Dear Markus, I've had to solve this exact issue in the past. Putting a 'simple' (nothing is simple these days, everything has some kind of AI or other evil gnomes in it) spectrofluorimeter into the cold room *should* be OK.
Caveat #1: I don't know if this will work with your specific device Caveat #2: I've done this with a Bio-tek device and a FeraStar. Both survived. Condensation is indeed the enemy. Placing the spectrofluorimeter in the cold room isn't much of an issue, because the instrument is warm, going into the cold. Please note that many instruments these days have a thermostated environment inside, meaning you may have to actually switch off or adjust the thermal control otherwise the instrument will maintain its preset temperature. Taking the instrument out is where issues may occur. In the past, some of the filters and other delicate elements were coated in condensation-sensitive materials that would degrade upon exposure to moisture. I am fairly certain that this is not the current practice. Instruments get shipped in winter all the time, and the manufacturer normally would recommend 24-48 hours in a thermally conditioned environment (i.e. your lab) before turning the instrument on, so that condensation can safely evaporate in an off state. If you're very concerned, and have the energy to do this, you could load the instrument into a nice large airtight bag in the cold room, and shove a large dessicant pack into the bag - or perhaps into one of the compartments of the instrument itself, wait a day, then take the whole thing out of the cold room, let it warm up, and then remove the bag - that will very likely avoid condensation entirely. Probably best to avoid P2O5 or anything aggressive, but a pound of pre-baked silica gel beads in a clean sock should do the trick. With warmest regards, Artem On Fri, Jul 26, 2024 at 11:09 AM Markus Seeliger <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear All, > apologies for the off-topic question. I am facing the problem of running > enzyme activity assays at low temperature (close to 4C would be ideal) in a > fluorescence plate reader. Before I get labeled in our department as "the > one who voids warranties" and destroys our beloved plate reader, I wanted > to pick your communal brains for any experience on this matter. > It is odd - we have had FPLCs, drop setting robots, PCs etc in the cold > room for years without much problem, but I have scruples about putting a > plate reader in frigid environments. I assume that humidity and > condensation would be the number 1 threat to the plate reader (aside from > yours truly and his merry coworkers), and if you have any advice on how to > minimize humidity in the cold environment, I would appreciate any > suggestions. > Am I wrong to think that most condensation should occur on the heat > exchangers of the cold box/cold room which are the coldest spot in the > system and therefore humidity should be reasonably low within the chilled > volume (unless we frequently open and close the doors to the jungle-like > atmosphere of the lab)? > > Thank you for your advice > > Markus > > ******************************************************* > Markus Seeliger > > Professor > Department of Pharmacological Sciences > Stony Brook University Medical School, BST 7-170 > Stony Brook, NY 11794-8651 > office: (631) 444-3558 > lab: (631) 638-1299 > fax: (631) 444-9749 > > https://www.pharm.stonybrook.edu/markus-seeliger-lab-welcome > > [email protected] > ******************************************************* > > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 > ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CCP4BB, a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/
