I’m experiencing some alignment issues when using the 300 uL Slim Filter Tips on my Hamilton Vantage 1.3 liquid handler. We have the CO-RE II stop disks installed on this instrument.
My goal is to aspirate 80 uL (150 uL starting volume) from 384-deep well plates (ThermoFisher Cat #AB1178) in the standard plate carrier, PLT_CAR_L5AC_A00 using the 96-channel Multi Probe Head. I had been using 300 uL “standard” filter tips to do this, but experienced some plate pickup issues because the diameter of the tips is approximately the same as the diameter of the 384-deep well plates. I could only go ~ 3-4 mm from plate bottom before the tips would get stuck in the wells. I thought that the “slim” version of the 300 uL tips would be a great solution to this sizing issue.
The diameter of the “slim” tips works very well to alleviate my original issue. However, there is pronounced splay of these tips after picking up with the MPH. There is significant deviation in both the positive/negative x- and y- directions which causes some tips to clip the sidewalls of the wells and make an audible sound. Some tips are even damaged after this - the ends of the tips are sometimes sheared off or smooshed.
Has anyone else experienced this issue before? What were your solutions?
If the slim tips don’t work out for me, my other two options would be to switch to using 50 uL tips and access the 384-deep well plate 2x (which would double the number of tips used) or tape the 384-deep well plate down to the carrier so that the 300 uL “standard” tips don’t lift the plate (which won’t instill much confidence in the operator).
Looking forward to hearing what the community has to say!
Hi @Paul.Gabriel
I’ve noticed that problem too, when I checked Slims.I tried to dispense to LP_0200 and there’s a topic (Working with Echo plates (LP-0200) using CO-RE 96 - #5 by Oleksandr). It doesn’t match at all. I adjusted, used tip adapter, did everything I could and after just fed up.
I’ve backed to 50 uL tips and use them with low 96 well plates or 384 plates, for others needs it’s always standard 300 uL tips or different Liquid Handlers (Bravo or Biomek) especially working with LP-0200…
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Thanks for confirming that I’m not the only one who has experienced this, @Oleksandr ! I looked at your previous post with the Echo plates, and I didn’t know that slim tips weren’t compatible with 384-well plates.
Following up on this, I reviewed both the VENUS 4 and VENUS 6 Operator’s Manuals. Below is the table from the VENUS 4 manual:
And here’s the table from the VENUS 6 manual:
There’s a discrepancy between the compatibility of the CO-RE 96 Head - VENUS 4 manual states that it can be used for 384-well plates, while VENUS 6 manual states that it’s only compatible with 96-well plates. I’m a bit confused since the CO-RE II upgrades with VENUS 6 would theoretically make tip alignment better, so I don’t know why 384-well plates were removed here. I’ve been using the CO-RE 96 Probe Head for years with success for 384-well plates so I don’t think that the VENUS 6 manual is necessarily true.
@EricSindelar_Hamilton , can you please clarify the above? What are Hamilton’s recommendations for tip type-labware compatibility?
Thanks!
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The VENUS 4 excerpt is more helpful in this instance as it shows that Slim tips are not recommended for 384-well plate types with the MPH96. Due to their length which is approximate to the 1mL tip, any skewness will be exaggerated by the end of the tip making it not suitable for higher density plates. Slim tips are ideal for avoiding excessive liquid displacement in tubes and thinner wells compared to 1mL tips, and generally speaking, are more often implemented with the 1mL independent channels.
I’ll follow up with the internal teams on the table included in the VENUS 6 manual - it tried to consolidate the info but doesn’t give as clear of a breakdown.
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Thanks for the insight Eric! It would definitely be helpful to have that table so that we can easily reference what tip types are compatible with a given labware format. I’ll plan on using 50 uL tips to access these 384-deep well plates since these haven’t caused any issues for me
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