Promega Maxprep AS9100, Maxprep AS9101, Maxprep AS9201, Maxprep AS9200 Operating Manual

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Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

Operating Manual

Instructions for use of AS9100, AS9101, AS9200 and AS9201

TM509 | Revised 1/19

Table of Contents

1 Introduction ........................................................................................5

1.1 Maxprep™ Liquid Handler ........................................................................5

1.2 Product Use .............................................................................................6

1.3 Product Use Limitations ............................................................................6

1.4 Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Features ..........................................................6

1.5 Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Speciﬁcations ..................................................7

1.6 Product Components ...............................................................................9

1.7 Precautions ............................................................................................10

1.8 Safety Symbols and Marking ..................................................................11

1.9 Environmental Requirements (Operating, Shipping and

Storage Conditions) ...............................................................................13

2 Hardware Overview ..........................................................................15

2.1 Hardware Features .................................................................................16

2.2 UV Light (optional)...................................................................................17

2.3 Labware Carriers ....................................................................................18

3 Setting Up the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler .........................................23

3.1 Installing the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler ..................................................23

3.2 Switching On the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler ...........................................24

3.3 Shutting Down the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler ........................................24

3.4 Conﬁguring the PC .................................................................................24

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Table of Contents

4 Maxprep™ Software .........................................................................25

4.1 ‘Home’ Screen .......................................................................................25

4.2 Software Settings ...................................................................................28

4.3 Administrator Settings .............................................................................31

5 Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler ........................................... 53

5.1 Maintenance ...........................................................................................53

5.2 Methods .................................................................................................55

5.3 Starting a Method ...................................................................................56

5.4 Error Recovery ........................................................................................64

5.5 Reports ..................................................................................................67

5.6 Accessing Reports..................................................................................70

6 Cleaning the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler ............................................73

6.1 Weekly Cleaning .....................................................................................73

6.2 Dealing with Spills ..................................................................................75

7 Troubleshooting ................................................................................ 77

7.1 Errors and Warnings ...............................................................................78

7.2 Using a USB Flash Drive .........................................................................79

8 Instrument Service ............................................................................81

8.1 Service ...................................................................................................81

8.2 Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Service ..........................................................81

8.3 Instrument Disposal ................................................................................81

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Table of Contents

9 Warranties, Service Agreements and Related Products ....................83

9.1 Warranty .................................................................................................83

9.2 Warranty and Service Agreement Options ...............................................83

9.3 Related Products ....................................................................................86

10 Certiﬁcate of Decontamination ......................................................... 87

11 Appendix: Conﬁguring the PC .........................................................89

11.1 Maxprep™ Liquid Handler and PC .......................................................89

11.2 Glossary ...............................................................................................90

11.3 Adjusting Volume Settings ....................................................................92

11.4 Conﬁguring Date and Time Settings ......................................................92

11.5 Managing Local Windows® User Accounts ...........................................92

11.6 Managing Maxprep™ Access Levels for a Windows® User Account ...102

11.7 Managing the Current Active Account .................................................110

11.8 Shutting Down and Restarting ............................................................111

11.9 Connecting to a Network ....................................................................112

11.10 Adding a Network Printer ..................................................................113

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Table of Contents

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Introduction

1.1 Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

The Maxprep™ Liquid Handler provides automated methods for preprocessing of samples prior to nucleic acid puriﬁcation on the Maxwell® RSC and Maxwell® RSC 48 Instruments for a range of research sample types. In addition, the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler provides a variety of post-processing automated methods for handling and analysis of eluted nucleic acids. The Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is designed for use by laboratory professionals. Up to 48 samples can be prepared in a single preprocessing run.

The instrument is controlled through a graphical user interface running on a PC. The Maxprep™ Liquid Handler has the ability to record and report sample tracking and method run data. The included automated and manual bar code readers can be used with the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler to capture bar code information for samples and reagents. The Maxprep™ Liquid Handler provides reports of the data gathered for instrument operations; reports can be printed and exported to a storage location or a USB drive for transfer to a separate computer. Sample tracking and run-speciﬁc information can also be tracked in the Promega Portal software to facilitate information transfer between the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler and the Maxwell® RSC and Maxwell® RSC 48 Instruments. Reports of information contained within the Promega Portal software can be generated using the separate Portal Access reporting software (see Technical Manual #TM549).

To start a run, select the appropriate method and follow the instrument setup instructions displayed by the user interface including scanning or entering sample bar code information. For preprocessing methods, the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler prepares the samples for addition to Maxwell® RSC cartridges, adds samples to the cartridges, adds elution buffer to the elution tubes, and transfers plungers to the Maxwell® deck trays. The deck trays containing prepared cartridges are manually transferred to the appropriate Maxwell® instrument(s) for the puriﬁcation run where sample tracking information that was entered can be retrieved from the Promega Portal software. For post-processing methods, the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler can start with samples in Maxwell® deck trays or other labware options for a variety of handling and analysis methods. Training on the use of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is provided during installation (see Section 9.2, Warranty and Service Agreement Options).

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1.2 Product Use

The Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is exclusively designed to be used with Maxwell® RSC reagent kits to perform automated preprocessing of samples prior to isolation of nucleic acids with the Maxwell® RSC and Maxwell® RSC 48 Instruments. A variety of post-processing methods are available with the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler that are compatible with reagents from a variety of vendors.

The Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is for research use only.

1.3 Product Use Limitations

The Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is not intended for use with puriﬁcation kits other than Maxwell® RSC nucleic acid puriﬁcation kits or with samples other than those deﬁned within the product limitations of the speciﬁc Maxwell® RSC kit being used. Post-processing methods provided with the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler are tested for use with Promega reagents. It is the responsibility of the end-users to internally verify/validate that these methods perform to their needs with reagents from other vendors.

Introduction

1.4 Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Features

• Easy-to-use system

• Standardized sample preparation workﬂow

• Ability to create administrator-deﬁned method variants

• Comprehensive technical support

• System controlled via PC and touch-screen monitor

• Run-speciﬁc and sample-speciﬁc reporting functionality

• Preprogrammed methods for preprocessing and post-processing of samples

• Included bar code reader and manual bar code scanner

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Introduction

1.5 Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Speciﬁcations

Instrument Speciﬁcations

Desktop PC

Communication

Weight

Dimensions (W × D × H)

Power Requirements

Operating Temperature Relative Humidity Altitude

Storage Temperature Relative Humidity

UV Bulb (optional)

Regulatory Compliance

CE Compliance

Windows® 10 Operating System with Ethernet connection to instrument, wired connectivity to local network

Ethernet

Approximately 220lb (98.6kg)

42.1 × 27.8 × 33 inches (106.9 × 70.6 × 83.3cm) height with door open: 48.4 inches (123cm)

Input: 100–240VAC, 50/60Hz, 5A Output: 42VDC ± 5%, 600W max 250VAC, 5A, low breaking capacity, time-lag fuse (AC250V, T5AL, 5 × 20mm)

15–35°C (59–95°F) 30% to 85% non-condensing 0–2,000m above sea level

–20° to 70°C 10% to 90% non-condensing

Average lifetime approximately 10,000 hours, length 9.2in (233mm base face to face, diameter 15mm, 11W, 0.43A current, 25.6V, UV-C, UV output 32W at 1 meter)

For Research Use Only. Not for use in Diagnostic Procedures.

