Our 18-month old PE/ABI 394 DNA synthesizer has experienced 5 valve
block failures in its ever-so-short lifetime. The first four failures were
in the 11-port reagent block at the front of the instrument but the
failure that happened yesterday may be in the 5-port block at the back as
well as the 11-port valve. One of the valve block diaphrams develops a
hole such that reagents and solvents are sucked back into the
vacuum-assist system. The vacuum ballast accumulates a lot of reagent, its
fittings get corroded and the vacuum "pump" device also is damaged by the
reagents. The pump and the block must then be replaced, usually.
I am curious to know how many other labs are having this problem. The
PE/ABI service engineers have been very prompt and have repaired our
machine as quickly as they could but replacement parts are getting hard to
find. I suspect there must be many other users with this problem. I would
like to stimulate the company to increase its efforts to find a solution
to this problem as quickly as possible. Additional information about other
labs with this problem will be helpful. It is difficult enough to operate
a DNA synthesis facility that is economical without problems with the
instrument. Each day that we are down costs our users money! In over 8
years of operation, our 380B never had this problem.
Thanks in advance for any input you may provide.
-Mark
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Mark O. Lively, Ph.D. Voice: 910-716-2969
Professor of Biochemistry Fax: 910-716-7200
Wake Forest University School of Medicine email: lively@mgrp.bgsm.edu
Medical Center Blvd.
Winston-Salem, NC 27157
HOME PAGE: http://www.bgsm.edu/molecular_genetics/
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