Labware and accessories

I would like to know if there is a solution for having a “cooling rack/carrier” on the deck in a Hamilton Prep. The purpose is to keep reagents cold while running an enzymatic assay.

Thanks!

Like this?

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Not exactly. More like a “cooler brick” for tubes - for example in aluminum. We could have this custom-made, but maybe Hamilton or others thought of a solution already including making labware definition files for this type of labware.

There are things like these https://ariumlab.com/product-category/cooling-blocks/

A few different vendors out there (I’ve never used this one specifically). Just double check that the SBS footprint is for the block itself and not the area where the samples are.

This seems to be more what you’re looking for. I’ve spoken to them (MeCour) at SLAS and they have experience making temperature control units on the Hamilton in various formats and compatible labware.

The Inheco CPAC also has adapters for tubes, I believe the largest is 2ml tubes.

On another note, you can talk to your Hamilton Apps person and they can help you with your specific problem you’re trying to solve.

I checked with product management and they confirmed the Prep will be getting support for the Hamilton Heater Cooler (HHC) later this year. In the interim, we recommend passive cooling blocks which was mentioned already in the thread. We’ve also used IsoFreeze SBS Racks for PCR Setups.

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I’m the team lead for the PREP sales team, so I’ll chime in and second what Eric said! Right now we only work with passive cooling racks (I know a few customers using the Corning CoolRack)–they have to be SBS footprint, so be careful which ones you’re looking at! Even if you get a rack that holds an SBS format plate, the block itself is not always in a SBS footprint.

We will need to do a custom definition for you on the passive cooling block with the labware you want on top of it.

We may already have a custom definition for someone, so when you submit the ticket to get a custom definition done, they may come back and just send you a definition, which is even better :slight_smile:

For active cooling, we will have the HHC later this year. No official ETA yet [they’re recovering from all the SLAS rollouts], but 2023.

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Thanks for your answers!

Regarding the HHC:
Will it be possible to move labware to/from the HHC and also pipette into the wells/tubes while being placed on the HHC?

Regarding labware definitions for the Prep:
It would be great if you could share which commercially available labware items you already have made labware definitions for. Would that be possible? That could serve as a guide for which labware to look into - instead of first buying a piece of labware, ship it over to Reno for getting labware definitions made etc.

Thanks.

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I’m not sure re: HHC questions–I’ll reach out to product management.

Things are still in development there, so a good chance for user input! What would the use case for moving labware to/from the HHC be? (usually when I think about this, the items that need cooling would need it the whole protocol)

This link gives you the currently defined labware! https://www.hamiltoncompany.com/automated-liquid-handling/platforms/microlab-prep/prep-help/supported-labware-prep

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Thanks. I cannot find any lab definitions of cooling blocks in that list. Does this mean that the list is not yet fully updated?

The passive cooling blocks are unique–we have to define them with the specific labware you are using as one unit. So it’s always a custom definition. (With that being said, if you reach out and start the definition process, we’ll confirm part #s before we have you ship it out. I have had a customer hear back that their specific combination had already been created, so they didn’t need a new definition. But the odds of that are pretty low, so we treat that on a case-by-case basis)

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Bumping an old post to say that the Prep now has the ability to use the Hamilton Heater Chiller (HHC) or the Hamilton Heater Shaker (HHS)! So if you need cooling throughout an application, you can get the HHC on the Prep and call it a day.

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