Varian, Inc.

2700 Mitchell Drive

Walnut Creek, CA 94598-1675/USA

Waters 2690 Alliance Control

Galaxie Driver Manual

©Varian, Inc. 2005 03-914947-36: Rev. 3

 Table of Contents
Introduction.............................................................................................. 3
General ........................................................................................................................... 3
Installation and Configuration................................................................ 4
Installing the Driver Software .......................................................................................... 4
Configuring the Communication Server.......................................................................... 4
Configuring the driver...................................................................................................... 5
Configuring the Waters 2690 Alliance ......................................................................... 5
Configuring the synopsis ............................................................................................. 6
Building a Method ................................................................................... 9
Creating a New Method .................................................................................................. 9
Control Method for the Waters 2690 Alliance ............................................................... 11
Temperature control .................................................................................................. 16
Starting and Viewing an Acquisition.................................................... 18
Quick Start and Sequence ............................................................................................ 18
Quick Start (Single Acquisition)................................................................................. 18
Sequence .................................................................................................................. 19
Running Acquisition Status ........................................................................................... 20
Viewing a Running Acquisition. ................................................................................. 20
Status of the Waters 2690Alliance ............................................................................ 20

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Introduction

General
This document describes the configuration procedure of the
Waters 2690 Alliance driver. It also explains how to build a
control method for this driver, how to start and view a running
acquisition and what actions are available during an analysis.

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Installation and
Configuration

Installing the Driver Software

To install the Galaxie Drivers software refer to the Galaxie
installation Guide.

Configuring the Communication Server

To communicate with the Waters 2690 module a GPIB_Interface
or a NI488 communication bus must be configured on the
acquisition server.
The buffer parameters of the GPIB_Interface bus to
communicate with the module must be the following:
TX Buffer: 1024
RX Buffer: 1024

NOTE: For more details about the configuration of a GPIB_Interface or a NI488 bus,
refer to the Galaxie Chromatography Data System Installation’s Guide.

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Configuring the driver
The driver software configuration is done in the Galaxie
Configuration Manager.

Configuring the Waters 2690 Alliance

Click on the button corresponding to the Waters 2690

Alliance driver and the configuration screen appears.

Configuration Window

HIPB Interface Parameter Group:

In the Instrument address field, enter the HPIB addresses of the
Waters 2690.

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 In the HPIB Hardware section, select in the drop/down list the
name of the bus previously configured with the Communication
Server Configuration tool.

NOTE: The HPIB addresses of the 2690 Alliance are displayed on the front panel screen:
at the start of the instrument, click on ‘config’, the 2 HPIB addresses are then
displayed on the configuration page.

In order to control the Waters 2690 by Galaxie, check that the system field in the
configuration screen of the instrument is ‘controlled by Millenium 2.X.X’.

Hardware Parameter Group:

Depending on the options installed on the instrument, check the
Sample Thermostat Installed or the Column Oven Installed.

Configuring the Synopsis

In the Overview part of the system configuration, a synopsis
must be defined to the system. This synopsis depends on the
configured devices.
1. To save the configuration of these devices, click on the OK
button.
2. Right click on the system name in the bottom part of the
Galaxie Configuration Manager screen. A pop-up menu
appears: click on Stop. Then right click on the system name
again, and click on Start.

3. Go back to the system configuration screen (Properties

wizard). A graphic of the devices that comprise the system is
displayed in the synopsis screen. Note that flow proceeds
from left to right. To configure the synopsis to reflect the real
instrument configuration, move each module then, connect it
appropriately. To do this, select one anchor for each of the
two modules (the selected anchor becomes red) and click on

the button. A connection tube will appear between the

two anchors.

Click on the to delete a selected tube, click on the

button to delete all the tubes.

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 Click on to define a background color, or on to
make the background transparent.

Click on the icon to change the grid color.

