20
Spectroquant
®
photometers
Release 06/2014
5 Analytical Quality Assurance (AQA)
Due to li mited shelf-life characteristics, there are no CombiCheck or
ready-to-use standard solutions for certain parameters. Appendix 3 is a
compilation of standard working procedures necessary to make your
own solutions of a defined concentration. This allows the control of param-
eters where there are no simple to prepare solutions available.
If the test for the overall system shows that all requirements are fulfilled,
the individual results are flagged as AQA2. If not, an error message is giv-
en and the individual components of the instrument have to be checked in
detail.
The Spectroquant
®
PipeCheck is used to check the pipettes. The pack
contains cells filled with color-dye concentrates. After the addition of a
predefined volume
of water using the pipette in question, the
cell is meas-
ured against a corre sponding reference cell also contained in the pack.
The difference in the absorbance values of the measurement cell and ref-
erence cell may not exceed the tolerances given in the package insert.
If the tolerances are exceeded, the instructions given in the section
“Pipetting system” must be followed accordingly.
5.2.3 Checking the Pipettes
This is checked by means of the thermosensor. The thermoreactor is pre-
heated as described in the Instructions for use. When the control lamp
goes out, the temperature is measured in any one of the bores of the ther-
moreactor
.
The following desired temperatures must be achieved:
Block temperature 100 °C = desired temperature 100 ±3 °C
Block temperature 120 °C = desired temperature 120 ±3 °C
Block temperature 148 °C = desired temperature 148 ±3 °C
The even distribution of the temperature over all bores can also be docu-
mented using the thermosensor.
5.2.4 Checking Thermoreactors