Position out of Position Controlling Error

Hamilton (Venus) Venus Questions
1

Hello All,

Has anyone encountered an error like the one below? This has occurred on multiple STAR instruments, so not sure if this is method related or something going on with the hardware. The gantry will move to pick up tips using the 1000ul channels when a loud crashing noise occurs then this error message pops up.

Starburst error
Starburst error965Ă—792 67.7 KB

Thanks!
Mike

2

Hi @Mike_SD,

This error occurs when the expected position of the pipetting arm doesn’t match with the actual position of the arm. Based on the error and the crashing noise, this sounds to me like a hardware error and will likely require a service engineer to take a look at. That said, a couple items to consider:

  1. Are the STARs experiencing the error running the same method? If so, does the error occur at the same step in each method?
  2. Are firmware commands being used during any methods run on these instruments?
  3. Have you identified what exactly is causing the crashing noise?

Thank you,
Dan

1 Like
3

Hi @DanHartman_Hamilton,

Thanks for your reply with things to consider. Refer to my responses underlined below:

  1. Are the STARs experiencing the error running the same method? If so, does the error occur at the same step in each method?
    Yes, both STARs are running the same method and It happens at random spots of the method, however all occurring during 1000ul channel tip pickup commands. The gantry has made a sudden stop where this “crashing” noise occurs, however it does not always produce the “Position out of position controlling error”
  2. Are firmware commands being used during any methods run on these instruments?
    Not sure, pipetting commands are controlled by a Hamilton library “Pipetting_Controller v0.1”, not sure if there are any firmware commands within that library.
  3. Have you identified what exactly is causing the crashing noise?
    No, the method contains a plate stacker count verification where the gantry uses teaching needles to confirm the correct number of plates are stacked. The gantry moves from one side to the other without any issues, this appears to only occur during 1000ul channel tip pickup.

Thanks,
Mike

4

Hello!

I also just started getting this error yesterday and posted about it here. No crashing sound for me, just errors out when reusing the same tips to aliquot reagent multiple times. Might be the position of the tip plunger or something like that. The error disappeared after switching to pLLD.

-Connor