4. Once the synopsis configuration is complete, it will be
displayed in the Galaxie Chromatography Data System, in
the Systems tab. In this tab, the Overview will show the
synopsis of the system with some parameters displayed
(temperature, flow, signal, etc.) depending on the devices
installed.
For example, the following pictures represent the synopsis of
the Waters 2690 Alliance:

Galaxie Configuration Manager Screen

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 Galaxie Chromatography Data System screen

NOTE: Once the system has been created and correctly configured, it must be
associated with one or more projects in order to start acquisitions. For more
details about the creation and configuration of a system, refer to the Galaxie
Configuration Manager User’s Guide.

Press the button to print the current configuration.

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Building a Method

Creating a New Method

The method contains parameters for instrument control, data
acquisition, chromatogram processing, and editing of final
results. To initially set up a method, it is not necessary to define
all of the sub-method sections; however, the instrument control
section must be filled in prior to starting an acquisition.
1. To create a new method, select the FILE / NEW METHOD
option from the Galaxie Chromatography Data System main
menu.
A wizard guide will appear and provide assistance during the
first steps of method creation:

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 2. Choose the system (chromatograph) associated with the
method. A method is created for a particular system. When
starting an acquisition, the name of the system that performs
the acquisition must be correct, since method access is
limited only to those methods associated with this system.
3. Once this field is completed, click on the Next button to
move to the next step of the method creation:

4. Enter the New Method Name in the first field. In the

Description field, enter information concerning the method
(optional).
5. Once these two fields have been completed, click on the OK
button. The new method is created and is opened with
default parameters in the Galaxie Chromatography Data
System. The next step is the definition of each of the method
sections.
The instrument control method section must be defined in
order to start an acquisition. In the following part of this
guide, only the control section for the Waters 2690 Alliance
is detailed. Other parameters such as Injection Volume, Vial
and Rack number may be necessary and are defined in the
acquisition section.

NOTE: For more details about the programming of each method section, refer to the
Galaxie Chromatography Data System User’s Guide.

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Control Method for the Waters 2690 Alliance
Once the new method is created, select the control section in the
lower part of the browser.
The following screen appears:

Press the button to display the System Control

Method Advanced Tools window:
to send the current method to the
instrument (not applicable to this driver)
to get the active method from the
instrument (not applicable to this driver)
to print the current method

Click on the button to display the Waters 2690 Alliance

control method section. It contains four sub-sections: Settings,
Limits, Switches and Temperature. Click on the required tab to
define the corresponding parameters that will be used during the
chromatographic run.

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Settings Control

Elution Parameter Group:

Enter the names of the solvents that will be used for the
acquisition in the Solvent X fields.
If the pump must be stopped at the end of a quickstart or a
sequence, check the stop pump at the end of sequence box.
Program Parameter Group:
A Stabilization Time can be defined, it allows to apply the elution
conditions defined in the Prerun line of the table during a defined
time period.
A time program can be defined to change the flow or the mobile
phase composition as a function of time:

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 Use the following buttons to edit the table:

to add a line to the table

to delete a line in the table

to clear the entire table

On the right part of this screen, a chart is displayed to view the
eluent composition and flow modifications as a function of time.

Options:
This section allows the user to define elution conditions that will
be applied when the system is not running (not in acquisition) for
a defined time period.
To use this option, check the Standby flow option, then defined
the Timeout (period of time when the system is idle after an
acquisition), and the elution composition.

Degasser parameter group:

Select in the drop/down list the type of Degasser mode to use:
normal, continuous or disable if no degassing of the eluents is
needed.

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Limits Control

Pressure Alarms Parameter Group:

Enter in the fields Minimum and Maximum, the pressure limits of
the method. If the pressure is outside those limits, a warning is
displayed on the front panel screen of the instrument.

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Switches control

Prerun State Parameter Group:

In this field, define the prerun state for each of the four switches.
When an injection cycle begins, each switch turns to the state
defined in this section.
Program Parameter Group:
This program table allows to turn switches on or off according to
time.

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 Use the following buttons to edit the table:

to add a line to the table

to delete a line in the table

to clear the entire table

Temperature Control

Sample Thermostat Parameter Group:

In this field, check the On box if the sample must be
thermostated and set the Setpoint value.

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NOTE: This option is active only if the Sample Thermostat Installed box has been check
when configuring the system.

