The VP 540 and its replacement VP 540-1 reservoir are available for use with both 96 hole (VP 540A) and 384 hole (VP 540B1) blotting media supports.  96 hole lint free blotting media (VP 540AC) is positioned on top of the VP 540A support  and the 384 hole lint free blotting media (VP 540BC) is positioned on top of the VP 540B1 support.  We also offer a system of removable baffles (VP 540F-1 for the VP 540-1 reservoir to reduce wave action in moving reservoirs.  If your robot system moves the wash reservoir around during the washing cycle you will find this a very useful feature.  The baffles are made from the autoclaveable epoxy composite G10. 

* If you are having difficulty using your VP 540AC paper when performing a wash and blot on the CyBio Robot click here for more information.

Most of our reservoirs are made from rugged polypropylene.  Polypropylene is the first choice in resistance to organic solvents, acids and bases.  For a complete table on chemical and solvent resistance click here.

The VP 540-1 is constructed of autoclaveable polypropylene to fit into the SBS standard foot print with dimensions of 127 mm long, 85 mm wide and 32 mm tall with a cavity 24 mm deep.  The reservoir will hold 195 ml of wash fluid.  For robot platforms that require a shorter reservoir we offer the VP 542 which has the same footprint as the VP 540-1 but is only 15 mm tall.  This shorter version also has shorter baffles (VP 542F) strategically located to dampen wave action upon lateral movement.  The blotting media supports (VP 540A and VP 540B1) will fit on both reservoirs and are constructed using the autoclaveable epoxy composite G10.   The pin holes in the VP 540A supports are 6.39 mm in diameter and the holes in the VP 540B1 supports are 2.24 mm in diameter.

The VP 542 is constructed of autoclaveable polypropylene to fit into the SBS standard foot print with dimensions of 127 mm long, 85 mm wide and 15 mm tall with a cavity 12.5 mm deep.  The reservoir will hold 95 ml of wash fluid.  The VP 542 reservoir also has shorter baffles (VP 542F) strategically located to dampen wave action upon movement.  The blotting media supports (VP 540A and VP 540B1) will fit on both reservoirs and are constructed using the autoclaveable epoxy composite G10.

The VP 540PCB is constructed of solvent resistant PTFE to fit into the Cybi Well Robot plate holders. The dimensions are 140 mm long, 102.3 mm wide and 32 mm tall with a cavity 26 mm deep.  The reservoir will hold 200 ml of wash fluid.  The VP 540PCB reservoir also is able to use the standard VP 540F baffles.  When the baffles are in place they dampen the wave action that occurs upon plate movement.  The baffles are constructed using the autoclaveable epoxy composite G10.

Disposable Wash Reservoirs
We also have disposable polypropylene wash reservoirs for your convenience.  Some of our disposable reservoirs are taller and some are shorter than our reusable reservoirs.  In cases where clearance issues are important, one may have advantages over the other.

VP 541

The VP 541 is available for use with only 96 hole (VP 540A)  blotting media supports.  96 hole lint free blotting media (VP 540AC) is also used with this system. 

The dual chamber model (VP 541) is constructed of delrin and designed  to fit into the SBS standard foot print with dimensions of 127 mm long, 85 mm wide and 32 mm tall with two interdigitating chambers 25 mm deep.  Each chamber will hold 70 ml of wash fluid.  The interdigitation design (on 4.5 mm centers) of the dual chamber eliminates the need for wave dampening baffles.  The blotting media support VP 540A are constructed using the autoclaveable epoxy composite G10.  The reservoir is not autoclaveable.

An outlet drain and fill version of the reservoir (VP 541T) is also available.  This facilitates filling and draining the dual reservoirs while on the work station between runs.

VP 546C-CB

The VP 546C-CB is a custom designed fountain wash reservoir made with very small inlet holes (0.5 mm diameter) to equalize the wash liquid flow in each of the fountains.  The unequal flow of wash liquid is a problem that affects all other fountain wash stations.  We also construct our VP 546C-CB using hydrophilic coated aluminum which also equalizes the flow of liquid over the rim of each fountain.  Fountains made of PTFE are very hydrophobic and liquids build up in the wells until one of the fountains over flows.  Most of the fluid that flows comes through that first to flow well.

The photo on the right illustrates how the VP 546C-CB works on a Cybio robot.

The photo on right illustrates how the manifold can be used as either a “right” or “left” handed version depending how the in let and outlet nipples are applied.

