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The microplate washer is a device specially used for cleaning ELISA plates, usually used with an ELISA reader. During routine use, some minor problems may occasionally occur. For example, a customer encountered a situation where the short needle of the cleaning head did not spray the cleaning liquid, or the amount of was too small during use. In case of this problem, Welso provided a detailed solution to help operators conduct effective inspections and judgments in a timely manner to ensure stable operation of the equipment.

Causes and solutions:

The cap of the washing bottle is not tightened or the silicone tube and the bottle cap nozzle are not sealed tightly: Please tighten the cap of the washing bottle again and make sure that the silicone tube and the bottle cap nozzle are tightly connected to ensure a good seal.

The tube has cracks or wrinkles, resulting in blocking in pipes: Check the silicone tube for cracks or wrinkles. If there are wrinkles, straighten them out. If cracks are found, cut off the damaged part or replace the silicone tube.

Silicone tube adhesion at the solenoid valve: The round solenoid valve at the rear of the instrument may clamp the silicone tube and cause adhesion. Pull the silicone tube at one end of the solenoid valve with your hand, gently pull out the clamped part, pinch off the adhered part, and then restore the pipeline.

The filter of the washing bottle is blocked: If the filter in the washing bottle is blocked with impurities, open the washing bottle, remove the bottle cap, and find the filter at the bottom of the silicone tube connected to the liquid outlet. Use a small brush to gently brush the filter to remove the block on it and ensure that the filter is clean and unobstructed.

The cleaning tube is blocked: If the positive pressure cannot be transmitted to the cleaning liquid bottle, resulting in the cleaning liquid being unable to enter the cleaning head, it may be that the silicone tube is blocked by dirt. Check the pipeline of the cleaning liquid system. When find the block and remove the affected silicone tube and use a thin and long brush to clean the inner wall of the tube to ensure that the pipeline is unobstructed.

The cleaning head inlet nozzle and injection short needle are blocked: Check whether the cleaning head inlet nozzle is blocked by impurities. If so, gently remove it with tweezers. Check whether the short needle is unobstructed. If no cleaning liquid is sprayed out, use the needle in the spare parts box to dredge the short needle. Then, swap the silicone tubes of the inlet nozzle and the outlet nozzle, put the cleaning head into the cleaning liquid tank, press the "Flush Pipeline" button, reverse flush for a few seconds, suck the impurities into the waste liquid bottle, and then restore it.

The position of the long needle of the cleaning head is too low: Check whether the position of the cleaning head and the liquid level is appropriate. When washing the plate, the long needle should be 1~2mm above the microplate hole port. If the long needle position is lower than the microplate port, please adjust the position. For specific adjustment methods, please refer to the product manual of the Welso microplate washer.

Solenoid valve failure: There is a circular solenoid valve at the rear of the microplate washer. Turn on the instrument power supply, start working, and observe the movement of the solenoid valve core. When the cleaning head is filled with liquid, the valve core should move inward. After the liquid is filled, the valve core will rebound and clamp the silicone tube with a clicking sound. If the valve core does not move, it means that the solenoid valve is not working. At this time, open the instrument cover, check whether the solenoid valve plug is firmly connected, and confirm that there is 24V voltage input on the power board. If the problem is still not solved, please contact Welso to replace the solenoid valve or the main board.

The pump does not work: If there is no positive pressure in the washing liquid bottle, first open the instrument cover, make sure the instrument is in working condition, and observe or touch the pump to check if there is any vibration. If the pump does not start, first check whether the plug connected to the pump is loose. If the plug connection is normal but the pump still does not start, please contact the manufacturer to check and replace the pump or the main board.

Another customer pointed out that after washing the plate, the residual volume in the microplate wells exceeded the standard. What are the reasons for this problem and how to deal with it?

Causes and solutions:

The caps of the buffer bottle and waste bottle are not tightened or there is a problem with the silicone tube: Check whether the caps of the buffer bottle and waste bottle are tightened, and whether the silicone tube has cracks, dead folds or loose connections. If there are problems, re-tighten the caps, straighten the dead folds, and ensure that the pipes are tightly connected. If there are cracks in the silicone tube, cut off the damaged part or replace the tube section.

The liquid extraction nozzle or long needle of the cleaning head is blocked: Check whether the liquid extraction nozzle of the cleaning head is blocked by impurities. If so, clean it with tweezers. Then check whether the long needle is unobstructed and use a spare needle to unclog the long needle. Put the cleaning head into the washing liquid tank, press the "Flush Pipeline" button on the instrument to flush in reverse, remove impurities and suck them into the waste liquid bottle.

The pumping system pipeline is blocked: Check whether the pumping system pipeline is blocked. If so, remove the affected silicone tube and clean the inner wall of the pipeline with a thin and long brush to ensure that the pipeline is unobstructed.

The long needle of the cleaning head has not reached the bottom of the microplate: Check the distance between the long needle of the cleaning head and the bottom of the microplate to ensure that the long needle touches the bottom of the microwell. If the position is not appropriate, refer to the product manual for position adjustment.

The above two problems are relatively common. We hope that the solutions compiled by Welso can help you solve them effectively. When using a microplate washer, regular maintenance and inspection of the equipment to ensure the normal operation of key components such as pipelines, cleaning needles, and pumps is the key to improving the plate washing effect. To ensure the best user experience, we recommend that customers read the product manual carefully before using the microplate washer, which will be the best reference for you to use the equipment.