Pollution degree 2. Installation category II. Indoor use only. Main supply voltage ﬂuctuations are not to exceed >10% of the nominal supply voltage. This instrument complies with the requirements of the EU Directives for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC Directive) and for electrical safety (LVD). Compliance with the relevant directives was demonstrated by third-party testing to the appropriate EN and IEC standards. The product bears the CE mark on its label as evidence of compliance, and an EU Declaration of Conformity for the product is available from Promega on request.

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Introduction

1.5 Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Speciﬁcations (continued)

Pipetting Speciﬁcations

Liquid Level Detection Independent Channels

Shaking

Pipetting Speciﬁcations for Channels

Gantry Bar Code Scanner Supported Symbologies.

1D Bar Codes

2D Bar Codes

UPC/EAN/JAN, Codabar, Interleaved 2 of 5, Code 39, Code 128, Code 93

QR Codes

Capacitive Liquid Level Detection Pressure Liquid Level Detection

3mm Orbit Up to 2500rpm Temperature range ambient to 105°C

Disposable Tips Size Volume

50µl 1µl 5.0% 5.0%

300µl 10µl 5.0% 2.5%

1000µl 10µl 7.5% 3.5%

Accuracy (%)

5µl 2.5% 2.0%

50µl 2.0% 1.0%

300µl 1.0% 1.0%

100µl 2.0% 1.0%

1000µl 1.0% 1.0%

Precision (%CV)

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1.6 Product Components

PRODUCT CAT.#

Maxprep™ Liquid Handler, RSC Carriers AS9100

Maxprep™ Liquid Handler, RSC Carriers w/ UV Light AS9101

Maxprep™ Liquid Handler, RSC 48 Carriers AS9200

Maxprep™ Liquid Handler, RSC 48 Carriers w/UV Light AS9201

Cat.# AS9100 and AS9101 are provided with Maxwell® RSC-compatible 16-position deck tray carriers. Cat.# AS9200 and AS9201 are provided with Maxwell® RSC 48-compatible 24-position front and back deck tray carriers. Cat.# AS9101 and AS9201 are provided with an optional UV light in the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler.

Includes:

• 1 Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

• 3 10mm Sample Tube Carriers

• 3 12–13mm Sample Tube Carriers

• 3 15–17mm Sample Tube Carriers

• 1 Box of Maxprep™ 50µl Conductive Disposable Tips, Filtered (5 × 96)

• 1 Box of Maxprep™ 300µl Conductive Disposable Tips, Filtered (5 × 96)

• 1 Box of Maxprep™ 1000µl Conductive Disposable Tips, Filtered (5 × 96)

• 1 Box of Maxprep™ Reagent Reservoirs, 50ml (28 reservoirs)

• 2 Maxwell® Deck Tray Carriers

• 3 Reagent Reservoir Carriers

• 1 Utility Carrier (for Heater Shaker, tools and plates)

• 1 Tip and Plate Carrier

• 1 Heater Shaker

• 4 Plunger Tools

• 2 Gripper Paddles

• 1 Maxprep™ Accessory Kit

• 1 PC preloaded with Maxprep™ Software

• 1 Ethernet cable for connection of Maxprep™ Liquid Handler to PC

• 1 Power Cable for Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

• 1 Power Cord for PC

• 1 Power Cord for PC Monitor

• 1 Manual Bar Code Reader

• 2 Maxprep™ Plunger Holders

• 4 Maxprep™ 3-Position Reagent Tube Holders

Introduction

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1.7 Precautions

Important Safety Instructions. Save these instructions.

• Changes or modiﬁcations to this unit not expressly approved by the party responsible for

• This equipment has been designed and tested to CISPR 11 Class A. It may cause radio

• Do not use this device in proximity to sources of strong electromagnetic radiation (e.g.,

• Do not use this instrument for anything other than its designed purpose.

• Always disconnect the power to the instrument and the PC before cleaning or performing

• Do not disassemble unit.

• Ensure that any deck setup instructions are faithfully followed. Failure to do so may result in

Introduction

compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.

interference, in which case you may need to take measures to mitigate the interference.

unshielded intentional RF sources), as these may interfere with the proper operation.

routine maintenance.

damage to the instrument.

• Use only Promega Maxwell® RSC branded and supplied cartridges, plungers and elution tubes. Use only Promega-supplied consumables (tips, troughs, preprocessing plates).

• Do not reuse cartridges, plungers or elution tubes.

• If the equipment is used in a manner other than that speciﬁed by Promega, the protection provided by the equipment may be impaired.

• During some processing methods, the heated shaker at the back left corner of the instrument becomes very hot. Do not touch.

• Do not attempt to lift or move the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler. The Maxprep™ Liquid Handler should only be moved by a trained Promega representative.

• Equipment can be hazardous due to the use of chemical and biohazardous substances.

• Do not override the door sensor.

• This instrument can be used with potentially biohazardous materials. Use appropriate personal protective equipment (e.g., gloves, safety goggles, lab coat, etc.) for handling and disposing of biohazardous materials.

• Loading nonessential software programs on the PC supplied with Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is not recommended. Promega cannot guarantee compatibility of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler software with other third-party software programs. Additional programs may also cause the application to slow down.

• Do not use any software other than the Maxprep™ software to control the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler.

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1.8 Safety Symbols and Marking

6422MA

Important Safety Instructions. Save these instructions.

Safety Symbols and Markings

Warning. Risk of personal injury to the operator or a safety hazard to the instrument or surrounding area.

Warning. Hot surface. Burn hazard.

Warning. Biohazard.

Introduction

Warning. UV light hazard. Do not look directly at the UV light.

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Introduction

AS4000

123456789

Maxwell

CSC

Promega BioSystems Sunnyvale, Inc.

645 N Mary Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94085 USA

Made in

USA

6006TA

14840TA

1.8 Safety Symbols and Marking (continued)

Symbols Explanation

Catalog Number

Serial Number

Manufacturer

Consult your local Promega Representative regarding instrument disposal WEEE Directive (European Community directive 2002/96/EC on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment)

Test Certiﬁcation

CE Compliance Marked

Representative in the European Community

Device is China RoHS-compliant

Important Information

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Introduction

1.9 Environmental Requirements (Operating, Shipping and Storage Conditions)

Power Requirements

Temperature

Humidity

Operating Altitude

The Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is intended for indoor use only. Wipe up spills immediately. To avoid shortening the expected lifespan of the instrument, install in a location that meets the following criteria:

• Locate on a sturdy, level surface capable of stably supporting 350lb.

• Avoid dusty areas.

• Choose a location that has good air circulation and is not exposed to direct sunlight.

• Avoid electrically noisy power sources (e.g., power generators).

• Do not install in a location where there is large temperature variability or high humidity.

• Do not position the instrument so that it is difﬁcult to unplug from the power source.

• Do not place next to heat sources.

• Do not use near ﬂammable gases or liquids.

100–240VAC, 50/60Hz, 5A

–20 to 70°C (shipping/storage), 15–35°C (operation)

30–85% relative humidity, non-condensing (operation) 10–90% non-condensing (storage)

<2000 meters

• Allow at least 6 inches (15.25cm) clearance on all sides of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler.

