HPLC column lifespan — how long do yours last?

[Sachin]

Column cost is one of the more frustrating line items in any analytical lab budget — especially when a column dies earlier than expected with no obvious explanation.
I’ve seen columns last anywhere from a few hundred injections to well over 5,000, depending on the method, matrix, and how carefully they’re treated between runs.
A few things I’ve found make a real difference:
— Flushing with a weak solvent at the end of every sequence (not just the day’s last run)
— Storing reversed-phase columns in 60–80% organic when not in use
— Never letting the column dry out, especially silica-based C18
— Using guard columns religiously for dirty matrices — the cost is trivial compared to replacing the analytical column
That said, I’ve also seen labs with pristine practices lose columns unexpectedly to pH excursions or a single bad sample prep batch.
Questions for the community:
— What’s your typical column lifespan in your application?
— What has killed your columns most often — sample matrix, mobile phase, or operator error?
— Do you track column injection counts formally, or is it more of an intuition call?
— Any specific column brands or chemistries you’ve found unusually robust or fragile?
Always curious whether others have found ways to meaningfully extend column life beyond the standard best practices.

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