Hitachi L7100 Pump: Installation

Installing and Controlling Third-Party Devices
Merck Hitachi L7100 Pump: Installation

Dionex recommends operating the Merck Hitachi L7100 Pump with the new Merck (or Hitachi) LaChrom HPLC System Device Driver (see Merck Hitachi LaChrom HPLC System: Overview).

Chromeleon still provides the old device driver (Obsolete: Merck Hitachi L7100 Pump (D-Line)) only for compatibility reasons. The old driver requires a D-Line converter for each device.

Hardware Installation

Device Connection:

Use a D-Line cable to connect the Merck Hitachi L7100 Pump to a D-Line converter. Use the upper D-Line socket of the L7100 (labeled RELAY BOX) as power is supplied to this socket only.

Connect the D-Line converter itself to a free COM port of the controlling PC using a fully connected null modem cable. (Dionex part no. 1310.2263; for more information, refer to Null Modem Cable.)

Device Settings:

The driver uses the default settings of the D-Line converter for the serial communication: 4800 Baud, 8N1. To check: This setting is used if the DIP switch settings on the card inside the D-Line converter are as follows:

Switch 1 1 2 3 4 5 6

Off Off On On On Off

Define the pump type on the Setup menu as follows and confirm your input by pressing <Enter>:

When turning on the pump, simultaneously press the Utility and Power keys to open the Setup menu.
Set the pump type to LP (low pressure) or HP (high pressure). If the setting is LP, you can only select pump A. If the setting is HP, you can select either pump A or pump B.
Verify that the D-Line function is set to On.
Turn off the pump.
Turn on the pump. The "D-Line is not ready" message appears.
Connect the pump to Chromeleon.

The following settings are required on the Utility menu:

Press the Utility key to open the Utility menu. Enter the following values and confirm your inputs by pressing <Enter>:
Cond: 1
LP Gradient: 3
LP Gradient Type Fast: (2) (else, the actual gradient does not correspond to your program!)

Software Installation

Install the Device Driver in the Chromeleon Server Configuration. (For more information about the program, refer to Software Installation and Communication The Server Configuration Program.)

Start the Chromeleon server.
Start the Server Configuration program.
Add the pump to the timebase. Select Add Device on the Edit or context menu, and then select Obsolete from the Manufacturers list box and Merck Hitachi L7100 (D-Line) from the Devices list box.
The following settings are required:

On the General tab page, select the COM port to which the pump is connected. In addition, disable the Demo Mode.

On the Limits tab page, determine the maximum allowed pressure.

On the Solvents tab page, specify the number and name(s) of the solvents delivered by the pump.

The Error Levels tab page classifies the severity of any errors that occur. It is generally not necessary to change the default settings.

Application

Note:

To operate the L7100 pump in stand-alone mode without D-Line connection: Press the Utility key while turning on the pump. Use the displayed menus to remove D-Line operation from the configuration. Also, refer to the manual for the L7100 Pump.

Operating several instruments, for example, an L7100 Pump plus an L7200 Autosampler, requires a separate D-Line converter for each instrument.

The D-Line converter does not support the Disconnect command. After successfully connecting the pump (the display changes from D-LINE SYSTEM IS NOT READY to the flow display), the D-Line system cannot be de-initialized. Pump.Disconnect only stops the pump and sets the status of Pump.Connected to disconnected.
The pump L7100 does not support locking the keyboard. Even during control via the D-Line and Chromeleon, it would be possible to perform all actions directly via the pump. However, this is not recommended during controlled operation. If the driver detects keyboard operation, a corresponding warning is included in the Audit Trail.
Occasionally, there are deviations between the values indicated on the display of the pump and the values of the corresponding Chromeleon properties. These deviations are due to the pump's firmware. Sometimes, the firmware does not supply the displayed value for status requests via D-Line. However, the deviations are negligible rounding errors.

Further Information

Tip:

For more installation details, refer to the manual for the instrument.

For an overview of the pump, refer to Merck Hitachi L7100 Pumps: Overview.

For an overview of the different Merck Hitachi instruments that can be controlled by Chromeleon, refer to Merck Hitachi.