Isabell, I have always avoided systemic ethanol, since I feel this can cause accumulation of fixed debris. That's probably the clouding that Partec is referring to. I think it's best to sterilize with bleach (5-10%). You can also use a mild detergent as a pre-treatment. Always follow with sterile sheath solution. Note . . . never run bleach or detergent through the in-line filter. Remove the filter and connect a bypass before cleaning. A further note on the in-line filter . . . I've removed these from my Vantage and Elite sorters, and sort sterile frequently. I've had no problems with contamination, since all sheath fluid is 0.22u filtered before use. Also, I routinely clean the sorters systemically . . . a clean machine runs better, and is easier to make sterile when necessary. MAK. Isabell Schmitt wrote: > Dear Fellow Flowers, > I have a question regarding decontamination of tubes and cuvette in a FACS Analyser > (Galaxy) equipped with a sorting cuvette: Partec does not recommend a 70 % ethanol > solution for decontamination of the system prior to sorting as alcohol would lead to > clouding of the cuvette after some time. On the other hand, other companies like BD > recommend the use of a 70 % ehtanol solution for this purpose. What we now did was use > a 2 % Hypochloride solution, but we are not sure weather this is good for the cuvette. > If anyone has experience in getting the system sterile and keep the cuvette clear in > the long run we would be very happy, if you could give us some tips! > > Thanks a lot in advance > > Isabel Schmitt > > Isabel Schmitt > Paul Ehrlich Institut > Abtl. Medizinische Biotechnologie > Paul Ehrlich Straße 51 - 59 > D-63225 Langen > Germany > Telefon: +49 (0) 6103-775206 > Fax: +49 (0) 6103-771255 -- Mark A. KuKuruga, Managing Director University of Michigan Core Flow Cytometry <http://www.cancer.med.umich.edu/flow_cytometry> phone: 734-647-3216 fax: 734-936-7376 kukuru@umich.edu
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Apr 03 2002 - 11:56:05 EST