®
MICROLAB Carousel
User Guide
Part Number 8534-01 (Rev. A)
June 2003
Contents
MICROLAB® Carousel User Guide (June 2003)
About this guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
About the MICROLAB
®
Carousel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Safety precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
FCC compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Carousel components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Setting up the carousel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Carousel housing assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Index bracket platter kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
DIP switch setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Connecting cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Carousel platter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Installing the software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Carousel service software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Writing a method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Carousel commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Using the serial interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Installing portrait stackers and shelves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Installing landscape stackers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Parts and accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Contacting Hamilton Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
In the United States and Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Outside the U.S. and Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
In Switzerland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
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Contents
About this guide
About the
MICROLAB
®
Carousel
MICROLAB® Carousel User Guide (June 2003)
This user guide is for instructional and reference purposes. It describes the
components of the carousel and provides instructions for set up and operation.
The MICROLAB® Carousel (figure 1) is a modular component. The carousel
is intended for use with the MICROLAB
can be placed around a MICROLAB
provide additional plate capacity for a MICROLAB
®
SWAP application. Multiple units
®
SWAP (Swivel Arm Platehandler) to
®
pipetting workstation.
The carousel provides an integrated solution for increased volume for plate
based sample processing.
The carousel works with two platter sizes to address multiple capacity
requirements. Various SWAP stacks and shelves can sit atop the carousel,
providing storage of plates and plate sized consumables.
The carousel can also be used for storage of disposable tips, for some
applications and instruments.
MICROLAB
®
Vector software is used to control the carousel.
Figure 1: Carousel accessory
1
Safety precautions
MICROLAB® Carousel User Guide (June 2003)
There are four symbols used in this guide.
The “Warning” symbol contains information that must be followed to prevent personal injury to those
operating the equipment.
The “Important” symbol contains information or instructions that must be followed to prevent damage
to equipment or loss of data.
The “Note” symbol provides information useful for improving system performance, increasing your
understanding of the system, or directing you to supplemental information.
The “Procedure” symbol is followed by a set of installation or operational steps.
2
FCC compliance
MICROLAB® Carousel User Guide (June 2003)
The MICROLAB® Carousel complies with the limits for Class B digital
devices by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This compliance
provides reasonable protection against harmful radio communication
interference during instrument installation and operation.
The MICROLAB
energy. Hamilton Company cannot guarantee the MICROLAB
®
Carousel generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency
®
Carousel
against radio or television communication interference. However, if you use
the instrument as directed, you can limit potential interference.
If the MICROLAB
®
Carousel causes any radio or television interference, we
suggest that you:
• Turn the MICROLAB
®
Carousel off and on to determine whether it is
generating the interference.
• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
®
• Increase the separation between the MICROLAB
Carousel equipment
and the receiver.
• Connect the equipment to an outlet on a different circuit than the receiver.
• Contact the instrument dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for
help.
3
Carousel components
MICROLAB® Carousel User Guide (June 2003)
The carousel consists of the carousel platter, carousel housing assembly,
cables, and hardware for attaching the carousel to a SWAP base plate.
The carousel platter comes in two sizes, 10 position universal and an 8
position portrait (figure 2). Each position is numbered.
Figure 2: Platter sizes
The carousel housing assembly (figure 3) houses belts, pulleys, motor, and a
carousel access interface PCB assembly.
Figure 3: Carousel housing assembly
4
Setting up the carousel
Carousel housing assembly
MICROLAB® Carousel User Guide (June 2003)
The carousel can be place at the right, left, or front of a ML 4000 base
instrument. It is integrated with the ML 4000 via a ML SWAP integration kit.
If the base plate has not been installed, refer to the “Attaching the base plate to the ML 4000” of the
ML SWAP/4000 Series Integrated System User Guide (7157-01).
To install the carousel housing assembly to the base plate:
1. Place the carousel housing assembly on the base plate, opposite
the ML SWAP. Position the housing assembly so that the front
end is near the edge of the base plate. See figure 4.
Figure 4: Carousel housing on base plate
2. Determine how close the housing assembly must be to the ML SWAP.
There are three positions possible represented by three threaded holes
in each side of the housing assembly (see figure 5).
Position 1 is closest to the ML SWAP, and Position 3 is the farthest away.
If you plan to use the shelves on the carousel, you must use Position 3. If
no shelves will be used, you can use any position, but you may wish to
use Position 1 to minimize bench space and maximize throughput.
5
MICROLAB® Carousel User Guide (June 2003)
3. Secure the carousel base plate brackets (7918-01) to the left and right
sides of the housing assembly, in the desired position (1, 2, or 3), with
the washer and screw shown in figure 5.
4. Align the holes of the brackets to the holes in the ML SWAP base
plate. Using the screws and washers supplied, secure the brackets to
the base plates (see figure 5).
6
Figure 5: Right and left sides of carousel housing assembly
Index bracket platter kit
MICROLAB® Carousel User Guide (June 2003)
The carousel comes with an index bracket kit (8488-01 or -02). The index
bracket is used during calibration.
To install the index bracket to the carousel housing assembly:
1. Mount the index bracket (8322-01 or -02) to the right side of the
carousel housing assembly, using the two screws (8365-01)
supplied from the index bracket kit. See figure 6.
2. Mount the index pointer (8383-01 or 8527-01) on to the index
bracket, using two screws (8375-01) supplied from the index
bracket kit. See figure 6.
Figure 6: 8/10 station carousel index bracket components
7
DIP switch setting
MICROLAB® Carousel User Guide (June 2003)
Before connecting the carousel to the PC, the communication settings must be
checked and, if necessary, adjusted.
To set the DIP switch settings of the carousel:
1. Locate the DIP switch on the left side of the carousel housing
assembly (figure 7).
2. Check and, if necessary, set the switch as needed (figure 8). Table 1
lists the selection options for the switch. Switches 1 through 3
define the platter size. All other settings beside those shown are
undefined.
Switches 4 through 6 define which carousel (up to 8) will be controlled by
the PC.
Switches 7 and 8 should be off for most applications.
Use a screwdriver or a similar tool to adjust the DIP switch settings. A pencil is not advised, as the
graphite can affect the operation of the carousel.
8
Figure 7: DIP switch location
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