[3dem] Vitrobot mark IV blotters

[Bob Grassucci]

Hi Kat,
The Mark IV no longer varies the blot force by changing the position of 
the forceps up or down into the V (which in my opinion was much more 
reproducible).  It actually changes the distance the blot pads are from 
each other when blotting.  We had this problem when our unit arrived and 
FEI came to adjust the Zero blot force. This adjustment is quite 
arbitrary but it would seem that your blot pads need to be adjusted so 
that they are more separate relative to each other.  This adjustment is 
done via a software setting making the parameter blot force more 
negative.  Ours is set for -200 but that setting varies from unit to 
unit I am sure. Your engineer should be able to help you.
Bob

On 6/20/2012 10:06 AM, Toropova, Ekaterina wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> Does anyone have experience with the inner workings of a Vitrobot mark 
> IV? Ours is currently over-blotting and we're having to use 0.5s blots 
> with -20 force to get a grid with any ice on. We've tried to adjust 
> the position of the tweezers relative to the blotters (i.e. move the 
> tweezers up so there is less blot force on the grid) by moving the 
> conveyor belt controlling the metal rod on which the tweezers are 
> mounted but the machine seems to know how to go back to the original 
> position. We've looked at the blotters themselves but it's not obvious 
> to us what to adjust there. Has anyone had similar issues? The 
> engineer who normally helps us is away at the moment so any 
> suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Many thanks!
>
> Kat
>
> Katerina Toropova
> Postdoctoral Fellow (Leschziner lab)
> Dept. of Molecular and Cellular Biology
> Harvard University
> 305 NWB, 52 Oxford St.
> Cambridge, MA 02138
>
>
>
>
>
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