A fluidic diagnostic method for a flow cytometer comprising: passing a set of calibration particles through a flow cell; illuminating each calibration particle of the set of calibration particles passing through the flow cell with at least two light beams wherein each light beam is associated with a channel, wherein there is a spatial separation between channels; collecting light emitted from each calibration particle of the set of calibration particles using a detector associated with each channel; recording data from each of the detectors; setting a trigger channel to initiate a transfer of data from a first data collection time window associated with the trigger channel when a data signal threshold for the trigger channel is exceeded; setting a second channel to transfer data from a second data collection time window associated with the second channel when the data signal threshold for the trigger channel is exceeded; recording data from the first data collection time window to a data store each time the data signal threshold is exceeded; recording data from the second data collection time window to the data store each time the data signal threshold for the trigger channel is exceeded; and analyzing a distribution of data intensity peak times within the second data collection time window and comparing the distribution to a system specification to determine a diagnostic parameter, wherein the diagnostic parameter relates to a fluid pressure, a mechanical perturbation in a pump, a particle arrival time, and/or a laminar flow stability, and characterized in that the system specification is any statistical distribution. passing a set of calibration particles through a flow cell; illuminating each calibration particle of the set of calibration particles passing through the flow cell with at least two light beams wherein each light beam is associated with a channel, wherein there is a spatial separation between channels; collecting light emitted from each calibration particle of the set of calibration particles using a detector associated with each channel; recording data from each of the detectors; setting a trigger channel to initiate a transfer of data from a first data collection time window associated with the trigger channel when a data signal threshold for the trigger channel is exceeded; setting a second channel to transfer data from a second data collection time window associated with the second channel when the data signal threshold for the trigger channel is exceeded; recording data from the first data collection time window to a data store each time the data signal threshold is exceeded; recording data from the second data collection time window to the data store each time the data signal threshold for the trigger channel is exceeded; and analyzing a distribution of data intensity peak times within the second data collection time window and comparing the distribution to a system specification to determine a diagnostic parameter, wherein the diagnostic parameter relates to a fluid pressure, a mechanical perturbation in a pump, a particle arrival time, and/or a laminar flow stability, and characterized in that the system specification is any statistical distribution.