VP 547

For the ultimate in cleaning, Pin tools can be washed in 2  fountains between different source plates so the pins don't contaminate the next source plate they are placed into.  This process can be streamlined and simplified using our unique Combination Dual Fountain and Blotting System (Patent pending).  Combining the blotting station on top of the dual wash fountains not only reduces the cycle time but more importantly reduces the number of precious robot station positions that are needed to clean the pins from 3 to1. 

The 96 dual fountain model (VP 547) is available for use with a 96 hole (VP 545A) blotting media support.  96 hole lint free blotting media (VP 540AC) is positioned on top of the VP 545A support.   Each wash station has a drain and two fountain inlets that can be connected to a peristaltic pump to drain the reservoir and push two different wash fluids through the two different fountain systems. The individual fountains from the two fountain pairings are positioned close enough together to be accessible from the same access hole.

The dual wash fountain is constructed of anodized PTFE coated aluminum and are designed to handle corrosive organic solvents.  This dual fountain is 148 mm long by 97 mm wide and 200 mm tall.  The blotting media support (VP 540A) is constructed using the autoclaveable epoxy composite G10.

VP 548

The VP 548 Spillway Flowing Reservoir Wash System offers several advantages.  First the wash liquid is injected into the reservoir through 8 inlet ports on the right side of the reservoir and the liquid fills the reservoir to a height of 12 mm before it runs over 8 V notches in the spillway and is collected in a separate reservoir connected to the drain.  This keeps the wash reservoir uniformly flushed with new liquid coming in one end and waste liquid flowing out the other.  It maintains the height of the liquid at a constant level regardless of the flow rate.  The spillway feature is also important in washing 1536 pin tools because the significant displacement of wash liquid by 1536 pins can raise the level of liquid in a fixed reservoir. 

Specifications:
Dimensions - 144.7 mm long by 85.48 mm wide, 28 mm tall
Reservoir depth = 15 mm
Reservoir volume = 120 ml

The flowing reservoir/ spillway system allows displaced liquid  to merely overflow the spillway and the reservoir is refilled when the  pin tool is removed.  The Spillway Flowing Reservoir Wash System also is more cost effective than the fountain style reservoirs.  If you don't need to have the pins washed individually this a very cost effective way to clean pins for runs of over 100 plates/washings.

The photos to the right shows the spillway reservoirs being used on an Apricot Designs TPS-384 Robot.

The flowing reservoir/ spillway system allows displaced liquid  to merely overflow the spillway and the reservoir is refilled when the  pin tool is removed.  The Spillway Flowing Reservoir Wash System also is more cost effective than the fountain style reservoirs.  If you don't need to have the pins washed individually this a very cost effective way to clean pins for runs of over 100 plates/washings.

The flowing reservoir/ spillway system allows displaced liquid  to merely overflow the spillway and the reservoir is refilled when the  pin tool is removed.  The Spillway Flowing Reservoir Wash System also is more cost effective than the fountain style reservoirs.  If you don't need to have the pins washed individually this a very cost effective way to clean pins for runs of over 100 plates/washings.

Both the VP 549H2O and the VP 549ETOH have only one inlet port which allows us to make the reservoir deeper.  Although smaller than the VP 548, both the VP 549ETOH and the VP 549H2O will accommodate even 1536 pin tools or pipettes. 

Specifications:

Dimensions - 127.76 mm long by 85.48 mm wide, 28 mm tall
Reservoir depth = 23.8 mm
Reservoir volume = 160 ml
Tube ID = 3/16 inch

The plate registration features on the deck tiles of some robotic platforms interfere with the inlet or outlet nipples on the VP 549ETOH or VP 549H2O.  We have solved this problem by placing 4 alignment holes in the bottom of the reservoirs (arrows).  The photo to the right illustrates the bottom view of the reservoir and the top view of a VP 581A SBS locating block.  The alignment holes register to 4 set screws in our VP 581A.  Thus we are able to stack the reservoir on top of the SBS locating block and elevate the reservoir above any obstruction.




The photo to the right illustrates the reservoir stacked on top of the SBS locating block.

The V&P Reagent Dispenser was developed in response to a customer who wanted an inexpensive and simple way to maintain reagents in a reservoir.  By simply connecting a reagent bottle to one of our Spillway Reservoirs
(VP 549ETOH or VP 549H2O) with a flow restrictor in the line we can control the flow rate of reagent down the line.  The V&P Reagent Dispenser can also be used to keep the level of wash alcohol, DMSO or H2O in a spillway reservoir (VP 549-ETOH or VP 549H2O at a constant level.

