CORE II Hardware not picking tips on the Tip adapters

Hamilton (Venus)
#1

Hello,

I have been struggling with an issue with CORE II channels for a while now I think found the route cause. We routinely use the LVK to compare the performance of the Liquid Classes for CORE I vs CORE II. My system has CORE II channels and heads now, and for the past month we have been getting negative value in the LVK reading when the tips are picked up from the adapter. I have supected for a while that the head was not making a good seal with the tips. I took pictures today and voila. The tips failing (50 and 300 standard) in LVK seem to be the one no fully engaged the channels. The tips are also CORE II if you wonder. Notice the gap between the top of the tips and the barrel.

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To the Hamilton team, are there any adjustments available for make these tips seat better on the 96-core head when picked up form the adapter? Note that for the 1000uL and SLIM, the 96 CORE works well when the tips are on the adapter. Also, the head has no issue with 50 and 300 tips in the wafer.

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Thanks,

#2

Are you using CORE I tip support or CORE II tip support?

I believe there is a notice out there for shifted tip pick up and CORE II hardware on MPH.

1 Like
#3

@Starrif2263 - CORE II stop discs are just slightly longer than CORE I and may make contact with neighboring surfaces close to the same height (eg. tip wafers) of the adapter during partial tip pickups (of certain tip types) when using a tip adapter. In such instances, the tip pickup quality is affected as you observed. This is likely the case here.

To resolve this issue, Hamilton came out with an updated CORE II tip adapter and labware definition, which seats the tip collars at a different height. This adapter is available free of charge for existing customers using tip adapters affected by this issue.

Let me know if you need any assistance getting in touch with your local sales support, which can arrange for this to be shipped out to you.

Additionally, if possible another option is to modify the deck layout so that the location of the tip adapter is clear of any neighboring obstructions.

Thanks.

-Nick

4 Likes
#4

Thanks @NickHealy_Hamilton, I will reach out to my local rep for an exchange. Are the core II tip adapter physically different than the CORE I adapter? Like shape or color? I have systems that are still CORE I, I would not want to have them mixed up.

Thanks again

1 Like
#5

@Starrif2263 - The CORE II adapters are slightly taller and have ‘CORE II’ laser etched to the front.

Thanks.

-Nick

1 Like
#6

Just a thought.
You can add a barcode label to the tip adapter and set the barcode mask in Venus to: TIPADAPTERII

That way when you do autoloading you can check that the correct adapter is used and loaded onto the tip carriers.

1 Like
#7

Great suggestion @bowlineknot.
Thanks