--- title: ICP Signal Drifting? Check the Pump Tubing Before You Blame the Plasma description: Internal standard sliding away across a long run? Worn peristaltic pump tubing is the most common and cheapest cause of ICP drift. Here's how to spot it. image: https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/hubfs/Canva%20images/600%20x%20308%20CD%20Blog%20Collared%20Tubing.png --- [Skip to content](https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/icp-signal-drifting-check-the-pump-tubing-before-you-blame-the-plasma#main-content) [![cd-logo-header](https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Logos/cd-logo-header.png?width=180&height=68&name=cd-logo-header.png)](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/) - [Products](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/vials-and-caps) Show submenu for Products - [Vials & Caps](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/vials-and-caps) - [Sample Preparation](https://info.chromatographydirect.com/uct-sample-preparation-products-chromatography-direct) - [Filtration Products](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/filtration-products) - [LC Columns & Accessories](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/lc-columns-and-accessories) - [Instrument Spares](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/instrument-spares) - [Plates & Mats](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/plates-and-mats) - [Flash Chromatography](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/flash-chromatography) - [Solvent Safety](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/solvent-safety) - [GC Columns & Accessories](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/gc-columns-and-accessories) - [Dissolution](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/dissolution) - [Clinical Kits, Standards and Controls](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/clinical-kits-standards-and-controls) - [New Products](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/new-products) - [Knowledge Base](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/knowledge-base) - [About Us](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/about-us) - [Offers](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/offers) - [Blog](https://blog.chromatographydirect.com) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Products](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/vials-and-caps) Show submenu for Products - [Vials & Caps](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/vials-and-caps) - [Sample Preparation](https://info.chromatographydirect.com/uct-sample-preparation-products-chromatography-direct) - [Filtration Products](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/filtration-products) - [LC Columns & Accessories](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/lc-columns-and-accessories) - [Instrument Spares](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/instrument-spares) - [Plates & Mats](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/plates-and-mats) - [Flash Chromatography](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/flash-chromatography) - [Solvent Safety](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/solvent-safety) - [GC Columns & Accessories](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/gc-columns-and-accessories) - [Dissolution](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/dissolution) - [Clinical Kits, Standards and Controls](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/clinical-kits-standards-and-controls) - [New Products](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/new-products) - [Knowledge Base](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/knowledge-base) - [About Us](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/about-us) - [Offers](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/offers) - [Blog](https://blog.chromatographydirect.com) - [Contact us](https://info.chromatographydirect.com/contact-chromatography-direct) [Contact us](https://info.chromatographydirect.com/contact-chromatography-direct) --- Oct 1, 2026, 12:24:27 PM # ICP Signal Drifting? Check the Pump Tubing Before You Blame the Plasma [Chromatography Direct](https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/author/chromatography-direct) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/icp-signal-drifting-check-the-pump-tubing-before-you-blame-the-plasma) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/icp-signal-drifting-check-the-pump-tubing-before-you-blame-the-plasma) [twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/icp-signal-drifting-check-the-pump-tubing-before-you-blame-the-plasma) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/icp-signal-drifting-check-the-pump-tubing-before-you-blame-the-plasma) Your internal standard was flat for the first forty samples. By sample 150, it's down 15%, and you're re-running the back half of the batch. Before you strip the torch, check the pump tubing. ![Tubing Blog 3 Hero (900 x 300 px)](https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Canva%20images/Tubing%20Blog%203%20Hero%20(900%20x%20300%20px).png?width=900&height=300&name=Tubing%20Blog%203%20Hero%20(900%20x%20300%20px).png) --- ### What's actually happening Peristaltic pump