• Do not place near other electrically sensitive instruments. Allow at least 6 inches (15.25cm) on all sides of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler.

• Connect the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler and PC to a power outlet. Promega recommends that you plug the instrument and PC into an uninterruptible power supply.

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Introduction

Notes

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2Hardware Overview

The Maxprep™ Liquid Handler (Figure 1) is a fully enclosed four-channel pipetting system designed to automate sample preprocessing and deck tray preparation for a variety of Maxwell® RSC chemistries and post-processes for storage, normalization, and analysis of nucleic acid eluates. The front of the instrument has a large door for access to the inside of the system. To open the door, grip the handle, pull toward you, and then slide the door upwards. To close the door, grip the handle, pull toward you, slide the door downwards, and then push the door inwards at the bottom of its vertical motion. When the instrument is in operation, door locks prevent access to the inside of the instrument. In the lower front corner of the instrument is the power button. Press the power button to turn the instrument on/off.

Figure 1. Front of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler.

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2.1 Hardware Features

14833T

The gantry system on the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler has four independently controlled pipetting channels, which can support a 1µl to 1ml volume range using 50, 300 and 1000µl disposable tips (Figure 2). These channels are capable of both pressure and capacitive liquid level sensing. The pipetting channels of the instrument can retrieve tools to perform other tasks including transferring Maxwell® RSC plungers to Maxwell® cartridges and moving plates within the instrument. Included on the front arm of the gantry is a 1D/2D bar code reader that can automate the process of reading tube bar codes that are loaded on the system in tube carriers.

Pipetting Channels

Hardware Overview

1D/2D Bar code reader

Figure 2. Gantry system on the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler. The gantry system on the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler houses the four pipetting channels on the system. On the front arm of the gantry is the 1D/2D bar code reader.

In the back left corner of the instrument are the heater shaker and the tool rack that houses the gripper paddles and plunger tools (Figure 3). When placing the gripper paddles in the tool rack, make sure the magnet and pins on each paddle are facing toward the center of the tool rack.

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Hardware Overview

A. B.

Figure 3. Heater shaker and tool rack. Panel A. The heater shaker is in the back left corner of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler. In front of the heater shaker is the tool rack that houses the plunger tools and gripper paddles. Panel B. Plunger tools are shown at the top of the image and gripper paddles at the bottom of the image. When placing gripper paddles in the tool rack make sure the magnet and pins on each paddle are facing toward the center of the tool rack.

2.2 UV Light (optional)

Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Cat.# AS9101 and AS9201 are provided with a UV light system. UV lights are present on the top left and top right side of the instrument enclosure. The UV lights, in addition to regular cleaning of the instrument, can be used for sanitization. A Sanitization maintenance method is included in the Maxprep™ software to perform UV treatment of the system for an administrator-deﬁned time period. UV sanitization can only be performed with the instrument door closed. If necessary, always replace the UV lights on the system with Maxprep™ UV Lamp bulbs from Promega (Cat.# AS9310).

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Hardware Overview

2.3 Labware Carriers

Provided with the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler are a variety of carriers that hold the labware needed to perform preprocessing and post-processing methods (Figure 4). The conﬁguration of the carriers on the instrument is designed to be consistent amongst Maxprep™ Liquid Handler methods. The instrument platform is divided into 30 tracks. On the metallic plate at the front of the instrument you can see the individual tracks with tracks 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 indicated. The tracks are used as reference positions when placing carriers on the system. To remove carriers from the instrument, grasp the handle on the carrier and pull it straight out toward you, supporting the bottom of the carrier as you remove it from the system. When adding carriers to the instrument, support the bottom of the carrier and place the back edge of the carrier on the track positions at the front of the instrument; then slide the carrier straight back until it touches the backstop of the instrument. Below is a table indicating the carriers provided with the system and their track positions and functions.

Track

Carrier Type Number Provided

Utility Carrier 1 1–6 Static carrier (cannot be removed from system)

Maxwell® Deck

2 7–12 Tray Carriers (2) [either 16-position or 24-position deck trays depending on catalog number purchased]

Positions Function

with heater shaker and tool rack at the back two sites and two plate positions at the front two sites.

Removable carriers that hold Maxwell® deck

14–19

trays. There are two types of Maxwell® Deck Tray Carriers available: the Maxprep™ Carrier, Maxwell® RSC, that is used for Maxwell® RSC (16-position) Deck Trays, and the Maxprep™ Carrier, Maxwell® RSC 48 Front and Back, that are used for Maxwell® RSC 48 (24-position) Deck Trays. On the left top side of the carrier is a removable magnet that interfaces with elution tubes on the Maxwell® deck tray to help remove residual resin from eluates when pipetting from these positions. Underneath the deck tray are two plate positions. For some methods, it may be necessary to remove the magnet from the carrier in order to use the plate positions. A reagent carrier is placed between the Maxwell® deck tray carriers to provide appropriate spacing on the instrument. Maxwell® RSC 48 deck tray carriers are keyed to accept either the Maxwell® RSC Front deck tray or Maxwell® RSC Back deck tray.

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Carrier Type Number Provided

Maxprep™

3 13, 20, 21 Removable reagent reservoir carriers hold Reagent Carriers

Maxprep™ Carriers, Sample Tubes

• Maxprep™ Carrier, 15–17mm Sample Tubes (3)

• Maxprep™ Carrier, 12–13mm Sample Tubes (3)

• Maxprep™ Carrier, 10mm Sample Tubes (3)

Hardware Overview

Track Positions Function

reagents required for each method run. These carriers have four sites and each site can hold either a Maxprep™ Reagent Reservoir, 50ml, or Maxprep™ 3-Position Reagent Tube Holders.

22, 23, 24 Removable tube racks can hold primary sample

tubes and elution storage tubes. Provided with the system are three types of tube carriers that can accommodate a variety of tube types: large diameter 15–17mm tubes (16), small diameter 12–13mm tubes (16), 1.5ml ﬂip-cap tubes or

2.0ml screw-cap tubes (16).

Maxprep™ Carrier, Tips and Plate

1 25–30 The tip carrier has a plate position at the back

site of the carrier and three tip rack positions at the front three sites of the carrier. The types of tips (50, 300, or 1000µl) are determined by the method being run and are detailed in the technical manuals for the chemistry methods.

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2.3 Labware Carriers (continued)

Hardware Overview

14835TA

Utility Carrier

Deck Tray Carrier

Maxwell

Reagent Carrier

™

Maxprep

Deck Tray Carrier

Maxwell

Reagent Carriers

™

Carriers, Sample Tubes

™

Maxprep

Carrier, Tips and Plate

™

Maxprep

Figure 4. Internal components of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler. The hardware components inside the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler. Carriers on the instrument can hold primary sample tubes (10mm diameter, 12–13mm diameter or 15–17mm diameter), Maxwell® deck trays (Maxwell® RSC 16-position deck trays [2], or Front and Back Maxwell® RSC 48 24-position deck trays), processing plates, tips and Maxwell® RSC plunger racks. The heater shaker device is capable of shaking incubation of samples in Nunc 2.0ml Deep Well Plates as required by any individual processing method.

