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A Fully Automated High-Throughput Method for the Purification of PCR*
Products on the Biomek® FX Utilizing the QIAGEN QIAquick* Robo96 PCR Clean-up
Kit
Jason Fawcett, Troy Cook, and Paul W. Diaz, Ph.D.
Beckman Coulter, Inc.
For additional information try our Maintenance
and Troubleshooting section or post a question to our Biomek
User Forum. New members can subscribe to our User Forum here.
| Problem |
Possible Cause |
Solution |
| Method Error: |
- Error message stating something similar to "Move
of Pod1 to D of –60.6µL violates D axis minimum of –58.4µL."
|
- This error messages is generated because the grippers
are trying to open too wide to grip labware. The most common
labware that will cause this message is the vacuum collars.
The reason for this is because of the dimensions of the
collars the gripper must open as wide as it possibly can
in order to interact with the labware safely. This means
that in the main labware definition page for the vacuum
collars there is a Gripper Unsqueeze field, which has a
value around –1.4cm. In order to fix the error the value
of –1.4cm needs to become more positive. Try to increase
the value by a tenth of a centimeter at a time. So if the
current value is –1.4cm set it to –1.3cm and revalidate
the method to see if this change has fixed the error. If
not, readjust the value accordingly on tenth of a centimeter
at a time.
|
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| Gripper problems interacting with labware
from manifold gaskets |
- Gripper either hits the top of the collar and will not
grip or the collar hangs on the gripper after the grippers
have put the collar down.
|
- This type of problem indicates that the grippers are not
opening wide enough to interact with the collar. To adjust
the gripper parameters the value in the Gripper Unsqueeze
field must be changed to a value that will allow the grippers
to unsqueeze enough to grip the collar. For example if in
the Gripper Unsqueeze field the value is set to –1.2cm we
would want to make it more negative. So we would change
that value to –1.3cm and rerun that step to make sure the
adjustment is adequate for safe interaction. When changing
the unsqueeze value try altering only on tenth of a centimeter
at a time. This will help in fine tuning the gripper settings.
|
- The Biomek FX attempts to re-stack the QIAGEN filter plates
it does not stack correctly because the skirts of the top
filter plate does not fit into the wells of the bottom filter
plate.
|
- The Biomek FX is capable of performing very
accurate moves. However in order for the Biomek FX to be
accurate it must have good working parts. This problem is
indicative that one or more of the grippers have been bent
at one time or another and are no longer straight. To solve
the problem, replace the bent gripper and then reframe.
|
|
| Filter plates not sitting correctly
on the ALPS |
- The QIAGEN filter plates do not sit correctly on the One
By One ALPs.
|
- On the One By One ALP there is a Per-labware Offset of
–2.25cm. When using the deck that is supplied with the QiaQuick
method those offsets are already present. However, for other
user defined decks that value must be manually set. To do
this simply go to the Tools menu under Deck Editor and double
click on the One By One ALP that will be holding the QIAGEN
filter plates. Click on the More button to view more options
if not already shown. Click on the Per-labware Offsets button
and a new window will appear listing all the labware. Scroll
down until you find the QIAGEN filter plate, which has been
called QIAquick. Click on QIAquick and set the Z offset
to be –2.25cm.
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* All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Where applicable,
the PCR process is covered by patents owned by Roche Molecular Systems,
Inc., and F. Hoffman-LaRoche, Ltd.
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