Hi,
I was wondering what your regular maintenance for the Plateloc looks like if there is any?
Also, how often do you need to change the cutting blade and do you do this yourself or have some FSE come on-site for it?
Do you see differences in changing the blades when using different foil types (mainly the freezer (white) or RT (silver) DMSO foil).
Do you guys work with Agilent, DCMbio or others for this? Am I missing someone who is doing service?
N.
I have a bunch of Agilent stuff (PlateLocs, Bravos, BenchCel, TapeStation) and the quote for service coverage from Agilent was ridiculous. I probably would have paid it (not my money, right?) except the service engineers that kept coming out to do PMs or work on the instruments were brand new and had never seen that particular instrument before. These are the bread-and-butter instruments that Agilent sells, and your engineer is training on them at a customer site?
We’ve switched everything over to DCM Bioservices. I’ve known Dave for a long time and he’s been working on Agilent equipment for over a decade so knows what he’s doing. He can also cover non-Agilent equipment as well, so bonus points for that. Agilent is never going to cover to your old Beckman FX.
I asked Dave about the cutter blade and he said they almost never need to be changed, it’s a scissor action cutter so it realistically doesn’t get dull. It will occassionally need to be adjusted, but shouldn’t need to be changed.
Other maintenance on the PlateLocs is mostly just making sure the hot plate stays clean, and getting it clean if it ever gets melted plate or seal on it.