See a video how one of our customers at UC Riverside uses this "infinite" reservoir system in his High Throughput Screening application. 
Link to Google video.
Link to Download video.

For more information click here.

VP 549ETOH-2 & VP 549H2O-2

VP 549ETOH-2 & VP 549H2O-2 are polypropylene pin tool wash reservoirs.  The 549ETOH-2 is designed to hold alcohol washes while the VP 549H2O-2 is designed to hold water washes.  Inlet and outlet luer ports are located on the same side of the reservoir to allow for flushing of the liquid.

They both contain a flowing reservoir/spillway system which allows displaced liquid  to merely overflow the spillway and the reservoir is refilled when the pin tool is removed.  The Spillway Flowing Reservoir Wash System also is more cost effective than the fountain style reservoirs.  If you don't need to have the pins washed individually this a very cost effective way to clean pins for runs of over 100 plates/washings.

Two pins are located on the back edges to allow the attaching of our support and blotting media to the top of the reservoir as shown in the photos to the right.

The photo on the right illustrates how these register and stack on top of each other thus occupying only one position on the deck.  If you have a limited number of deck positions, this is the system for you.

The photos on the right illustrate how this system works on a Cybio robot.  The pins are lowered through the holes in the lint free paper and support structure into liquid in the wash reservoir.

The photo on the right illustrate how the robot  lifts the pins up, shifts over to one side and then lowers the pins on to the lint free paper to blot the excess liquid off the pins resulting in a much more efficient wash process.

VP 549ETOH-3 & VP 549H2O-3

VP 549ETOH-3 & VP 549H2O-3 are polypropylene pin tool wash reservoirs.  The 549ETOH-3 is designed to hold alcohol washes while the VP 549H2O-3 is designed to hold water.  This version differs from the VP 549ETOH-2 and VP 549H2O-2 in that the inlet and outlet luer ports are located on opposite sides of the reservoir.  These inlet and outlet ports allow for flushing of the liquid.

They both contain a flowing reservoir/spillway system which allows displaced liquid  to merely overflow the spillway and the reservoir is refilled when the pin tool is removed.  The Spillway Flowing Reservoir Wash System also is more cost effective than the fountain style reservoirs.  If you don't need to have the pins washed individually this a very cost effective way to clean pins for runs of over 100 plates/washings.

(New)
Rapid Flush Spillway Reservoirs

VP 549ETOH-RF & VP 549H2O-RF

Both the VP 549H2O and VP 549ETOH spillway reservoirs can be converted into rapid flush reservoirs by adding an additional large ID outlet nipple to the reservoir and using a large ID nipple for the inlet.  This design facilitates the rapid exchange of wash fluids.  This rapid exchange is important  for applications requiring fresh wash solutions between each cleaning.  By using the spill way design, the fluid level in the reservoir is automatically determined thus eliminating the need for an expensive liquid level determining device.

This rapid flush method can also be used to reduce the number of wash stations on the robot deck. 

VP 549ETOH-RF

Specifications:

Dimensions - 127.76 mm long by 85.48 mm wide, 28 mm tall
Reservoir depth = 23.8 mm
Reservoir volume = 160 ml

VP 549H2O-RF

Specifications:

Dimensions - 127.76 mm long by 85.48 mm wide, 28 mm tall
Reservoir depth = 23.8 mm
Reservoir volume = 160 ml

The VP 549PE Spillway Flowing Reservoir Wash System offers several advantages.  First the wash liquid is injected into the reservoir through 96 inlet ports o-in the bottom of the reservoir and the liquid fills the reservoir to a height of 30 mm before it runs over the main notch (their are 4 other emergency notches) in the spillway and the liquid is collected in a separate peripheral reservoir connected to the drain.  This keeps the wash reservoir uniformly flushed with new liquid coming in the bottom and waste liquid flowing out the top.  It maintains the height of the liquid at a constant level regardless of the flow rate.  The spillway feature is also important in washing 1536 pin tools because the significant displacement of wash liquid by 1536 pins can raise the level of liquid in a fixed reservoir.

The reservoir inlet and outlet quick disconnects are located on the  bottom of the reservoir.  This unit was designed for the PerkinElmer MiniTrak where the deck is open and inlet and and outlet hoses can be brought in from the bottom.  The bottom of the reservoir also has locating holes which allow the reservoir to be seated securely on the deck.