On the right side of the instrument, past track 30 is a waste position with a black removable tip eject bar at the back and a calibration block at the front (Figure 5). Remove the tip eject bar from the system for cleaning and as instructed during maintenance procedures. Underneath the tip eject bar are two probes that are used for maintenance procedures. During these procedures, the system will prompt the user to remove the tip eject bar to expose these probes. When running preprocessing and post-processing methods on the instrument, the tip eject bar should always be in place; make sure the tip eject bar is returned to the system in the orientation shown in Figure 5. The pin on the waste position should ﬁt in the small hole at the front of the tip eject

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Used tips should be disposed of appropriately according to your institution’s procedures for hazardous and biohazardous waste.

Hardware Overview

bar, the large cut out should be at the back of the instrument and the angled side of the tip eject bar should be on the right side and facing downward toward the waste bin.

To the right of the waste position is a black removable plastic waste bin that is for disposal of used tips. Waste bags are provided with the system to line the plastic waste bin and collect used tips. Reorder Maxprep™ Waste Bags, Clear, from Promega (Cat.# AS9305). When removing the waste bin, lift it out toward the right while angling up the right side of the bin to avoid hitting the tip eject bar. Return the waste bin to the system by angling it under the tip eject bar and placing the bin in position.

Tip Eject Bar

Calibration Block

Waste Basket

Figure 5. Waste position and plastic waste bin. To the right of the carriers is a waste position that has a removable black tip eject bar as well as a calibration block. On the far right side of the instrument is a removable black plastic waste bin that is used for disposal of used tips.

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Hardware Overview

Notes

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Setting Up the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

3.1 Installing the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

The Maxprep™ Liquid Handler will be installed by a trained Promega representative. Prior to installation, identify a location for the instrument that conforms to the environmental requirements in Section 1.9 and the Maxprep™ Site Preparation Document sent by Promega.

We recommend connecting the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler, PC and Monitor to an uninterruptible power supply. In order to use the Portal sample tracking functionality, it will be necessary to connect the PC to your internal network. Prior to installation of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler, consult with your IT department to evaluate any concerns or limitations with connecting the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler PC and any Maxwell® Tablet PCs to your network.

Recommended Domain policy settings when the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler PC is connected to your internal network

Ensure that domain policies for the PC adhere to the following:

• Disable automatic Windows® updates.

• Virus scanning programs can interfere with the operation of the instrument. Please disable virus scanning programs, manually perform virus scans, or schedule virus scanning outside of working hours. When placed on a site domain, contact your IT department to ensure that domain policies are amended such that the Maxprep™ software is excluded from virus scanning software.

• Disable automatic power off, sleep or hibernation settings.

• Disable “Fast Startup”. Set the power button to Shut Down, not Sleep.

• Disable any other automatically or manually started software that would consume PC resources during operation.

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Setting Up the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

3.2 Switching On the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

The Maxprep™ Liquid Handler has two power switches: a rocker switch that is located next to the power cable connection behind the right access hatch, and a power button located on the right front side of the instrument. After installation, the rocker switch behind the right access hatch should be left in the on position.

Press the power button on the right front side of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler to turn the instrument “ON” (Figure 6). After turning the instrument on, wait at least one minute after the green light on the gantry bar code scanner is illuminated before starting the Maxprep™ Application Software or any methods. Press the PC power button to turn the PC “ON”. Start the Maxprep™ Application Software by double-clicking the icon on the PC desktop.

Figure 6. On/Off Switch.

3.3 Shutting Down the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

1. Shut down the Maxprep™ Software by pressing the X in the upper right corner of the user

interface.

2. Turn the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler “OFF” by pressing the power button on the right front

side of the instrument.

3. Shut down the PC using the Windows® 10 shut down procedure: touch the Windows®

Start button in the lower left corner of the screen, select the power icon from the left side of the Start menu, and select Shut Down.

4. When not in use for a prolonged period of time, the PC should be unplugged.

3.4 Conﬁguring the PC

Your Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is controlled by Maxprep™ software running on a PC with a touch-screen monitor. The PC should be conﬁgured to meet the needs of your site, including adding users, specifying access-levels for users, connecting to a network and adding network printers. Instructions for conﬁguring the PC can be found in the Appendix of this user manual.

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Maxprep™ Software

4.1 ‘Home’ Screen

The ‘Home’ screen is the main launching pad for interaction with the functionalities built into the Maxprep™ User Interface. The ‘Home’ screen (Figure 7) contains four buttons:

Start

Results

Maintenance

Pressing the Start button on the ‘Home’ screen will begin the process of preparing a method run on the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler (see Section 5.3, Starting a Method).

The Results button opens the ‘Results’ Screen, where it is possible to review, print and export any of the run reports from previous chemistry and maintenance processes that have been performed on this instrument module (see Section

5.5, Reports, and Section 5.6, Accessing Reports).

Pressing the Maintenance button opens the ‘Maintenance’ screen. From this screen you can perform Daily and Weekly Maintenance tasks or a UV sanitization of the system (if the system has been purchased with the UV light option; see Section 5.1, Maintenance).

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4.1 ‘Home’ Screen (continued)

Maxprep™ Software

Settings

The Settings button opens the ‘Settings’ screen, which includes functions to view Instrument Info, Export Logs and set administrator-speciﬁc instrument settings with Administrator (only available to users with Administrator-level access to the Maxprep™ software; see Section

4.2, Software Settings, and Section 4.3, Administrator Settings).

Figure 7. Maxprep™ software ‘Home’ screen. On the Maxprep™ ‘Home’ screen are buttons to Start a method, view Results, run Maintenance methods, and adjust software

Settings.

26 Promega Spectrum CE System

14675CA

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Maxprep™ Software

The instrument name appears in the title bar of the user interface. The following navigation buttons are displayed across the top of the user interface screen:

Home

From any screen other than the ‘Home’ screen, touch this icon to return to the ‘Home’ screen.

Back

Portal

Portal Error

Minimize

Resize

Help

When active, pressing the Back button will return the interface to the screen accessed prior to the current screen.

When visible, the Portal icon indicates that the Maxprep™ software is connected to the Portal software.

When visible, the Portal icon with a red circle containing an exclamation point indicates that the connection to Portal software has been lost. Results from the last run will be exported to Portal software when the connection is restored. Disable Portal sample tracking to run methods until connection is returned, and then reactivate Portal sample tracking.

This button will minimize the Maxprep™ software to an icon in the Windows® task bar. Select the task bar icon to restore the Maxprep™ software screen.

The Resize button toggles between displaying the Maxprep™ software maximized on the screen or resized.

Access context-sensitive help by pressing this button.

Exit

When active, pressing the Exit button will close the Maxprep™ software and return users to the Windows® Operating System.

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4.2 Software Settings

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Within the Maxprep™ software it is possible for all users to access instrument-speciﬁc information and export log ﬁles. In addition, users with Administrator-level access to the Maxprep™ software can modify software options to tailor the behavior of the software to the needs of their laboratory. Below are sections that describe the functionalities that are accessible from the Settings button on the ‘Home’ screen of the Maxprep™ software.

