[RASMB] problems with housings

[John Philo]

Robert,

Based on my experience, the problem is with your centerpieces, not your
housings (although obviously you do need to fix the keys). I have similar
issues with my charcoal epon centerpieces fairly regularly. Some of this is
due, I think, to distortion over time from the centrifugal forces, but
certain solvents also seem to cause the epoxy to swell (bleach is one
example).

What I do is to manually grind down the outside of the centerpiece (the
sides, not the flat sealing faces) to reduce the diameter a little bit using
wet/dry carborundum paper. I think I use 220 grit. 

Regarding re-attaching the guide key, I use a little bit of superglue.

John Philo
Alliance Protein Laboratories

-----Original Message-----
From: rasmb-admin at rasmb-email.bbri.org
[mailto:rasmb-admin at rasmb-email.bbri.org] On Behalf Of Robert Fairman
Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 8:28 AM
To: rasmb at rasmb-email.bbri.org
Subject: [RASMB] problems with housings


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Hi All,

Recently, I have had problems with tight-fitting six-channel 
centerpieces in my housings.  It has resulted in the guide key 
becoming detached from the housing.
This has resulted in forcing me to retire three housings!  Has anyone 
successfully re-attached the guide key to the housing?  And if so, 
how would you recommend doing this?  Is it a matter of spot-welding 
it back in place?

Then, the next problem is dealing with how to avoid this in the 
future.  Does the problem lie in the housings or the centerpieces?  I 
guess it's not clear whether I should be spending my money on 
replacing centerpieces or housings.

Thanks for any help!

Rob
-- 
Robert Fairman
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
370 Lancaster Ave
Haverford College
Haverford, PA  19041
phone:	(610) 896-4205
fax:	(610) 896-4963
email:	rfairman at haverford.edu
web:	http://www.haverford.edu/biology/Fairman/fairman.html
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