Dear Josh,
We had some kind of error like that 2 or 3 years ago. The problem was that
the metallic cover of the samplecase (the one with 60 holes for the positions)
is made of two layers of metal with a polymer in between.
The polymer had degraded and became sticky impeding movement in an aleator
way. We got a replacement cover, but the Bruker engineer advised us to leave
it without cover.
Since we work without the cover, there has been no more problems.
Hope that helps. Good luck
Gabriel
Dr. Gabriel González Ferrer
Responsable RMN / NMR Manager
Institut Català d’Investigació Química (ICIQ) /
Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ)
Av. Països Catalans 16 – 43007 Tarragona (Spain)
Phone +34 977920207 / +34 686669420 – Fax +34 977920224
ggonzalez_at_iciq.es -
http://www.iciq.es
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> De: main_at_ammrl.groups.io En nom de Josh Kurutz via groups.io
> Enviat: miércoles, 5 de agosto de 2026 17:56
> Per a: main_at_ammrl.groups.io
> Tema: [AMMRL] AMMRL: Intermittent SampleCasePlus (60) problem - stuck in state mid-to-in, mid-to-out, etc.
Hi AMMRL Community.
I'd like your help addressing a recurring intermittent problem with our
SampleCasePlus (60 samples). It occasionally times out as the carousel slides
back and forth to change which of the three rings of samples will be under
the transport tube. We get a “red bar” error, a failed sample,
and the queue stops. The error message is along the lines:
“…Fatal Error…1000 STOP_CHANGER…Timeout while
trying to move carousel. Move tray FSM is stuck in state 9: moving mid to in.”
Similar errors appear for moving between other ring positions (mid, in, out).
Recovery by resetting the autosampler with the emergency stop button is
immediate - there’s no apparent change in carousel position upon
successful reset - like the carousel was just slow or needed another couple
seconds to read its position.
I’d like some help either fixing the recurring problem or managing
my expectations. I’ve been focusing on the mechanical issues, but
perhaps there’s a setting in the HA web interface where I can increase
the timeout time by a couple seconds.
In the past, we’ve gained some relief by:
* Cleaning the aluminum fins that cover the lower unit’s interior
at the front and back margins. Last time we did this, we removed the finassembly
from the cover (but kept it intact) so we could place it flat on a clean bench
top, and wiped down the fins repeatedly with 70%-isopropanol-laden paper towels.
We took care to not disturb the side edges, which are apparently lubricated with
a white grease.
* Using dry kimwipes to wipe down the interior track along which the carousel
(“tray”?) slides back and forth between its three positions. I
then applied a light coat of Festo grease (the same as used to lubricate the
slider rail atop the magnet) to that track.
* Gently swabbing all sensors with cotton-tipped swabs briefly dipped in
electronics-grade isopropanol, paying extra attention to the ones sensing=
mid/in/out positions.
That cleaning helped a lot a few months ago, but over the last few weeks the
problems have been occurring again, and incident frequency is increasing.
I also noticed some white powder occasionally builds up on top of one part
of a fin, right next to where the white carousel plastic protrudes above
the aluminum. This powder doesn’t really look like a spilled sample
- my suspicion is that something is rubbing or scraping the carousel plastic
and leaving a residue, but I don’t have a good basis for thinking
that, and I’d be hard-pressed to identify where that action might
happen.
The portion of the SampleCasePlus manual covering regular maintenance doesn’t
appear say anything about maintaining the fins or lubricating the carousel’s
sliding track inside the lower unit.
I’d asked Bruker’s Rover support about this before, and I got
some good insight. When I first got the units, the aluminum fins were lightly
greased, so I thought I should occasionally wipe them down and re-grease them.
An engineer corrected me on that, saying the grease doesn’t really
have a function when the unit is working, so I should just remove the grease.
However, I still figured the white grease at the sides looks important to reduce
wear.
Any ideas? Should I just start scheduling disassembly and cleaning every few
months?
Thanks. - Josh
P.S. What does the “FSM” in the error message mean, with
respect to the tray? I normally read this acronym with an entirely nontechnical
meaning.
--
Josh Kurutz, PhD
NMR Facility Manager, Chemistry Dept.
University of Chicago
https://chemnmrlab.uchicago.edu/
jkurutz_at_uchicago.edu
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Received on Wed Aug 05 2026 - 10:43:35 MST