Do TUV & PDA D2 Lamps Have a Shelf Life ?

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RD
RD
in Instrumentation and Mass Spectrometry
<p>Over the years I've heard from various sources that D2 lamps have a shelf life; meaning, of course, that it would not be a great idea to have multiple, new lamps sitting around a laboratory.</p><p></p><p>Can anyone comment and hopefully provide some supporting evidence ?</p><p></p><p>Regards,</p><p></p><p>Rich</p>

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  • ehenning
    ehenning
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    I've heard this as well.  The deuterium will leak out, etc.  I've always doubted this notion because the lamps are sealed units, right?  I recently had three 2487 detectors that were due for PM.  The optics were heavily solarized so I replaced M1, reference channel lens, and the lamp housing window on all three instruments.  I never ordered lamps because I was told that we already had several.  When the lamps were handed to me, I saw that the manufacture dates were between 2001 and 2003.  After installing the lamps and allowing approximately 30 minutes of warm up, all three detectors showed reference energy above 100 @ 230nm.  All three detectors passed wavelength accuracy and linearity specifications without any problem.  Now the detectors show about 600 hours of service on the lamp counters and I have seen no issues in performance, sensitivity, or chromatography.  I certainly don't believe that 3 lamps is proof that there is no shelf life, but I also won't hesitate to keep some spares on hand to eliminate down-time either.

    Eric

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