Occasionally the strip drive motors on some DTP41's have become "stuck" and are unable to pull either the calibration reference or target strips through the instrument. This usually occurs in situations where the customer has not used the instrument for several months. This may be the case if a customer experiences a situation where the calibration reference only moves an 1/8" or less then stops. If the calibration reference moves most of the way through then stops, something else is wrong.

To get the motor going again, you can use toolcrib to manually start the motor. Have the customer proceed as follows:

• Connect the DTP41 to a computer and start the toolcrib utility
• Have them select "DTP41" as the instrument and select the appropriate connection port
• They will need to click on "Tools" in the menu bar, and then click on "Terminal" in the drop down menu
• Doing this will open a blank terminal window into which they will enter commands
• Enter SV into this window and hit the enter key
• If the instrument is communicating properly, it should respond by identifying itself
• Next have them enter DM followed by the enter key
• The motor on the DTP41 should start
• If not, have the enter the DM command again until it does, it may take 6 or 8 tries
• Once the motor does begin to spin, entering the DM command will toggle it off
• The DTP41 can now be returned to use

If this is consistent problem for the customer, it may be advisable for them to upgrade the instrument firmware. Changes were made in version AC13 to help alleviate this difficulty. If so, please contact someone in applications to send them the firmware.