RE: Aria and the high voltage board...

Hi Diana,

 

We have our Aria for 2 1/2 years now. And it is working pretty good
here.

But we have our third high voltage board installed now. I asked BD about
it but didn't get any answers. They would look into the matter.

I find it strange that these boards which are pretty costly only last
for about 18 months! Just as the violet fibers by the way.

 

Regards Guido

 

Guido de Roo

Flow Cytometrie

LUMC

The Netherlands

 

________________________________

From: Diana Hamilton [mailto:Diana-Hamilton@omrf.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 8:12 PM
To: cyto-inbox
Subject: Aria and the high voltage board...

 

Hello all,

We purchased our FACSAria in July 2004 and overall have been happy with
it; it gives higher purities of sorted populations than the MoFlo we
have, but it takes more time to get it there.  However, my question has
more to do with other people's experiences with their Arias and the high
voltage boards.

We have had two go out since we purchased it, and today, it appears that
it has gone out again.	The outermost streams (both far left and far
right) when I do a test sort cannot reach out nearly as far as I know we
have had them do in the past, even with the plate voltage set to maximum
and the stream adjustment bars slid as far out as possible.  I might be
able to sort two populations, those closest to the waste stream, but the
outermost ones are iffy, particularly the left one.  I am reluctant to
sort today because of this.  I currently have a call in to BD and I am
waiting for a callback to confirm my suspicions.

The question is:  What is the track record of these boards?  Is the
problem stemming from bad power, since we are located in Oklahoma and
are subject to all kinds of severe weather, or is the problem more on
the order of poor design/poor implementation?

We did have a rather strong storm move through two nights ago, with high
winds, hail, hard rain, and the obligatory possible spring tornado, but
we had no indication that we had lost power that night; this stream
problem manifested itself yesterday, and no system in this lab is on a
UPS or other power regulator.  As stated before, we have a MoFlo, as
well as an LSRII, a Caliber and a FACScan.  Any insight would be useful,
as we are considering obtaining a UPS or line regulator if this appears
to be the problem.

Thanks for the time,

Diana Hamilton, Ph.D.
Flow Cytometry Core Facility
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
Oklahoma City, OK