Tip mixing hardware error 2/11

Dear community,

I am currently developing a method containing a liquid liquid partitioning step via tip mixing.

After successfully testing a pipetting step including 20 mixing cycles before aspiration 0 µl, I increased the number of mixing cycles to 80. After the 80 cycles are performed, however, I get a hardware error 2/11 for all channels:

Microlab® STAR : 1000ul Channel Aspirate (Single Step) - start;

Microlab® STAR : 1000ul Channel Aspirate (Single Step) - progress; Error handling waiting for manual recovery!

Microlab® STAR : - progress; User action: Message box ‘Abort command’ message ‘Are you sure you want to abort the run?’ was closed with button ‘Yes’.

1000ul Channel Aspirate (Single Step) - error; > channel 1: PartitioningPlateOnLoadingPosition, A1, E:P1:02/11:Abort > channel 2: PartitioningPlateOnLoadingPosition, B1, E:P2:02/11:Abort > channel 3: PartitioningPlateOnLoadingPosition, C1, E:P3:02/11:Abort > channel 4: PartitioningPlateOnLoadingPosition, D1, E:P4:02/11:Abort > channel 5: PartitioningPlateOnLoadingPosition, E1, E:P5:02/11:Abort > channel 6: PartitioningPlateOnLoadingPosition, F1, E:P6:02/11:Abort > channel 7: PartitioningPlateOnLoadingPosition, G1, E:P7:02/11:Abort > channel 8: PartitioningPlateOnLoadingPosition, H1, E:P8:02/11:Abort

I ensured that the correction curve of the used liquid class is linear (0 - 0; 1000 - 1000) to not have accumulating plunger effects.

Any suggestions what the root cause of the error is and how to solve it? I am happy to provide COM trace files upon request.

Kind regards,

Martin

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Hi Martin,

You’re experiencing what I believe to be the timeout of the instrument after cumulative plunger cycles during your mix. If you break it up into separate cycles (Four 20s, etc.) you can get around this.

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There is also a way to do it without removing the tip from the liquid. I received some very helpful instructions on this in a previous post. Mixing on Hamilton Starlet Venus 6 - #4 by Madclem1

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