Column Oven Parameter Group:

In this field, check the On box if the column must be
thermostated and set the Setpoint value.
The maximum limit can also be set. Generally, this limitation
depends on the column characteristics.

NOTE: This option is active only if the Column Oven Installed box has been check when
configuring the system.

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Starting and Viewing an
Acquisition

Quick Start and Sequence

Once the instrument control method has been correctly
programmed, an analysis can be started. The next section briefly
describes how to start an acquisition.

Quick Start (Single Acquisition)

1. Press the button.
In the Quick Start window, select the system, the method,
and optionally the project, if connected in "All project" mode.
2. Press the OK button
The following screen is displayed:

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 In the Acquisition parameters tab, required fields like the
Run Name, the Run ID and the Acquisition length must be
filled in before starting an analysis. Furthermore, if the
system is equipped with an autosampler controlled by the
Galaxie Chromatography Data System, the Injection
Volume, the Vial position and the Rack number (if required)
must be entered.
Other parameters fitted to each acquisition channel can be
entered in the Channel X tab.
3. Click on the Start button to start the acquisition if the system
is a single-injector system or click on the Next button if the
system is a multiple injector system. In a multiple injector
system, the same parameters entered for the first injector
must be entered for the other injectors before starting the
acquisition.

Sequence
1. To create a sequence, select the FILE / NEW SEQUENCE,
menu and complete the displayed creation wizard screen
(refer to the Galaxie Chromatography Data System User’s
Guide), by entering the system name that will perform the
analysis, the number of lines (corresponding to the number
of samples) and the sequence name.

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 2. The sequence is displayed. Complete the sequence
information columns (refer to the Galaxie Chromatography
Data System User’s Guide).

The Method Name, the Run Name, the Run ID and the
Acquisition length must be filled in before starting the
analysis. This information is automatically imported from the
acquisition part of the method if defined.

3. Start the sequence by clicking on the button.

NOTE: For more details about how to start an acquisition, refer to the Galaxie
Chromatography Data System User’s Guide

Running Acquisition Status

Viewing a Running Acquisition
To view a running acquisition, click on the Systems tab then
select the running system. A window is activated which is
composed of two parts: the running chromatogram and the
status window where the driver modules are listed.

Status of the Waters 2690Alliance

Click on the button corresponding to the Waters 2690

Alliance driver, and the instrument status screens will appear.

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 Status Window

Solvent Composition Parameter Group:

During acquisition, this section displays the current composition
and total flow.
Temperatures Parameter Group:
In this part of the status screen, the current temperatures of the
column oven and the sample thermostat are displayed.
Pressure Profile Parameter Group:
In this part, a chart displayed the pressure profile as a function of
time. The limit pressure values set in the control part of the
method are displayed as well.
Active Buttons
Four active buttons enable several parameters to be changed
during a run:

The button enables to change the

mobile phase composition and the eluent flow. Click on this
button and the following screen is displayed:

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 New values can then be entered and sent to the instrument by
pressing on OK.

The enables the user to set a flow

ramp. Click on, this button and the following screen is displayed:

The final composition and the ramp time to reach this new
composition can be set.

The enables the modification of

the column oven temperature.
Click on this button and the following screen is displayed:

The new temperature can be entered and sent to the instrument

by pressing on the Update button.

NOTE: This option is active only if the Column Oven Installed box has been check when
configuring the system.

The enables the user to set the

temperature of the sample thermostat.
Click on this button and the following screen is displayed:

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 The new temperature can be set and sent to the instrument by
pressing the Update button.

NOTE: This option is active only if the Sample Thermostat Installed box has been check
when configuring the system.

Overview Window

Click on the button: the Status Overview window is

displayed and contains three tabs:
• General: displays the synopsis of the instrument, where
some current values can be read (volume, vial number,
etc.).

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 On the top left part of this screen, the eluent composition and the
flow are displayed. The pressure is also displayed.
If a column oven has been installed, its temperature can be read
under the column scheme.
On the same way, if a sample thermostat has been installed, its
temperature can be read under the carrousel scheme.

The button switches the pump on.

The button switches the pump off.

• Not ready: contains the not ready information sent by the

instrument.
• Events: contains the events that have occurred on the
instrument.

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