Re: Cleaning/Sterilizing (& declogging)

From: Mario Roederer (roederer@drmr.com)
Date: Thu Aug 30 2001 - 06:49:01 EST


Yes.

mr

At 6:47 PM -0400 8/29/01, John Altman wrote:
>Mario,
>
>Do you do this for your bench top analyzers as well? Might the NaOH damage
>the quartz cell?
>
>John
>
>>
>>  We have recently become very fond of using 0.1N NaOH to "cleanse" our
>>  cytometer.  The advantage is that it hydrolyzes DNA/RNA, which is one
>>  of the major contributors to clogs for certain cell samples.  It
>>  solubilizes cells quite well.
>>
>>  After any clog (partial or full), and at the end of the day, we
>>  always run three things through the cytometer (make sure the fluid
>>  from each runs long enough to go through the nozzle--i.e., boost for
>>  15-30 seconds minimum).
>>
>>  (1) 0.1N NaOH (sterile filtered, made in the best water you have)
>>  (2) CoulterCleanse solution
>>  (3) dH2O (if end of day, we leave the tubing filled with distilled water)
>>
>>  After each of the tubes 1-3, we wipe down the outside of the sample
>>  inlet tube with a kemwipe, while the instrument back-flushes sheath
>>  fluid, and wash with dH20, to prevent contaminating future samples
>>  with the base or the cleansing solution.
>>
>>  To sterilize, we may also run 70% ethanol through the system.
>>
>>  However, I strongly endorse the NaOH--It cleans clogs like nothing
>>  else we've ever tried.
>>
>>  mr
>>
>>  (Disclaimer:  I have no idea what 0.1N NaOH might do to your tubing,
>>  nozzle, or other equipment.  We've used it for nearly a year with no
>>  problems on multiple instruments, however, make sure you understand
>>  the risks to your instrument of any solution you apply to your
>>  fluidics).
>>
>
>
>
>***************************************************************************
>John D. Altman, Ph.D.
>Emory University Vaccine Center at Yerkes
>954 Gatewood Road
>Atlanta, GA 30329
>
>Office:  (404) 727-5981
>FAX:     (404) 727-9005
>FAX2:    (404) 727-8199
>Lab:    (404) 727-8914
>
>email:   altman@microbio.emory.edu
>
>***************************************************************************
>Tetramer Core Facility:
>http://www.niaid.nih.gov/reposit/tetramer/index.html
>***************************************************************************



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Jan 05 2003 - 19:01:29 EST