The appearance of the ‘Settings’ screen (Figure 8) is tailored to the Maxprep™ software access level assigned to the Windows® user account (see Appendix). A Windows® user account with user-level access to the Maxprep™ software will see the buttons Instrument Info and Export Logs. A Windows® user account with administrator-level access to the Maxprep™ software will additionally see an Administrator button. From this screen the operator can access the instrument functionalities described below.

Maxprep™ Software

Figure 8. Maxprep™ ‘Settings’ screen. From this screen various instrument-speciﬁc functions can be accessed. The Administrator button will be displayed only for Windows® user accounts with administrator-level access to the Maxprep™ software.

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Maxprep™ Software

Instrument Info

Touch the Instrument Info button to display software and instrument-speciﬁc information for this Maxprep™ instrument on an ‘About Maxprep™’ screen (Figure 9). The information shown on this screen includes:

• Maxprep™ Software Version: the Maxprep™ software version installed on the PC

• Maxprep™ Software Revision: the Maxprep™ software revision number of the software version installed on the PC

• Instrument Software Version: the instrument control software version installed on the PC

• Maxprep™ Name: the name that an administrator has assigned to this instrument

• Maxprep™ Serial Number: the serial number of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

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Figure 9. ‘About Maxprep™’ screen. Instrument- and software-speciﬁc information are displayed on the ‘About Maxprep™’ screen.

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4.2 Software Settings (continued)

Export Logs

The Export Logs button will export instrument logs for troubleshooting purposes. If in the course of troubleshooting an instrument problem you are directed to export logs to send to Promega Technical Services, press this button to generate instrument-speciﬁc log ﬁles.

1. Press the Export Logs button to display the ‘Export Logs’ screen (Figure 10, Panel A).

Select the path to which instrument logs should be exported.

2. Using the Yellow and Red rectangle buttons you can select the folder location where the

instrument logs will be saved. The current path is indicated by the yellow rectangles at the top of the ‘Export Logs’ screen. Any folders present within the selected directory are displayed as red rectangles in the main portion of the screen. Press the Drive\ button to navigate to the drive location of the desired folder. Select the red folder buttons to navigate to the desired folder location.

3. Once a path has been deﬁned, press the OK button to export logs to the speciﬁed path, or

press Cancel to return to the ‘Settings’ screen without exporting logs.

Maxprep™ Software

4. After pressing OK, the ‘Export’ screen is displayed, indicating that the log ﬁles were

successfully exported to the speciﬁed path (Figure 10, Panel B). Press Open on the ‘Export’ screen to open the folder location containing the exported logs.

5. Press Done to close the ‘Export’ screen and return to the ‘Settings’ screen.

Instrument logs will be exported as a zip ﬁle to the path that was speciﬁed by the operator. The zip ﬁle of the logs should be retrieved from the speciﬁed location and sent to a Promega Technical Services representative for further troubleshooting.

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Figure 10. Export Logs. Panel A. The ‘Export Logs’ screen is displayed after pressing the Export Logs button. Specify a path to which the instrument log ﬁles should be exported.

Press OK to export instrument logs to the speciﬁed location or Cancel to return to the ‘Settings’ screen without exporting logs. Panel B. After instrument log ﬁles are exported, the ‘Export’ screen is displayed, indicating that logs have been saved to the speciﬁed path. Press Open to view the folder location of the exported instrument log ﬁles. Press Done to exit the ‘Export’ screen and return to the ‘Settings’ screen.

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4.3 Administrator Settings

Software settings for the Maxprep™ software can be accessed by Windows® user accounts with administrator-level access to the Maxprep™ software using the Administrator button on the ‘Settings’ screen. From the ‘Settings’ screen press the Administrator button to open the ‘Administrator’ screen.

The functions available from the ‘Administrator’ screen allow users with administrator-level access to the Maxprep™ software to customize the behavior of the Maxprep™ software to the needs of their laboratory. Buttons on the ‘Administrator’ screen allow the administrator to: manage Methods installed in the software, import or delete Labware, Manage Kits installed in the software, conﬁgure Preferences for the Maxprep™ software, deﬁne an Instrument Name for this Maxprep™ Liquid Handler and view user-readable Audit Records. The behavior of each button on the ‘Administrator’ screen is detailed below. Follow the instructions below to adapt the behavior of the Maxprep™ software to the needs of the laboratory, or refer to any individual subsection to address a speciﬁc setting.

1. To return to the ‘Home’ screen from any other screen, press the Home button in the upper

left corner of the screen. From the ‘Home’ screen of the Maxprep™ software (Figure 11) press the Settings button.

Maxprep™ Software

Figure 11. Maxprep™ ‘Home’ screen. Selecting Settings opens the Maxprep™ ‘Settings’ screen.

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Maxprep™ Software

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4.3 Administrator Settings (continued)

2. If the current operator logged into the PC has administrator access rights within the

Note: If the

Administrator

button is not visible, log out of the Windows® operating system as this user and log back in with user credentials that have administrator access rights within the Maxprep™ software.

Maxprep™ software, the ‘Settings’ screen (Figure 12) displays an Administrator button. On the ‘Settings’ screen select the Administrator button to proceed to the ‘Administrator’ screen (Figure 13).

Figure 12. Maxprep™ ‘Settings’ screen. The Administrator button will only be visible if the currently logged-in operator has administrator-level rights within the Maxprep™ software.

Figure 13. Maxprep™ ‘Administrator’ screen. The ‘Administrator’ screen is only visible to operators with administrator-level rights to the Maxprep™ software and gives access to customize the behavior of several aspects of the Maxprep™ system.

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Methods

View the methods currently installed in the Maxprep™ software on the ‘Methods’ screen (Figure 14) by touching the Methods button from the ‘Administrator’ screen (Figure 13).

Figure 14. ‘Methods’ screen. This screen displays a list of the methods installed in the Maxprep™ software. For entries with a folder icon, select the entry to view variant methods.

Use the ﬁlter check boxes on the left side of the screen to display only certain types of methods.

You can ﬁlter by:

• Method Type: Preprocessing or post-processing methods.

• Sample Type: DNA, RNA or Universal (total nucleic acid) sample types.

• Favorites: Only methods where the Favorites star icon to the left of the method is highlighted.

• Keyword: Type in a word or word fragment to only show methods that contain that word in the Name, Description or CatalogID ﬁeld.

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Maxprep™ Software

4.3 Administrator Settings (continued)

For each method on the “Methods’ screen (Figure 14), the following are displayed:

Mark this method as a favorite for ﬁltering purposes. Favorites are displayed at the top of the list of methods.

When the folder icon appears in an entry it indicates that variant methods have been created for this entry. Touch the entry to view the existing variant methods.

Name

Description

Type

Sample Type

Catalog Number

Version Number

The name of the method

A description of the method

Indicates whether this is a preprocessing or post-processing method

Indicates the target nucleic acid to which this method applies: DNA, RNA or Universal (total nucleic acid) samples

The catalog number for the kit (if any) associated with the method

The version number of the method

Icon for creation of a new variant method based on the settings for an existing method

Icon for editing an existing variant method

Icon for deletion of a method or variant method

Importing Methods

Only Administrators can add new methods, update, or delete existing methods. Administrators can download new or updated methods from the Promega web site (www.promega.com/resources/software-ﬁrmware/maxprep-liquid-handler-methods/)

Methods are provided as ﬁles with a .package extension. Follow the instructions below to import a method into the Maxprep™ software.

