Month: April 2015

Hi, XL30 users,

XL30 ODP vac issue has occurred for more than one month and now is solved. Here are some major troubleshooting and repair processes for this issue that we had taken from March 3 to April 24:

1. The SEM was down in the morning March 3th because of its chiller problem. The chiller pump was out of order and cooling fan was broken. The pump was replaced by a new one.  We ordered a new cooling fan to replace the broken one (~March 10).
2. It was found that the chiller compressor did not work after previous repair. The Scientific Refrig was called for service to repair the compressor. A new compressor was ordered to replace the broken one. The XL30 was up on March 20.
3. March 23 2015, a user found that the sample chamber could not be pumped with an error message saying leakage between buffer and pre-vacuum pump. The big crack on tube line connected to the mechanical pump was found and fixed. However, the chamber was still not pumped down. The ODP message said it is in heating status. FEI service was called for this issue.
4. FEI engineer come in on March 24. He found pumped down was working OK. He cycled the pump/vent multiple times with no errors. It was suspected that the mechanical pump and printed electronic board for vacuum control part might cause the ODP issue and had better be replaced. These two units were ordered to come next day. The replacement was planned to be done on March 25. The XL30 was tested to work well.
5. The ODP issue still occurred during March 25-30. FEI engineer came in to checked the system and found that the intermittent error is coming from communication to Mccb that controls the framestore. He ordered a new Mccb coming in tomorrow and planned to replace it on April 2 10am-2pm.
6. March 30-April 1, Xl30 had some vacuum issues: vent fail; vac button not enabled. FEI engineer came in to replace the Mccb. It was thought vent issue may be related to the student not opening the N2 valve; and the Vac button being disabled may have been a result of someone hitting the VAC button. A plastic cover was made and installed above the VAC button to prevent the similar issue happens again. Tested pump/vent sequence numerous times without errors.
7. The VAC button was unenabled and ODP vacuum error message was reported by a senior XL30 user on April 3. FEI engineer came in and thought the system VAC was getting intermittently disabled without apparent reason. He suspected that PLCB-2 (programmable logic control board) may have issues. The new PLCB-2 was ordered to come next day. The replacement was planned.
8. The Vac error message still occurred to XL30 users from April 4-10 and were reported to FEI service team. The ODP oil level was checked and replaced as well as the 0-ring in ODP was replaced.
9. FEI head tech support was contacted for this issue April 12. We were promised that FEI service team would put a plan together to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
10. FEI engineer came in to check the XL30 and new parts for XL30 were ordered to fix the ODP issue April 13. I was informed that a few things were identified that may have been contributing to the issue: 1. The temperature setting on the chiller was set wrong; the chiller water flow going into the SEM was down to zero on flowmeter, and air leak behind the ODP. These things were fixed and XL30 was tested to work well.
11. We continued to have ODP vacuum errors occurred to XL30, April 13-14. FEI service was called.
12. April 15, a FEI engineer came in and found that V3 ODP leaking when opened and under vacuum. An ODP valve was ordered to come tomorrow to change it out. I was informed that it was OK to use but we had better leave the chamber vented when done to stop air loss.
13. ODP valve was replaced and system was tested to work well on April 15.
14. The error of Vac/HV button disabling still occurred from April 16-April 20. The FEI service was contacted for this issue. I was informed that users should take note of the error code to help FEI try to get to the root of the problem. Users need to log how many times and what happen before and after each error event. There may be multiple issues dealing with Vac button going off. This should give enough data to look at. The service repair was planned on April 24 Friday. Meanwhile, I was informed that there were a lot of moistures in the air line that caused a lot of rust in the air cylinders.
15. FEI service engineer came in April 24. The moistures from compressor tank in the airline were removed. In addition, the moisture in the trap underneath the system was emptied out. FEI informed that the moisture in the airline should be emptied out in a regular base.
16. XL30 is up and working since April 24- May 7 2015.

The XL30 is up now. The ODP issue has been solved.

Please reserve and use it and let me know if you have questions.

Thanks,

Qiyin

Quanta 3D vacuum was in green area, but could not reach to 8e-5 mbar in last a few days. FEI engineer changed one valve this morning. The vacuum is in good condition now ( 3e-5mbar). It could be improved overnight.

CM-20 TEM was down because of water leakage in the chiller and pipes of the TEM. Chiller water pump, a valve and leaking pipes were changed on 4/13/2015, but new leaking area was found again today. FEI engineering is fixing it now. Because the pipes are very old, I asked the engineer to replace the old pipes with new ones. This problem may occur again. Please report any water leakage immediately to prevent big problems from happening. Thanks!