[RASMB] SPR flow cell advice

[Tony Giannetti]

Hey John,
For a heavily used instrument (ours run almost everyday and we save the
long runs to go over the weekends) 6 months is about right.  The pneumatics
just wear out over time.

That said, there are things that can be done to extend them a bit.  Regular
cleaning helps, but overcleaning detracts.  We tend to watch the quality of
our blank injections and when they start to take on more significant
amplitude or shape we clean with both the regular desorb but also the
sanitize procedure.  Sanitize is important if you're doing small molecule
work as SDS and glycine don't do anything to compound deposits.

Magnesium buildup can occur and various people will have different
solutions to that...often we'll just leave the instrument in standby over a
weekend in a low pH acetate with high EDTA and 10% DMSO to dissolve off
metal deposits.

Other things that can help:  Don't redock chips...taking a chip out of the
machine, storing, and putting it back, are great ways to introduce dust.
 Properly filtered buffers (to remove particles) can also help prolong, and
making sure you don't put reducing agents in buffers containing carrier
proteins like BSA can help reduce particulate content.  DMSO also helps
keep things clean.

Also make sure you're using syringes that don't have plastic on the
plungers...the old style had plastic coating that flecked off and got into
the fluidics...the new ones are just stainless steel.  Even that does rust
so make sure the syringes are really clean and spotless.

If you're using plates make sure you're using the Biacore-supplied plate
covers.  They went through a lot of rounds of testing different plate
covers and those are the only ones that won't get glue or small flecks of
metal into the fluidics.

Hope that helps...your local support scientist (who should be Jason Schuman
I believe) may have additional thoughts for you.

Best,
Tony

On Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 4:34 PM, jpsumida <jpsumida at u.washington.edu> wrote:

> **
> Dear RASMB,
>
> I have a question about our spr instrument.  I realize this is primarily
> an AUC list but perhaps there are individuals who work with this instrument
> that may be able to provide some advice.
>
> The IFC in our instrument fails like clockwork every six to seven months.
> Very little information is provided by the vendor about why this is
> occurring except that it is expected to fail every six to nine months.
>
> This is an expensive part to replace, and I'm wondering if anyone has had
> a similar experience, and whether or not people have attempted a
> work-around to avoid having to spend 6k every six months to replace this
> part.
>
> Any advice is appreciated and thank you in advance for your attention.
>
> John Sumida
> University of Washington.
>
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>
>
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