Hamilton Syringe Pump ML600

Hamilton ML600 pumps connected via serial (RS-232) cables are supported in flowchem via the ML600 device type. As for all flowchem devices, the virtual instrument can be instantiated via a configuration file that generates an openAPI endpoint. For a standard (single syringe) pump model, two components will be available: one pump and one valve. Pumps with multiple syringes are not currently supported.

Configuration

Configuration sample showing all possible parameters:

[device.my-ml600-pump]  # This is the pump identifier
type = "ML600"
port = "COM1"  # This will be /dev/tty* under linux/MacOS
address= 1  # If multiple devices are daisy chained, number in the chain 1=first...
syringe_volume = "1 ml"  # Volume of the syringe used, either a Quantity or number in ml. If the wrong syringe volume
                         # is set, the flow rate will be wrong.

Note

Serial connection parameters Note, further parameters for the serial connections (i.e. those accepted by serial.Serial) such as baudrate, parity, stopbits and bytesize can be specified. However, it should not be necessary as the following values (which are the default for the instrument) are automatically used:

  • baudrate 9600

  • parity even

  • stopbits 1

  • bytesize 7

Note

Support for Custom ML600 Configurations The ML600 device supports custom configurations for pump and valve connections.

Since the ML600 hardware allows for customizable valve setups, FlowChem supports this flexibility to ensure accurate device configuration and operation. This is particularly important for identifying which valve is connected to which pump.

Custom device

You can specify the desired valve class(es) directly in the device configuration block using the following options:

Dual-Syringe Setup

For devices with two syringe pumps, you can independently assign valve classes to each side:

left_valve = "ML600LeftValve"    # Options: "ML600LeftValve" or "ML600RightValve"
right_valve = "ML600RightValve"  # Options: "ML600LeftValve" or "ML600RightValve"

Single-Syringe Setup

For devices with a single syringe pump, specify only one valve class:

left_valve = "ML600LeftValve"  # Options: "ML600LeftValve" or "ML600RightValve"

It is worth noting that, as a standard setting, the single-syringe pump is equipped with a left valve.

API methods

See the device API reference for a description of the available methods.

Device detection

Lab PCs often have several devices connected via serial ports. ML600 pumps can be auto-detected via the flowchem-autodiscover command-line utility. After having installed flowchem, run flowchem-autodiscover to create a configuration stub with all the devices that can be auto-detected on your PC.

Further information

For further information about connection of the pump to the controlling PC, daisy-chaining via RJ-12 cables etc. please refer to the manufacturer manual.