tubing is being mechanically destroyed by design. Rollers occlude the tube completely, several times per second, for the entire run. The polymer fatigues. The wall thins where the rollers track. Elastic recovery slows, so the tube no longer returns fully to its original bore between compressions. The result is a gradual reduction in delivered volume. Not a failure, not a leak, nothing you'd see by looking at it. Just slightly less sample reaching the nebuliser every hour, which the detector reads as a smooth downward drift. That gradual change is exactly why it gets misdiagnosed. Sudden problems get attributed to the right cause. Slow ones get attributed to the plasma, the cones, the nebuliser, the standards, and finally, several hours later, the £3 length of tubing. ### How to confirm it in five minutes - **Run the same standard at the start and end of a batch** with fresh tubing versus in-service tubing. If the difference disappears with new tubing, you've found it. - **Feel the tube.** Roll the section that sits under the rollers between your fingers. Fatigued tubing feels flattened, tacky or stiff compared with the rest of the length. - **Look at the roller track.** A visible shiny or thinned band means the tube is past it. - **Check tension, then check the tubing.** Under-tensioned tubing under-delivers from the start. Over-tensioned tubing fails faster. Both look like drift. ### Replacement intervals that actually work Stop replacing tubing when it fails. Replace it on a schedule, because a schedule costs less than a re-run. As a working baseline for aqueous ICP work: **replace at 8 to 12 hours of pumping**, or at the start of every long unattended batch, whichever comes first. Halve that for high-dissolved-solids matrices, concentrated acids or anything abrasive. Loosen the pump tension between runs, because tubing left compressed overnight takes a permanent set and starts its life already partly flattened. And label your channels. A tube that's had 40 hours on the drain line is not a spare for the sample line. ### The cost argument, which is not close A pack of 12 PVC Analytical collared tubes starts at £41. That's under £3.50 per tube. A single re-run of a 100-sample batch costs you instrument time, argon, standards, an analyst's afternoon, and a conversation with whoever was waiting on the data. There is no version of this maths where rationing pump tubing makes sense. Labs stretch tubing life only because they're paying instrument-manufacturer prices for it, and at those prices, rationing feels rational. Buy it from a specialist instead, and the problem disappears. ### What to specify For ICP-OES and ICP-MS sample uptake, use **PVC Analytical** grade for the tighter bore tolerance and lower extractables, in a 2-bridge configuration for most autosampler pumps, at 0.51mm to 1.02mm I.D. depending on your uptake rate. Wider bore for the spray chamber drain. If your matrix includes organic solvents, move to Solva or Viton for the sample line. High-quality consumables making your lab budget go further. Free samples are available across the range, so you can validate the tubing on your own instrument before you switch supplier. Filter the range by material, bridge count and I.D., or call the technical team on +44 (0)1925 599070.  Browse the full [collared tubing range](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/products/lc-columns-and-accessories/collared-tubing) or request a free sample. [Chromatography](https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/tag/chromatography), [Peristaltic Tubing](https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/tag/peristaltic-tubing), [ICP-MS](https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/tag/icp-ms), [ICP tubing UK supplier](https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/tag/icp-tubing-uk-supplier), [ICP signal drift](https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/tag/icp-signal-drift) --- [![cd-logo-header](https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Logos/cd-logo-header.png?width=170&height=64&name=cd-logo-header.png "cd-logo-header")](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/) © Copyright Chromatography Direct Ltd 2026 [Privacy Policy](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/privacy-policy) [Cookie Policy](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/cookie-policy) [Terms of Use](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/terms-of-use) [Terms & Conditions](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/terms-and-conditions) [Trademarks](https://www.chromatographydirect.com/trademarks) **Chromatography Direct Ltd** 11 Regent Park, Booth Drive, Park Farm Industrial Estate, Wellingborough, Northants, NN8 6GR United Kingdom **T** [+44 (0) 1925 599070](tel:+441925599070) **F** [+44 (0) 1925 599071](tel:+441925599071) **E** [sales@chromatographydirect.com](mailto:sales@chromatographydirect.com) facebook-f icon linkedin-in icon twitter icon ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Chromatography Direct", "url" : "https://blog.chromatographydirect.com/author/chromatography-direct" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-01T11:24:27.364Z", "datePublished" : "2026-10-01T11:24:27.000Z", "headline" : "ICP Signal Drifting? 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