Inject because the autosampler then draws liquid from the corresponding tube. The driver also allows you to use the Z property to move the needle up and down.

Caution:

Before the needle is moved in Z direction, there is no security check concerning the position of the mobile rack. Do NOT select the Suck or Inject command for collect rack tubes if the mobile rack is in the Collect position, that is, above the collect rack! When using the Z property, be sure that the mobile rack is in the Sink position! Invalid Z values may cause damage to the needle and the tubes of the mobile rack.

Additional Commands

Command	Parameter	Description
HomeDEC	RackNo (1 - number of the DEC rack)	If the position of the selected rack is not defined (= unknown), use this command to move the upper rack to the defined Sink position. Tip: Since the state of all DEC racks is set to unknown when a Connect command has been given, issue the command once. Only then, the autosampler can perform other commands.
HomeAllDECs		Sends the HomeDEC command to all upper DEC racks.
MoveDECToSink	RackNo (see above)	Moves the upper rack to the Sink position. Tip: If the rack position is not defined (= unknown), an error message is logged in the Audit Trail. If the rack already is in the Sink position, the command is ignored.
MoveDECToCollect	RackNo (see above)	Moves the upper rack to the Collect position. Tip: If the rack position is not defined (= unknown), an error message is logged in the Audit Trail. If the rack is already in the Collect position, the command is ignored.