We have an Avestin C5 that's about 10 yrs old, and pretty much everything that Bert said is also true for us. The instrument works great for bacteria; it can also break yeast, but the pressures required are at the upper limit of its capabilities, so everything needs to be in tip-top condition. The instrument is a little finicky--it needs to be cleaned carefully, and requires regular lubrication and replacement of seals and general TLC--so it shouldn't be considered low-maintenance. On the bright side, the folks at Avestin are very good at talking you through maintenance procedures on the phone, and will also visit to do maintenance. I like being able to pack the entire apparatus in ice, so heating is not an issue.
We are able to do most maintenance ourselves, but we did need to invest in some big old wrenches. And it helps if you have access to a bench vise. We went to Sears and bought an enormous air compressor to supply high pressure air to the homogenizer. The compressor is really loud but wasn't terribly expensive, and it works quite well. If I were shopping for a new homogenizer today, I'd definitely look at the competitors, to see if they required less maintenance; but if not, I'd be happy to go with another Avestin. Pat On 5 Aug 2012, at 3:37 PM, Van Den Berg, Bert wrote: > My lab has had a C3 for almost 8 years now. It's very good for coli, not so > good for yeast as 25-30 kpsi is in the extreme range of the instrument and > you'll wear out seals etc pretty quickly. For those pressures you'll also > need high pressure air. You'll also need to be fairly disciplined in > cleaning, so its not great for sharing between different labs (we all knows > how that goes...). Cleaning yourself is possible, but to open it you'll need > a big wrench to get sufficient torque. But again, for Ecoli it's very good. > We've also had good experiences with the avestin people coming in to do > maintenance in terms of waiting time etc. > > Bert > ________________________________________ > From: CCP4 bulletin board [CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK] on behalf of Marcelo Carlos > Sousa [marcelo.so...@colorado.edu] > Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2012 2:18 PM > To: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK > Subject: [ccp4bb] OFF TOPIC: recommendations for High Pressure Homogenizers > > Sorry for the off topic question, but it is relevant to those that produce > proteins for crystallographic purposes: > > We are looking to replace an old French Press with a high pressure > homogenizer for cell disruption (E. coli and yeast). We are currently looking > at the Avestin C3 and the Niro Panda 2000. I would appreciate any feedback > (positive or negative) from users of these instruments (or any other > competing homogenizer). > > Thanks in advance > > Marcelo --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Patrick J. Loll, Ph. D. Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Director, Biochemistry Graduate Program Drexel University College of Medicine Room 10-102 New College Building 245 N. 15th St., Mailstop 497 Philadelphia, PA 19102-1192 USA (215) 762-7706 pat.l...@drexelmed.edu
