I recently moved from Azenta’s tubes to the newly designed LVL tubes and am quite satisfied with the performance. So far I only have an 8-channel handheld decapper but am considering buying a fully automated device from them. I got a test device and the performance seems to be rock-solid, however I was wondering if anyone here has some experience with the device. I already wrote a python script for external control, this was straightforward. I’m more concerned with the long-term performance, reliability of the capping / decapping and maintenance costs. The price seems to be MUCH more competitive compared to Altemis / Azenta as well.
We just bought a few of these LVL decappers, they are beasts. We haven’t had them running for very long and not yet in production, but so far we really like them, albeit their cycle time is relatively slow. I’ll update here as we get more cycles on them but so far no issues.
I’m a Distributor for LVL so I’m kind of biased but the decapper is really purpose-built with the specific torque settings for capping and decapping LVL tubes. It’s simple, has a small footprint and is less expensive than alternatives. I’ve used pretty much all of the other decappers on the market and I prefer this one for its simplicity. If you are interested in more information on the LVL Decapper(video demo) or want to try some samples of LVL tubes drop us an email at info@hrush.net
€: Still, it’s of course a difference if a testing device performs well for n cycles vs. how it performs in production. But it sounds like its doing it’s job well at a fair price, so I’m convinced
Just one remark from my side (doing sales for LVL): We got back devices after Covid for refurbishment. 100,000 cycles not uncommon - and running like clockwork. I dropped a device from the parking lot after a demo onto the concrete from a height of about one meter. New housing, laser readjusted - done. If you see all the metal parts inside (instead of plastic) - just robust.
We had these decappers at a high throughput covid testing lab I used to work at and they worked pretty well. They will last longer if you decap full racks of tubes or at least have column 1 and column 12 fully filled with tubes. Our lab had been decapping partial plates filled starting with column 1 and, ~ 1 year and many thousands of cycles later, ended up having some issues. I was on a few early morning calls with the manufacturer in Europe for troubleshooting and they were able to walk me through figuring out which parts needed replacing, send the new belt and walk me through doing the replacement. After that it worked well again!
In general, the decappers worked, and I wouldn’t mind using them again. I don’t know enough about the Altemis / Azenta systems to give a comparative recommendation.
I would say its very solid and reliable. We had a lot of them during covid and they generally performed great. We liked a similar machine from Micronic a little better in terms of usability. I faced some issues when trying to squeeze it into space restricted worcell due to the way it opens. But mechanically its great, the LVL vials work great, and its super easy to remote control it with the serial connection.
