Chapter 4: Performing a Spin
VSpin User Guide
56
Where to Go Next Before you start a spin, refer to the “Workflow Overview” on page 46.
Balancing the Plates
Bucket Pairs Each VSpin is shipped with a pair of buckets that have been balanced to
within one gram of each other. To stay within the balance tolerance of
the VSpin, use only the buckets that came with your VSpin and avoid
using buckets from other VSpin centrifuges.
Plate Balance
Tolerance
!! IMPORTANT !! Before placing plates in the VSpin, make sure
that the weight of the sample plate is within 10 grams of the
weight of the counterweight plate to avoid an imbalance error.
Imbalance Errors If the buckets and plates exceed the 10 gram balance tolerance, there
will be no indication of an imbalance before a run. However, after a spin
starts the imbalance state will be detected and:
❑ The rotor will stop.
❑ The green Balanced status light in either the Status group box of the
Control page or the Other Sensors group box of the Diagnostics page
will turn off.
Maximum Load !! INJURY HAZARD !! Do not exceed a plate mass of 250 grams
(8.82 ounces) for each bucket.
About Counterweight
Plates
If you are using a counterweight plate, replace it regularly (weekly with
heavy use), particularly if the plate is made from polystyrene.
!! IMPORTANT !! After repeated spins, a plate can become
brittle and break apart during centrifugation. Polystyrene plates
are especially prone to this problem.
If a plate breaks apart in the VSpin, see “Cleaning Up Broken Plates” on
page 75.
Procedure To balance the plates:
1. Weigh the sample plate with the amount of fluid in its wells that is
present during a typical spin.
2. Choose a plate or a flat rectangular piece of material that weighs
within ten grams of the sample plate and is capable of withstanding
1000 xg.
If you choose a plate for a counterweight:
You can adjust the weight by adding or subtracting fluid from the
wells.
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