1. Save the method (.package) ﬁle on the PC attached to the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler.

2. If not already running, start the Maxprep™ software by double-clicking the software icon on

the desktop.

3. Navigate to the ‘Methods’ screen (‘Home’ -> ‘Settings’ -> ‘Administrator’ -> ‘Methods’)

4. Press the Import... button on the top left side of the screen to open the ‘Methods’ ﬁle

browser screen (Figure 15).

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Figure 15. Method import ﬁle selection. Use the ‘Methods’ ﬁle browser to navigate to the location of a method (.package) ﬁle. Valid import ﬁles are shown on the right side of the ﬁle browser as blue rectangles (yellow when selected).

5. Within the ‘Methods’ screen, navigate to the location at which you saved the method

(.package) ﬁle. The current path will be shown in yellow boxes along the top of the window. Select any aspect of the path to navigate to the desired folder. Press the Drive\ button to select the drive in which to search. Folders within the current path are shown as red rectangles on the left side of the screen. Valid method (.package) ﬁles will be shown as blue rectangles (yellow when selected) on the right side of the screen.

6. Select the blue rectangle(s) corresponding to the desired (.package) ﬁle(s) to highlight, and

then press the OK button to import the selected methods.

Note: When importing the same version of an existing method, the imported method will

overwrite the existing method and all existing variants will be deleted. A warning is displayed, indicating that the existing method and variants will be deleted. The warning will ask whether you wish to proceed with import; press Yes to delete the existing method and variants or No to cancel the import. New versions of methods will not overwrite existing methods. To remove a previous version, delete the desired method by touching the X on the right side of the method entry.

7. A screen will indicate successful import of the method(s) into the software. If import was

successful, the new method ﬁle(s) will appear in the list of method ﬁles on the ‘Methods’ screen.

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Maxprep™ Software

.B.

4.3 Administrator Settings (continued)

Variant Methods

Each of the methods on the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler can be customized by the administrator to meet the processing needs of the laboratory. The administrator can create variants of the default method that specify new default values, set minimum and maximum ranges and determine whether values can be changed by users at run time for a variety of processing options.

Creating a Variant Method

1. To create a new variant method, select the icon on an existing method entry to open the

‘Save-As Variant’ screen (Figure 16, Panel A). The new variant method will initially be populated with the values from the original method or variant method. Changes made to the method will be saved as a new variant method.

To edit an existing variant method, select the icon on an existing variant method entry

to open the ‘Edit Variant’ screen (Figure 16, Panel B). Changes made to the variant method will modify the existing variant method.

Figure 16. Creating a variant method. Panel A. The ‘Save-As Variant’ screen allows the administrator to create a new variant method based on the settings for an existing default or variant method loaded in the Maxprep™ software. Panel B. The ‘Edit Variant’ screen allows the administrator to edit the settings of an existing variant method.

2. Enter a name and description to identify the variant method in the Name: and Description:

ﬁelds.

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Maxprep™ Software

3. Below the Description: ﬁeld are groups of variables whose values can be modiﬁed by the

administrator. Touch the +/– icon to the left of the group to expand/hide any individual group of accessible variables.

4. For each variable type, the following are listed:

a. Name: A description of the variable that is being set.

b. Value: The default value for this variable. If the default value falls outside of the allowable

range for the variable, the value will default to the nearest allowable value within the range.

c. Min/Max: The range of values that are acceptable for this variable. Each method will

have an absolute Min/Max range that is set by Promega. The administrator can narrow this range if desired to meet laboratory needs. The software will check that the entries conform to the following conditions:

i. The minimum value is less than or equal to the maximum value.

ii. The minimum and maximum values are within the absolute range set by Promega.

iii. The default value is within the speciﬁed range.

If there is an issue with any of these conditions, the software will automatically reset the offending value to the nearest allowable value within the range.

d. User Modiﬁable: A check box to indicate whether users can change the default value

during a run. Note: Not all variables that can be speciﬁed in a variant method are available for users to modify during a method run.

Information regarding the variables that can be set for method types or speciﬁc methods, and the impact of these settings, can be found in Technical Manuals speciﬁc to preprocessing or post-processing methods.

i. Preprocessing Methods for the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Technical Manual #TM529.

ii. QuantiFluor® Dye Quantitation Methods for the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Technical

Manual #TM531.

iii. Ampliﬁcation Setup Methods for the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Technical Manual

#TM526.

iv. Normalization, Dilution and Transfer Methods for the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

Technical Manual #TM530.

5. The administrator can modify any of the accessible variables to meet the needs of the laboratory workﬂow.

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Maxprep™ Software

4.3 Administrator Settings (continued)

6. Once all changes have been applied, touch the OK button to save the variant method. New

variant methods will be added to the list of variant methods in the folder (Figure 17).

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Figure 17. Appearance of variant methods. Administrator ‘Methods’ screen showing an expanded method folder with a variant method.

In the list of methods, variant methods have the following information present:

Mark this method as a favorite so it is always sorted to the top of the variant methods list.

Name

Description

The name of the method

A description of the method

Icon for creation of a new variant method based on the values set for the speciﬁed variant method. Saves the resulting variant method as a new entry.

Icon that allows editing of the values in an existing variant method. Replaces the existing variant method with the newly entered values.

Icon for deletion of a variant method.

Once variant methods have been created by the administrator, they will be available for users to run on the system (see Section 5.3, Starting a Method).

38 Maxprep™ Liquid Handler | TM509 | Revised 1/19

Deleting Methods

Maxprep™ Software

Note: When deleting a default method from the Maxprep™ software, a warning will be displayed to conﬁrm that you wish to delete the default method and all variants of that method.

To delete a method or variant method from the Maxprep™ software, press the X on the right side of the method list entry to delete it. A ‘Warning’ screen will be shown asking whether the ﬁle should be permanently deleted. Select Delete to permanently remove the ﬁle from the Maxprep™ software or Cancel to return to the ‘Methods’ screen without deleting the method.

Labware

View the labware currently installed in the Maxprep™ software on the ‘Labware’ screen (Figure 16) by touching the Labware button from the ‘Administrator’ screen (Figure 13).

Figure 18. ‘Labware’ screen. This screen displays a list of the labware installed in the Maxprep™ software.

For each labware listed on the “Labware’ screen (Figure 16), the following are displayed:

Name

Description

Type

The name of the labware

Description of the labware

The type of labware (Plate, Tube, Maxwell® RSC deck tray, Maxwell® RSC 48 deck tray)

Icon for deletion of a labware

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Maxprep™ Software

4.3 Administrator Settings (continued)

Importing Labware

Only Administrators can import new labware into the Maxprep™ software. Administrators can request new labware from Promega Technical Services (techserv@promega.com). Labware deﬁnitions are provided in ﬁles with a .labware extension. Follow the instructions below to import a labware import ﬁle into the Maxprep™ software.

1. Save the labware (.labware) ﬁle on the PC attached to the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler.

2. If not already running, start the Maxprep™ software by double-clicking the software icon on

the desktop.

