Post Mon Apr 11, 2016 3:05 pm

Re: Best way to clean out the nebulizer

Hi Christoph,

What doyou mean by "not getting sufficient tuning results"? Does Tuning not pass? Does it pass, but your values are really off from the first time you used the nebulizer? How do your EQ beads look: do they also look dim, or are they bright but less frequent than they should be?

In short, you might have a nebulizer clog: there are various ways to clear this. First to try is backflushing through both the sample and gas ports of the nebulizer; I usually use 5% citranox for this, followed by MilliQ water. If you then forward-flush, your gas port should give you a stream that's coaxial to the long axis of the nebulizer: it shouldn't be off at an angle, or in multiple streams.

You can also use Meinhardt's Pearl Nebulizer cleaning tool: https://www.meinhard.com/index.cfm/prod ... lizers.cfm

Finally, I find that soaking the nebulizer in concentrated nitric acid overnight usually clears clogs: put about 1 mL in a spare 2mL microentrifuge tube (you usually have a bunch left from the spin filters from antibody labeling): they're just the right depth to soak them without the tip of the nebulizer hitting the bottom. Backflush the nitric into each port of the nebulizer (Note: concentrated nitric acid is corrosive, so handle carefully!).


Mike