VP 549PE-EP3

The VP 549PE-EP3 Spillway Flowing Reservoir Wash System offers the same advantages of the VP 549PE. First the wash liquid is injected into the reservoir through 96 inlet ports in the bottom of the reservoir and the liquid fills the reservoir to a height of 30 mm before it runs over the main notch (their are 4 other emergency notches) in the spillway and the liquid is collected in a separate peripheral reservoir connected to the drain.  This keeps the wash reservoir uniformly flushed with new liquid coming in the bottom and waste liquid flowing out the top.  It maintains the height of the liquid at a constant level regardless of the flow rate.  The spillway feature is also important in washing 1536 pin tools because the significant displacement of wash liquid by 1536 pins can raise the level of liquid in a fixed reservoir. 

The bottom view of the reservoir illustrated in the photo on the right reveals that the difference between the VP 549PE and the VP 549PE-EP3 is the location of the inlet and outlet quick disconnects on the  side of the reservoir.  This unit was designed for the PerkinElmer EP3 where the deck is closed and inlet and and outlet hoses can be brought in from the side.  The bottom of the reservoir also has alignment holes and locating pins which allow the reservoir to be seated securely on the deck.

If cycle speed and number of robot station positions are not important in your system, we also offer a solid lint free blotting media (VP 540D) that  has notched corners so it fits into an Omni Tray (VP 413).   The Omni Tray has a foot print of 127.7 mm long by 85.5 mm wide (SBS standard) and the VP 540D solid blotting media measures 114 mm long and 74 mm wide. Just place the solid blotting media into an Omni tray and use in conjunction with 2 VP 540 single wash reservoirs to clean the pin tool.  Ideal for blotting alcohol rinses.  The VP 540D comes 10/package, and the VP 540D-100 comes 100/package for bulk discount purchases.
 

VP 540D

VP 540D-100

The heart of our Heavy Duty Blotting System (VP 540DB) is a super absorbent polypropylene pad that will hold up to 27ml of fluid before it is saturated.  The pad comes in an Omni Tray with a single VP 540 Lint-Free paper on top.  The blotted liquid is transferred from the Lint-Free paper to the pad and a barrier holds it in the pad.   This super absorbent pad means you don't have to change blotters frequently.  Runs of over 1000 blots or plates are possible even with 1536 pin tools.    The VP 540DB comes 10/package, and the VP 540DB-100 comes in 10 packages of 10/package for bulk discount purchases. The super absorbent polypropylene pad (VP 540DB1) can also be purchased separately and used with plate lids and the lint free paper to save money. The VP 540DB1 comes 10/package, and the VP 540DB1-100 comes 100/package for bulk discount purchases.

The photo to the right shows the blotting system on an Apricot Designs TPS-384 robot.

Here's a video of a Biomek Robot using one of our pin tools and some accessories (VP 540DB, VP 550A, VP 549ETOH, VP 565).

The combination wash and blotting systems can be used on any robot system and also with variety of different pin tools (E-clip type, Standard tube type, Tomtec, PerkinElmer and CyBio tube type) and even as a method to clean pipet tips.  The diameter of pin and or pipet tip however may limit their application to single chamber/fountain wash and blot systems.

An experiment was conducted to determine the efficacy of one water wash followed by blotting then one isopropanol wash followed by blotting. Each FP3 pin carries about 73 nl of DMSO which contained 172,832 units of FITC (0.0000106 mg FITC).  The results clearly indicate that even after 24 separate transfers the double wash and blot procedure keeps the pins clean.

The level of FITC units in both the first and twenty fourth plate are background levels.  These results clearly indicate that two wash and two blot steps are sufficient to clean the pins between source plates and that the wash solution does not need to be changed for at least 24 transfers as no significant increase in FITC units was detected even after 24 transfer and wash steps.  Because there was no detectable difference between the first plate and the twenty fourth it can be argued that many more transfers could safely be performed without changing the wash reservoirs.

For your convenience we have grouped pin tool accessories into several kits that are specific for different robot systems or applications. We highly recommend that you order one of these Pin Tool Accessory kits at the time you order the pin tool.  The "essentials" these kits are the wash reservoirs, the VP 540DB Lint Free Blotting System used to clean the pins efficiently between samples, the VP 110 Pin Cleaning Solution is used the clean the pins daily, the VP 425 Pin Cleaning Brush is used if a build up occurs and the VP 555 Safe Pin Tool Storage System used to keep it clean and the fragile pins out of harms way.   Although we have several other wash and blot accessories available these are the most cost effective for the specified robot system or applications.  If you elect to use the fountain and flowing reservoirs we still strongly recommend the other items in these kits.  When purchased as a Kit you will receive a 5% discount over the sum of the individual items.