How to select the correct Conversion Kit for your SPME Arrow fiber

Jason Herrington recently wrote a post titled Does that SPME Arrow come with a free lunch?. where he talked about conversion kits.

What I would like to do in this post is to help you select the correct Conversion Kit for your specific model GC.

The selection may look a little intimidating for those not familiar with it so let’s break it down into more manageable sections but before we do that listed below are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Each kit is designed only for a split/splitless injection port for the particular GC make/model which is listed in the product’s description. If your GC has two split/splitless injection ports you can install a conversion kit onto either or both split/splitless injection ports. However these conversion kits are not for on-column LVI PTV or any other type of injection port.
2. Each kit is designed only for the specific GC make/model listed. While it is possible that a kit may fit a different model of GC since we do not have every make/model of GC at Restek we can only guarantee that it will fit the model(s) listed.
3. Please read the description of the kit very carefully since there may be additional stipulations for a proper fit. As an example for the Agilent 6890 Conversion Kits the split vent filter needs to be the type which is referred to as the “canister-type filter”. Here is a photo of this canister-type filter.

D. Each instrument has three options for the conversion kits.

1. A kit without any additional products from Merlin Microseal. These kits should include all you need to get started with either the 1.1mm or 1.5mm Arrow fiber.
2. A kit with additional products from Merlin Microseal for 1.1mm Arrow fibers.
3. A kit with additional products from Merlin Microseal for 1.5mm Arrow fibers.

Note: Currently we only offer a Shimadzu 2030 conversion kit with traditional septa.

5. As you may have guessed you should not attempt to use a 1.5mm Arrow fiber with a kit designed for a 1.1mm Arrow fiber. In addition we do not recommend that you use a 1.1mm Arrow fiber with a kit designed for a 1.5mm fiber because you will not get proper sealing around the SPME Arrow. To further clarify each Merlin Microseal has a specific “duck bill” designed to tightly seal around that specific SPME Arrow diameter.
6. As Jason mentioned once any conversion kit is installed you do not need to uninstall the kit to use regular SPME fibers (you can also keep using your same syringe). However you may want to replace the injection port liner with a more appropriate internal diameter liner. For example if switching from an Arrow fiber to a regular fiber a smaller ID liner is usually used such as 0.75mmID (or 1.0mmID).

Below are the part numbers for the various GC makes/models in which Arrow Conversion Kits are available. I hope this post has helped simplify the selection of Arrow Conversion Kits which Restek offers. Please let us know if you have any questions.