Gate valve closing with plasma on

[trevorbruce]

Hello- thank you for letting me join the forum. Has anyone had the issue of the gate valve closing while the plasma is still on? It seems to be happening after the plasma has been on for 20 minutes

[TomerWeizmann]

Welcome.

We have encountered a similar fault. It required Fluidigm’s on-site service and replacing of the gate valve (sometimes cleaning the mechanism and changing the o-rings may help).

As a temporary workaround, you may try opening the gate valve ‘manually’ via Service Mode (consult with your FSE). Keep a close eye that it stays open, and I also recommend to confirm that the QC (tuning and beads etc.) are normal after this procedure.

Good luck

[trevorbruce]

Thank you- we are scheduling a Fluidigm visit

[desireeBCRT]

Hi,
we also had our gate closing about that time after plasma was lit. Sometimes with a shutdown and error "Argon supply insufficient" but most times also with plasma staying on. In our case, it was a failure at the gas manifold sitting behind the argon inlet on the side of the instrument. A loose connection of a cable, that made the instrument "think" that there was insufficient argon when it actually wasn't the case.

Good luck and please let us know what the issue was on your instrument.

Desiree

[trevorbruce]

Our field service engineer replaced the micro board, and that seems to have resolved the issue