Has anyone used a4S or ALPS5000? How are they compared to PlateLoc or ALPS3000 that requires air supply? Things I am concerned are intermittent errors and cross-contamination. Any user experience/feedback is appreciated.
I’m also interested in people’s feedback here, I believe the PlateLoc is the most robust option but the air supply/vacuum lines are a non-starter for a lot of folks.
I’ve used PlateLocs as both stand alone and as part of HighRes integrated platforms. They are very robust but as pointed out do need a dedicated air supply (not an issue in my experience). One item to be aware is that a PlateLoc will require different plate inserts to ensure complete seal (no air bubble). I’ve also used the BioRad plate sealer (this was a manual one seal loaded with one plate at a time) with very little issues. I’ve found PlateLocs to be very configurable (if/when needed) and easy to maintain/troubleshoot.
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I wasn’t aware of the ALPS 5000, that looks pretty slick. My default has always been PlateLocs and I’ve been pleased with their performance. Somebody needs to be the guinea pig and let us know how this new one performs.
My last lab integrated the a4S on all of our STARs. The seal was robust on ThermoFisher Armadillo plates (cat. no. AB2596), however plates started to warp if needing multiple seals. I wouldn’t count that as a knock on the a4S though.
Our technicians had a really tough time getting the hang of the seal roll reloading process. They would always just come and get an automation engineer to do it. The a4S model we used has 2 rubber guides that the seal has to be slipped under for it to sit correctly and seal right. It was pretty easy to knock them off or shear them so you had to buy replacements. I am not sure if 4titude (now Azenta) has made any improvements to that design. It has been about 4 years since I was actively using the a4S.
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I’ve actually tested the ALPS 5000 as a demo and I thought it was fantastic.
You have all of the options of the a4S with regard to sealing (temp and seal time) but also you can load with a distance or force setting which was is very nice. Loading the tape was also way easier than it was on the a4S since it has a sensor that senses the tape and moves it along.
However I have one use case and a 2 week demo isn’t the same as day in/day out use over the length of a year.
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We have used tha A4S in the past. As long as you change out the little rubber suction cups as called for in the user manual, they worked great for sealing PCR plates.
The Thermo ALPS5000 is a rebranded KBiosystems Ultraseal ePRO. I’d recommend getting a competing quote and/or demo from them as the original manufacturer.
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Wow I had no clue. I love the green screen, wish they kept that!
Does anyone have a rep they know that can get quotes for a4S’s from Azenta/Brooks? They seem to be hard to get a hold of these days.
For which region? I bought the a4s in Germany, can probably ask my rep about a contact.
I have a guy, let me message you.
it depends on the region. we are in southwest and lucky to have a local sales lady who is very good. I got response from her in the same day and she even helped to arrange a remote demo for our team. Really appreciate it.
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My suspicion is that the New England region probably having volume demand stressed. Thanks for the tips guy.
Love this site! Ain’t it great 
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Has anyone worked with the Ultraseal series? I would love to hear about your experience.
I have one (ALPS5000) which is just a rebrand and I would not buy it again. In fact I would have even replaced it if it would be sitting on an automation platform. People use it manually and for that is it ok. Still - would prefer Plateloc or A4S over this one.
Why? It often - let’s say every 20 seals - loses the tape and needs manual fixing. Absolute no-go.
But I’m currently also looking for a new sealer and was hoping maybe someone could share their experience.
- I need a sealer for an automation platform where it mainly will seal Echo plates (PP, LDV). However, we also want “all” other plates to be sealed as they come in (384/1536). I’m willing to buy a second sealer the moment we need a second tape like a gas permeable one but for the first time we are good with the some DMSO resistant aluminum foil. I know that Labcyte/Beckman are suggesting the Plateloc with the 290 or the LDV insert. I think the LDV insert may also have another material on top which is less likely to scratch the foil bottom of the Echo plates or is this not true? Does someone have experience with those inserts and if you can do all other plates with them as well eg. 384/1536 from other brands?
I’m also looking into the A4S roll heat sealer from Brooks/Azenta. I somewhat like it but not everyone seems to love it though. I somewhat liked their adapters which can be exchanged by the robot (light weight) which could be a plus but they don’t seem to have an adapter for the Echo plates and also not having the robot swap adapters/inserts might also be a good thing. It takes no air, twice as long to seal..
I got a lot a bad feedback recently from people having experiences with newer Platelocs coming with a colored display compared to the old ones. Is this something anyone can relate to? I could try to get a “good” one second hand and have it refurbished before installing. people say that the pressure connections are faulty and just in general the old ones were goats and the new ones shit. Also this came from a user not using Echo plates (guess that doesn’t really matter but just saying).
I was not aware that Agilent changed the PlateLocs in any way. I have two PlateLocs that are roughly 3 years old and they are just like any other PlateLoc I’ve used (no color screen). I do agree that, in general, PlateLocs are wonderful sealers for automated systems. If you want a used one, I’d reach out to @dcmay to see if he has some that he’s refurbished. He may also have some insight into the newer PlateLocs.
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Thanks for the shout out. We have a limited supply of the older 5.0 monochrome screens. Let us know if you would like to get one? Please reach out to service@dcmbio.com