NMR Facility - User Policies

All policies and rates for the NMR Facility are formulated in conjunction with the NMR User Committee. The members of the committee are: (click the links for e-mail)

Access to the Facility

Use of the USU NMR Facility is limited to USU faculty, staff, and students as well as to the off-campus customers in accordance with the following guidelines:
The on- and off-campus users who have completed user training may operate the instruments without direct supervision, provided the only experiments attempted are routine ones or are those for which the user has received special instructions and permission from the Facility Manager.

Only those who have been issued a password and told by the NMR Manager that they can operate the spectrometers unsupervised may do so.

Authorized users should not admit anyone to the NMR Facility unless those persons are under the direct supervision of the user or facility personnel. Maintenance personnel occasionally try to enter to perform tasks, but they may be unaware of the dangers posed by the superconducting magnets.

The users who have not undergone training may submit their samples to be run by Facility personnel at the standard rates plus additional service charge that applies only to the time used for setting up the experiment and processing the data (minimum 1 hour charge). This option is recommended for users who have infrequent need for NMR data, whose instrument-competence is questionable, or for those who have temporary need of advanced technique.

Users from other USU departments have on occasion asked to borrow a key in order to be able to use the NMR Facility for evening or weekend experiments. Departmental policy has been not to grant such requests. However, on-campus users, who have completed the training program and have sufficient NMR experience (which is determined by NMR Manager)  can borrow a key on a temporary basis for such purposes. Such a key would be issued only to a faculty member from another department.

User sign-in

Please sign the logbook for every use. You may think that you are saving your boss money by not signing up. However, this ignores two important considerations. First, money accumulated from user fees is used to maintain the instruments. The more money there is in the maintenance account, the faster we can solve instrument problems and replace parts. Secondly, if the department is to obtain funding to upgrade the instruments or buy a new one in the future, we will have to document that the present instruments have been well utilized. Omitting usage obviously hurts us in both of these areas.

Please sign the logbook every time you use the instrument.

Remember, all reservations are made only through the online Faces system!

General Health and Safety Considerations

 

  • Facility users should be aware of and exercise proper precautions in regard to health and safety issues. Please consult Safety Information section for an overview of magnetic field and cryogens hazards.
  • Neither food nor drink is allowed in the NMR Facility.
  • If needed for extra protection, gloves (latex or plastic) should be worn only while preparing or handling NMR samples. When possible, NMR samples should be prepared in the user's laboratory. Gloves should never be worn while operating the spectrometers.
  • Toxic or unpleasant substances should be sealed in the sample tube in user's laboratory

NMR Tubes

It has been experience of many NMR labs that defective sample tubes can cause extensive probe damage. This can occur as a result of warped or out-of-balance tubes that wobble when they spin, or by breakage of sample tubes. Replacement of a broken probe-coil insert may cost in excess of $3000. Higher quality tubes are reported to be less prone to breakage (stronger glass, better quality control, better concentricity, fewer scratches). The use of higher quality sample tubes can also significantly  improve resolution and sensitivity of the spectra for many samples.

Therefore, it is required that you only use the Wilmad tubes available at the Chemistry Stores. It is recommended (but not required) that for best results higher quality tubes (507-PP, 527-PP or better) are used. ONLY Wilmad 507-PP or better tubes are permitted for variable temperature experiments.
The use of tubes from other suppliers or manufacturers requires prior approval from the NMR Manager.

Important Wilmad remarks concerning drying of the NMR tubes:
"Drying tubes at elevated temperatures can reshape and ruin precision NMR tubes. If you dry tubes in an oven, Wilmad recommends placing tubes on a perfectly flat tray at 125°C for only 30-45 minutes. Better is the use of a vacuum oven that will remove water at lower temperatures. In a flat position, tubes that do reshape could be out-of-round and may not fit the spinner turbine as well. But they'll not affect the spectrometer probe adversely. Tubes placed in an oven in a beaker, flask, or tube rack can bend, increasing Camber (lack of straightness). Bent tubes may still fit the spinner turbine, but can damage or break the NMR probe insert, a costly repair with many probes."

Instrument Problems

You are certain to eventually run into instrument problems. It is invariably easier to solve theses problems if they are reported immediately. Uninformed attempts to solve an unfamiliar problem will often make things worse. If you experience a problem, please try to contact one of the following people immediately. Go down the list until you reach someone. DO NOT TRY TO FIX SPECTROMETER YOURSELF! If you can't reach anyone, leave a message with a clear description of the problem and/or send an e-mail to Facility Manager (piotrd@cc.usu.edu).

To report problems:

 

  • Piotr Dobrowolski ext. 1673
  • Lisa Berreau ext. 1625
  • Alvan Hengge ext. 3442
  • Tom Chang ext. 3545

Overnight and Long Runs

  1. Users assume the responsibility for being on time to remove their sample and save their data by the end of their scheduled time. Long experiments (> 1 hour) should be scheduled for after 6 p.m. if at all possible.
  2. It is suggested that when signing up for long NMR runs you leave your lab phone number, if you have one, in the log book. Users who come to use the instrument during unreserved time, and who find a prior long experiment has concluded but a sample left in the instrument, should make an attempt to phone the previous user if hey have left a phone number. It should not be expected that the next user will roam the building trying to find you. Once an experiment has concluded, the data is automatically saved, so removing a sample and logging out an absent user will not result in loss of their data.
  3. If the user does not show up or cannot be phoned within a 10-minute grace period, the sample may be ejected and the user logged out to enable the instrument to be used by others.
  4. Overnight runs are to be concluded by 8:00 a.m. if at all possible.
  5. Long and overnight runs must be sign up using the Faces System. Unattended samples and experiments found running when no one has signed up may be immediately terminated by anyone who needs to use the instrument.