Proper care of Tecan/IAPS with IAC robot fluidics

This article outlines the recommended care and maintenance procedures for the Infinium Automated Pipetting System (IAPS) used with Illumina Automation Control (IAC) fluidics. Proper maintenance is essential to ensure the robot operates reliably and maintains accurate and consistent pipetting performance throughout its use.

System Liquid Ensure that the system liquid carboy contains an adequate volume of clean system liquid (de-ionized water).

• Always confirm that the intake tubing is below the system liquid line in the carboy.

• Fill the carboy frequently to prevent the risk of the fluid level running too low.

• Keep the carboy opening covered to prevent contamination from entering the system liquid.

• Periodically empty and clean the carboy as the interior surfaces can become moldy over time.

Priming

Make sure that the fluidics lines are fully primed before use. Fully primed lines are especially important after periods of inactivity.

• Conduct a tip bleach wash followed by a minimum of 3 Sys Wash routines before use. Additional Sys Wash routines can be run as desired.

• Watch for excessive bubbles in the syringes during pipetting steps. If bubbles are present, repeat additional Sys Wash routines.

• If the system liquid carboy runs dry, conduct repeated Sys Wash routines to prime the fluidics lines after refilling the carboy.

Bleach Washing

Perform periodic bleach washes to minimize potential growth in fluidics lines and to clean the tips.

• Perform a tip bleach wash (Robot QC Tasks > Robot Bleach Wash > Option 0) daily before each use. Immediately remove the bleach trough from the robot deck after use to help eliminate bleach fumes.

• Do not perform a system bleach wash.

Water Circulator for Te-Flow

Check for proper fluid levels in the water circulator, which controls the temperature of the Te-Flow unit.

• Before each use, open the lid and make sure that water is above the heating coils. If the fluid level is low, replenish as necessary with distilled water prepared with anti-microbial additive. It is not necessary to drain the existing fluid.

• Confirm that the lid is securely in place to minimize evaporation.

• Refer to the Infinium Assay documentation for details on setting up the water circulator and Te-Flow.

For complete details on the items listed above, refer to the Infinium Assay Lab Setup & Best Practices Guide and the Infinium Assay Consumables and Equipment List.

For any feedback or questions regarding this article (Illumina Knowledge Article #1507), contact Illumina Technical Support [e-mail].