 |
 |
 |
 |
An excellent and inexpensive consumer household product for removing film
deposits on the interior of flow cells is a rinsing agent for automatic
dish washers. In the USA, one brand is "Jet Dry". An equivlent product in
Europe is manufactured by Lever.(Thanks to Jim Jett and John Martin of Los
Alamos for this tip). We use this for 2 minutes followed by a final 2
minute rinse of DI water.
To reduce the chance of protein from DNA and cell samples clogging tubing
or coating the flow cell, never turn the fluidics to STANDBY while the
sample is still on. If a DNA sample change will take more than 10 seconds,
placing a tube of saline or water on the uptake tube and switching to HIGH
will lessen the chance of clogs. Our system has been in operation for 2
years without any clogging by using these methods. Daily sensitivity /QC
checks have remained consistant during the same time period.
If the FACScan will not be used for more than a week, it is flushed with
sterile water and stored this way until put back into operation. Every 6
months, a 0.5% sodium hypochlorite rinse is performed as a preventive
maintenance procedure. The saline filter is removed and bypassed for this
step.
Steven Merlin
University of Bern
FACS Core Facility
Institute for Immunology and Allergy
Murtenstrasse 31
CH-3010 Bern
Switzerland
Voice: ++41-31-632-8876
FAX: ++41-31-381-8764
e-mail: merlin@patho.unibe.ch
|
|
|
|