Struggling with this hardware error that upon repeat executing, turns into a “Position out of permitted area” error. This is after mixing 985 uL/aspirating 0 uL, and dispensing 0 uL to try to reset the plunger. Upon the following aspiration, I receive this error. I’ve also tried ejecting the tips after the mixing step and picking up a new set of tips, and I still receive this error.
For my liquid class, the aspiration and dispense each have a blowout volume of 10uL and an air transport volume of 5 uL. Thus, I’ve made mixing 985 and any maximum proceeding aspirating which I thought would resolve this issue. I’ve seen the other thread touching on this, but it hasn’t helped me much.
Please help! I’ve been working on this for a while.
(The channels are operating 100% within the x/y boundaries of the deck).
Hi @OftenConfusedProgrammer ,
Can you upload a com trace file from the day your method is throwing this error?
Hi Brandon! Thanks for wriiting back. I can’t upload the full file, but here is the section that threw the error.
Hi @OftenConfusedProgrammer ,
Thank you for sending the trace files. I can see that you are encountering step loss errors during your mix in which a repeat is chosen. The problem is that your mix volume is near the max of the channel capacity and when a step loss occurs in Z during an asp/disp/mix the plunger is not reset. This leads to the repeat command trying to mix 985 uL again with the plunger possibly already at 900uL. This is why you get the Position out of permitted area error.
To correct, you need to determine where the channel is stalling and fix/remove the issue. If the tip is stalling against the side of the tube (collar of tip hitting the top of tube) then reteaching may be required. If the tip is bottoming out on the mix, reteaching the Z or adding a higher maximum pipetting height in the container may be required. If you have something in the tube like a swab for example, you may be clipping against that.
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