New Finger tight Fittings and Tools for GC Inlets

Recently Restek introduced new installation kits (27220 and 27221) for Shimadzu GC inlets.  Among the products that were introduced where a new Hot Swap nut for 1/16” fittings (27224) and a modified installation gauge (27227) with a finger tight adaption.  Introducing these new fittings and tools opened up a range of cost saving and time saving benefits for customers across instrument platforms.

27220	27227

For Shimadzu GCs using the modified inlet kit 27220 (or siltek-treated version 27221) allows for the use of the fingertight fittings and tools.  You can generate enough torque just using your fingers with the Hot Swap nut and the modified installation gauge to pre-seat not only graphite ferrules but vespel/graphite ferrules too.  This cuts down column maintenance and installation with about a 25% reduction in time spent performing the procedure.  It has also been shown to be gentler on the threads on the nut and the inlet fitting as less force is needed to get a good seal. 

These fittings also use standard 1/16” ferrules that are cheaper and readily available.  It is important to note that the conical part of the ferrule is pointing upwards into the fitting; this has been demonstrated to provide a superior seal of ferrule into fitting, and around the GC column when compared to ferrules installed with the conical part pointing away from the inlet.  Better sealing means less leaks, and thus less subsequent issues with performance and column lifetime.

The new Hot Swap nut and gauge can also be applied to fittings we sell for use in Agilent and Perkin Elmer Clarus 590/690 GCs.

27184	23406

For some time Restek has sold inlet reducing nut fittings with 1/16” column nuts for Agilent and Perkin Elmer Clarus 590/690 GCs: 27184 is designed for traditional, Agilent-style or Dual Vespel Ring inlet seals, 23406 is designed to be used with flip seals. We can now use the new Hot Swap nut with these fittings to make installation and maintenance even easier.  Also if your lab has a combination of instrument platforms including Shimadzu, Agilent or Perkin Elmer Clarus 590/690 GCs then you could use the same Hot Swap column nut and installation gauge on all of them.