With regard to the Phoenix: I'm not sure why you've had these problems with the robot,
We use 100+100ul regularly and the CryCam has little or no problem scanning in the drops. Maybe it needs a little TLC to get it properly aligned. 12mins seems a little too long for a 3x96 plate - I'm sure with optimisation of the protocol you can get this down. Having used both Mosquito and Phoenix in anger, I think that the Phoenix wins by a nose (or a tip). I just think its more robust and adaptable. I do miss my Douglas Impax though... <sob>. HTH, Dave On 10/01/2008, Alexey Rak <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > A little comment on not breakable Phoenix needles. > I saw not recoverably bended tips (all 96!) as a result of not very > careful operation (done by rep) during presentation of the instrument, I > do not know how much is 96 nitinol tips set for replacement.... > > Additionally, you hardly can go with 100+100 nl crystallization drops > using Phoenix, 200+200 is OK. The speed per triple plate is ca. 12 min, > it is long and drops are sitting on shelf open for ~4,5 min. another > annoying problems with Phoenix is electrostatic effect and not accurate > centering of the drops which both create problems for imagers. > > Alexey Rak > Structural Biology, Chemical Sciences > Sanofi-Aventis > Centre de Recherche Paris > > -----Original Message----- > From: CCP4 bulletin board [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > Lisa A Nagy > Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 5:21 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [ccp4bb] crystallization robot > > We chose the Phoenix crystallization robot because: > > It has no expensive consumables (tips) intrinsic to the machine. This > was also a big item for us because we worry about being able to run the > machine for more than 3 years. Would the tips for our 2008 machine be > available in 2014? > > It is easy to program (BIG ITEM) for different tray configurations, and > various dispensing methods- even on the same tray. Right now you may not > think you'll have to vary drop sizes or add additional components > (ligand? detergent?) to your drops, but you probably will. > > It can draw from 2ml block plates. Reformatting from block plates to > your trays is a pain. > > The nitinol tips won't break (Compared to ~$700 apiece for the > incredibly breakable ceramic tips on some other machines). > > It has cooling blocks for your samples. This is more important than you > think. > > It's fast. > > It is easily integrated into a fully automated lab system. Right now, > though, our humans (including me) are cheaper than rails and robots. > > It's incredibly accurate, even with 30% PEG 4000 (we tested this > ourselves). > > You can use it for other low volume dispensing applications. > > > -- > Lisa Nagy > University of Alabama-Birmingham > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > -- ============================ David C. Briggs PhD Father & Crystallographer http://www.dbriggs.talktalk.net AIM ID: dbassophile ============================
