We’ve noticed that our Hamilton Vantage will often send channels all the way to the back of the instrument after a pipetting operation, instead of just moving them enough to make room for the next channel. For example, when aspirating from a single tube with all 8 channels sequentially, each channel will aspirate and then move all the way to the back before the next channel starts aspirating.
I can only assume it defaults to this behavior to try to reduce contamination, but the time it takes adds up over the course of a run and it can sometimes increase contamination with all the additional movement.
Is there a way to disable this feature, or set the system to only move channels the minimum amount necessary?
It’s been a while since I’ve worked on a STAR but I don’t remember this happening nearly as often with STARs. We’re currently running Venus 6, but this behavior also existed in Venus 5. Any input is appreciated; maybe one of the Hamilton guys can shed some light on the situation.