For 
Shimadzu GC Craps Out at the South Pole
....what else is new???
The following observations recently appeared in the nsf.dpp-messages newsgroup
when a prominent government researcher from NOAA noted the following GC problems:
The South Pole Science SITREP group wrote:
"Both the RITS and STEALTH gas chromatography systems ran continuously with no
significant problems. However, the temperature for the Shimadzu GC#2 has been noticed
to drift significantly for small periods of time. This oven is being monitored to
determine the cause of the variable temperatures."
Prediction: They can monitor all day long and they won't find the cause!
Question: Would you want one of these variable temp Shimadzu GC's in your lab?
Advice: Stop monitoring.... there's not enough hours in a day to ascertain the problem!
n.b. Here's a credible report of three different GC's in a rugged research
environment that depends upon reliable analytical instruments and guess which vendor is
not up to the task (i.e. fails to get the job done)? How "unrugged" and
"unreliable" do you want your next GC to be.... Shimadzu could build one for you
whether you ask for it or not!
n.b. A gas chromatograph with a drifting temperature is NOT capable of making reproducible
consistent measurements of any kind. What do you suppose the CV's (i.e. coefficients of
variation) look like for a typical Shimadzu GC instrument? Do you really want to
experiment with one using your valuable time and resources.... HELL NO!
n.b. Down at the South Pole, Shimadzu's GC might double as an expensive air conditioner
(if the oven fan works without incident). If this isn't practical, it could always serve
as a cold useless paperweight. If you would like to suggest a more useless role.... let us
know!
n.b. It would seem that there is a lot of used Shimadzu equipment out there for sale after
perusing posts to the sci.chem.analytical newsgroup. Why all this dumping of Shimadzu
equipment? Are former Shimadzu customers disgusted and casting aside their unworthy
Shimadzu instruments? Would you like to "dump" on a Shimadzu GC/LC/TOC/UV-Vis?
n.b. Can you utter SHIT-MADZU.... we bet you can! Go ahead and give it a try!
Expect Less Value and More Disappointmetn from Shimadzu
This page was last 
12/31/00