3. Navigate to the ‘Labware’ screen (‘Home’ -> ‘Settings’ -> ‘Administrator’ -> ‘Labware’)

4. Press the Import... button on the top left side of the screen to open the ‘Labware Import’

ﬁle browser screen (Figure 19).

Figure 19. Labware import ﬁle selection. Use the ‘Labware Import’ ﬁle browser to navigate to the location of a labware (.labware) ﬁle. Valid import ﬁles are shown on the right side of the ﬁle browser as blue rectangles (yellow when selected).

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Maxprep™ Software

5. Within the ‘Labware Import’ ﬁle selection screen, navigate to the location at which you

saved the labware (.labware) ﬁle. The current path will be shown in yellow boxes along the top of the window. Select any aspect of the path to navigate to the desired folder. Press the Drive\ button to select the drive in which to search. Folders within the current path are shown as red rectangles on the left side of the screen. Valid labware (.labware) ﬁles will be shown as blue rectangles (yellow when selected) on the right side of the screen.

6. Select the blue rectangle(s) corresponding to the desired (.labware) ﬁle(s) to highlight, and

then press the OK button to import the selected labware.

Note: When importing the same or a new version of an existing labware, the imported

labware will overwrite the existing labware. During import a warning is displayed, indicating that the existing labware will be deleted. The warning will ask whether you wish to proceed with import; press Yes to delete the existing labware or No to cancel the import.

7. A ‘Labware Import’ selection screen is displayed (Figure 20) that enables the administrator

to determine which labware will be imported from the selected (.labware) ﬁle. This screen displays the name of each labware type present in the (.labware) import ﬁle and check boxes for whether the labware will be imported, the RCK ﬁle will be overwritten, and the CTR ﬁle will be overwritten. If any labware within the ﬁle already exists in the Maxprep™ software, a red triangle with a white exclamation point is displayed to the left of the labware type. When importing labware, unless instructed otherwise, it is recommended to leave the check boxes for Import, RCK ﬁle and CTR ﬁle checked. To complete labware import press the OK button, or to cancel import press the Cancel button.

Note: Separate instructions will be sent with the labware import ﬁle that describe how to

use the Maxprep™ Labware Management utility to determine the methods for which the new labware will be available.

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4.3 Administrator Settings (continued)

Figure 20. ‘Labware Import’ Selection Screen. Use the check boxes on this screen to determine which items will be imported and which labware ﬁles will be overwritten on import. A red triangle with white exclamation point indicates that the speciﬁed labware already exists in the Maxprep™ software.

Deleting Labware

To delete a labware from the Maxprep™ software, press the X on the right side of the labware list entry. A ‘Warning’ screen will be shown asking whether the labware should be permanently deleted. Select Delete to permanently remove the labware from the Maxprep™ software or Cancel to return to the ‘Labware’ screen without deleting the labware.

Manage Kits

The ‘Manage Kits’ screen provides a forward-looking functionality for managing kit ﬁles that work in concert with future Maxprep™ methods. Currently no methods exist that use this functionality. When implemented, instructions will be provided for managing kits.

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Maxprep™ Software

Preferences

Administrators can view additional preferences available in the Maxprep™ software by pressing the Preferences button on the ‘Administrator’ screen. The ‘Preferences’ screen displays a set of four tabs that can be used by the administrator to adapt the functionality of the software to the needs of the laboratory. Below are descriptions of the options that can be set on each of these tabs.

‘Common Settings’ Tab

The ‘Common Settings’ tab on the ‘Preferences’ screen (Figure 21) provides administrators the ability to specify the following options:

• Allow expired Maxwell kits: Checking this box allows users to run methods with kits that have passed their expiration date. When this box is unchecked the software will not allow expired kits to be used for any preprocessing runs.

• Require Maxwell Kit Lot Number: Checking this box will require users to enter a valid Maxwell kit lot number for each preprocessing method.

• Allow deletion of results: When checked, this box will allow administrators to delete extraction report ﬁles from the local database of run reports.

• Save aborted runs: When this box is checked, the software will save local run reports for aborted runs of all instrument functions regardless of why they were aborted. If left unchecked, any instrument functions that have been aborted will not generate a local run report

• Export to PDF: Checking this box will create a PDF version of exported results in addition to the tab-delimited text ﬁle version of the results.

• Export to Excel®: Checking this box will create an Excel® version of exported results in addition to the tab-delimited text ﬁle version of the results.

• Auto Export: Report ﬁles can be automatically exported to an administrator-deﬁned location at the end of each method. Check the Auto Export box to enable this function, and then select the text box below this option to specify the path to which exported results ﬁles should be saved. An ‘Export Folder’ screen will open with the current path speciﬁed in yellow rectangles. Select any aspect of the path to navigate to the desired folder. Press the Drive\ button to select the drive in which to search. Folders within the current path will be shown as red rectangles in the main area of the screen. Results will be exported as tabdelimited text ﬁles. If the options for Export to PDF or Export to Excel® have been enabled, reports will also be exported in the selected format(s) to the speciﬁed drive location.

• Sanitize: Checking this box will display the UV Sanitization method in the list of maintenance methods and allow the administrator to specify the time period for UV sanitization when running the Sanitization maintenance method. After checking the box, select the text box to specify the sanitization time (in minutes).

• Enforce Maintenance: Checking this box will require that users perform Daily or Weekly maintenance before being able to run any methods on the Maxprep™ instrument.

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4.3 Administrator Settings (continued)

A prompt to save or discard changes made to the preferences is displayed when you navigate away from the ‘Preferences’ screen.

Figure 21 ‘Common Settings’ tab on the ‘Preferences’ screen. From the ‘Common Settings’ tab the administrator can allow use of expired kits, require entry of Maxwell® kit lot information, allow deletion of results, specify whether reports from aborted runs should be saved, specify the ﬁle format(s) for exported reports, specify whether and to where reports will be automatically exported after a run, and set the visibility and sanitization duration (optional, if UV light is installed) for the Sanitize maintenance method.

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‘Alarm Settings’ Tab

The ‘Alarm Settings’ tab on the ‘Preferences’ screen (Figure 22) provides administrators the ability to specify whether the software will provide audible alarms for completed method runs and error states. Available options are:

• Play sound when extraction is completed: Check this box to have the PC generate a sound when a method run is completed.

• Play sound on error: Check this box to have the PC generate a sound if an error occurs during a method run on the instrument.

A prompt to save or discard changes made to preferences is displayed when you navigate away from the ‘Preferences’ screen.

Figure 22. ‘Alarm Settings’ tab on the ‘Preferences’ screen. From the ‘Alarm Settings’ tab the administrator can specify whether audible alarms should be played on completion of a method run or on error during a method run.

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4.3 Administrator Settings (continued)

‘E-mail Settings’ tab

The ‘E-mail Settings’ tab on the ‘Preferences’ screen (Figure 23) is where e-mail server details are speciﬁed and administrators can determine when and to whom e-mail notiﬁcations will be sent. It is necessary to ﬁll out the user and server information on the ‘E-mail Settings’ tab in order to use e-mail notiﬁcations. Required e-mail server information on the left side of the screen includes:

• Username: The name of the user for the e-mail account that will send e-mail notiﬁcations.

• E-mail: The e-mail account that will send e-mail notiﬁcations.

Note: Contact your IT department to provide the information required to complete e-mail settings.

