We have a MALDI-TOF MS in our institution and every now and then we encounter several problems mainly associated with the laser. One of the problems we encountered more than once is the error "laser focus motor failed initialization" and "laser interlock". I would like to know if this problem appeared and to others, how you troubleshoot and any possible reasons for its occurrence.
Hi Maria,
what model/manufacturer is your system? I think this information will be essential as the lasers in all the different systems are different (and even in the same model you might see different lasers).
Hello Marcus,
Is a Bruker BIFLEX III time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer.
Hello Maria,
o.k., I will check this with our service and will let you know as soon as I have found out something. Regards, Marcus
Hi there
The interlock problem makes reference to a switch that many devices that incorpórate a laser have. Probably your laser is located in a compartment; when you open the lid of such compartment, a switch opens, and the system halts so the user does not get harm by the laser radiation. To avoid the message, some switches can be manually pressed to a "close" state or you can use adhesive tape.
Regarding the second problem, there is probably some optics for laser focusing and attenuating. The latter (that I know for sure) is controlled by a DC motor with an optical encoder. It seems that either the encoder is dead or that the electronics board in the computer that controls the motor is dead. An alternative explanation is that the "rail's end" switch of the focusing system is failing.
I hope this is of help
Best regards
Jose
Hi. We have Maldi tof tof autoflex Bruker. Sustem was working fine. It suddenly gave a message .."Cabinet temperature is too high". Fans are working fine. Room temperature is also around 20 deg. Switched off system for overnight and next day after switching it on and vacuum reestablidhing, checked the system by acquiring data and during acquisition, the system gave the same error and git held. Please suggest what could be the susceptible issue. Thanks.
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