You've already made some brainy decisions if you're cleaning pipettes with an automated pipette washer/dryer because automating the process is allowing you to:
Here are a few ways to squeeze even more out of your pipette washer:
Keeping your pipette washer on a laboratory cart, rather than a bench top, frees up counter space for work and other equipment, and more importantly, it adds mobility to your pipette washer. This way it can be pushed from station to station or even be shared between labs.
Your pipette washer can be stored out of the way on a portable table; it can be loaded at your work station to reduce glass handling even further, and then moved to its air and water supply when it is full and ready to run.
ScrubAir can also be used to wash small test tubes and vials. Glassware that are 7mm inside diameter or larger can be accommodated by adding a spindle kit. Polystyrene spindles are easy to install and uninstall. A spindle kit comes with 24 each 5mm outside diameter polystyrene spindles with caps and a stainless steel rack that holds up to 20 test tubes.
You can ruin all of the efficiency you’ve invested in by running out of detergent. Make sure that there’s always more than one bottle on the shelf so that using the last drip from one bottle of detergent doesn’t mean you’ve run out completely. That could put your whole pipetting process on hold.
If you know your lab’s compressed air is notorious for gumming up the works, get a 5 micron air filter for your ScrubAir. Compressed air is used to both clean and dry your pipettes, so the filter will keep you from introducing contaminants through your laboratory’s air supply.
Serological pipette costs quickly add up when you're constantly tossing them into the garbage. Swap in the Serological Pipette Insert to quickly disinfect and reuse pipettes of up to 50 ml.
Take a look at your own pipetting process and see if any of these tips are right for you. If you have questions, you can contact me directly.
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