System Hardware Features
20 0112-0109 H
FLIPR
®
Tetra System pipettor heads. When the Cell Reservoir is not
present, this position can be used as a source plate position.
Positions 1–4 have a mechanical plate sensor to identify the presence
of plates, tips or reservoirs.
Robotic integration enables the TETRAcycler to exchange up to 12
source plates and tip racks, and one read plate, in an experiment.
A dedicated tip wash reservoir is located in Position 5 and should be
configured to match respective pipettor heads (96, 384 or 1536).
Appropriate tip wash reservoirs are included in the purchase of a
pipettor head. Specific hardware components associated with tip
washing are described in Tip Washing, page 31.
Plates and tip racks are registered with well A1 in the lower left-hand
corner using a plate indexer found in Positions 1–4. The indexers also
serve as mechanical sensors to detect plate or tip presence. If plates or
tips are not present in a Manual Mode experiment, but requested by
software, the instrument will stop and end the experiment. During
Remote Mode, the system notifies the SynchroMaxâ„¢ ET or third-party
plate-handler that no plate or tip container is present and will stop the
instrument until plates or tips are detected. It is then the responsibility
of the SynchroMax ET or third-party plate-handler to deliver plates or
tips to the system.
Temperature Regulation
Positions 1, 2 and 4, for source plates, have optional temperature
control. Temperature settings range from ambient +5 °C to 40 °C.
Equilibrium temperature may take approximately 15 minutes to reach
the set temperature.
Configure temperature regulation with the Temperature Control
ON/OFF toggle command in the Instrument > Manual Operation
menu or corresponding button.
Note: Sensors can only detect plate or tip container presence. They
cannot identify the type of plate or tips. It is the user’s responsibility to
ensure that the correct plates and tips are loaded into position.
Note: FLIPR
®
Tetra System does not have humidified air flow.
Temperature regulation is easier to maintain during robotic integration
as temperature loss is minimized when plates are passed through the