• Password: The password for the e-mail account that will send e-mail notiﬁcations.

• SMTP Server: The SMTP server address for the e-mail account.

• Port: The port that should be used for the SMTP server.

• SSL Encrypted Connection: Check box indicating whether the e-mail account uses an SSL Encrypted connection.

On the right side of the screen, the administrator can specify under what conditions and to whom e-mail notiﬁcations will be sent. Options include:

• Send mail when method is completed: Check this box to have e-mails automatically sent to the speciﬁed e-mail addresses when a method run has been completed.

• Send mail on error: Check this box to have e-mails automatically sent to the speciﬁed e-mail addresses if an error state occurs during a method run.

• E-mail Recipients: Enter the e-mail address(es) separated by a space that will act as the distribution list for e-mail notiﬁcations under the conditions that have been selected.

Upon completing the entries for e-mail settings you can test the validity of the settings by pressing the Test Connection button. Pressing this button will attempt to send a test e-mail to the e-mail account and e-mail recipients designated by the settings on this tab.

A prompt to save or discard changes made to preferences is displayed when you navigate away from the ‘Preferences’ screen.

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Figure 23. ‘E-mail Settings’ tab on the ‘Preferences’ screen. From the ‘E-mail Settings’ tab the administrator can specify e-mail server settings, under what conditions e-mail notiﬁcations should be sent, and the distribution list to which e-mails should be sent. Use the Test Connection button to check the settings entered on this screen.

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4.3 Administrator Settings (continued)

‘Portal’ tab

The ‘Portal’ tab (Figure 24) presents settings for use of the Portal software to connect multiple instrument modules for the purposes of sample tracking and data sharing. Information on this tab will determine whether your system communicates with the Portal software and deﬁne the server information necessary to connect to the Portal software.

Figure 24. ‘Portal’ tab on the ‘Preferences’ screen. The information entered on the ‘Portal’ tab determines whether Portal Sample Tracking is enabled on your system and allows entry of the communications settings necessary to connect to the Portal software.

If you wish to share sample tracking and other method-speciﬁc data between multiple modules, check the Enable Portal Sample Tracking check box on this tab. By default the Portal software is installed on the PC connected to the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler (Cat.# AS9100, AS9101, AS9200, AS9201). During installation of the Maxprep™ Liquid Hander the connection information for the Portal software will be conﬁgured. In order for your system to communicate with the Portal software, the following information is required:

• Server Name: Name of the server hosting the Portal software [Default = Maxprep-HP\ PromegaPortal]

• Database: Name of the SQL database containing Portal information [Default = Portal]

• Username: User name necessary to access the Portal software [Default = PortalLogin]

• Password: Password necessary to access the Portal software [Default = PortalLogin]

• Use Windows Authentication: Checkbox to indicate whether Windows authentication should be used when accessing the Portal Software [Default = Unchecked]

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Once the Portal software information has been entered, press the Test Connection button to determine whether the Maxprep™ software can successfully connect to Portal using the information supplied. A message is displayed, indicating whether the connection was successful. If unsuccessful, conﬁrm that the connection information was correctly entered and try again.

If communication to Portal is lost at any time during a method run, the resulting data will be queued up for export to Portal when communication is re-established. If there are continuing problems with export of a data set to Portal, press the Clear Pending Export button to clear the data from the export process. This may help resolve persistent communication problems with Portal that are caused by issues with the data. Data that has been cleared from export will not be sent to the Portal software and will only exist in local reports.

A prompt to save or discard changes made to preferences is displayed when you navigate away from the ‘Preferences’ screen.

Instrument Name

It is possible to deﬁne a unique identifying name for the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler. This name is shown on the title bar of the Maxprep™ software ‘Home’ screen and is recorded in method run reports.

1. From the ‘Administrator’ screen press the Instrument Name button to open the ‘Instrument Name’ screen.

2. On the ‘Instrument Name’ screen select the text box and enter the desired name for this instrument (Figure 25). The instrument name should be entered following the procedures and rules at your site.

3. Press the OK button to save the instrument name you have entered. An informational message is displayed, indicating that the name of the instrument has been successfully changed.

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4.3 Administrator Settings (continued)

4. If you do not wish to save any changes to the instrument name, press the Cancel button to return to the ‘Administrator’ screen.

Figure 25. ‘Instrument Name’ screen. Use this screen to enter a name for this Maxprep™ Liquid Handler.

Audit Records

The Maxprep™ software contains a user-readable audit trail of all functions that have been performed in the Maxprep™ software. Administrators have access to view and export the audit records from the instrument through the Audit Records button on the ‘Administrator’ screen. The ‘Audit Records’ screen displays a listing of all of the functions that have been performed on the instrument (Figure 26). You can ﬁlter the audit records by pressing the buttons on the left side to view records for functions performed today, this week, this month, the past 6 months, this year or all functions performed over the life of the instrument. Press the column headers to sort the records based on column contents. Press the desired row to see the audit message from that particular record. Administrators can export all audit records for the selected date range by pressing the Export button at the bottom left corner of the screen. The administrator is required to specify a location to which the exported information should be saved.

1. Press the Export button on the ‘Audit Records’ screen.

2. Using the Yellow and Red rectangle buttons you can select the folder location (Figure 27) where the method run reports will be saved.

The current path is indicated by the yellow rectangles at the top of the ‘Export Folder’

screen. Any folders present within the selected directory are displayed as red rectangles in the white portion of the screen. Press the Drive\ button to navigate to the drive location of the desired folder. Select red folder buttons to navigate to the speciﬁed folder location.

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Maxprep™ Software

3. Once the desired ﬁle path has been speciﬁed, press the OK button to export audit records or press the Cancel button to cancel any changes. After pressing either OK or Cancel you will be returned to the ‘Administrator’ screen.

Figure 26. ‘Audit Records’ screen. A user-readable record of events that have occurred in the Maxprep™ software can be viewed by the administrator and exported to a speciﬁed drive location from the ‘Audit Records’ screen.

Figure 27. ‘Export Folder’ screen. From the ‘Export Folder’ screen you can set the folder location to which all displayed audit records will be exported.

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Maxprep™ Software

Notes

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Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

5.1 Maintenance

Maintenance is critical to ensuring performance of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler over the life of the instrument. Press the Maintenance button on the ‘Home’ screen (Figure 28) of the Maxprep™ software to access the ‘Maintenance’ screen (Figure 29). Listed on the ‘Maintenance’ screen are methods designed to ensure your instrument is in working order. The UV Sanitization method is also included depending on Administrator settings (see Section 4.3). For each maintenance method, the date at which the method was last performed is listed.

Figure 28. ‘Home’ screen. Selecting the Maintenance button opens the ‘Maintenance’ screen from which maintenance methods for the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler can be run.

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5.1 Maintenance (continued)

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Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

Figure 29. ‘Maintenance’ screen. The ‘Maintenance’ screen lists the available maintenance methods that can be run for the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler.

Daily and Weekly Maintenance

Daily Maintenance and Weekly Maintenance should be performed at their speciﬁed frequency, and if the Administrator has chosen to enforce maintenance, the Daily and Weekly Maintenance must be run at their speciﬁed frequency before any other methods can be run. The Daily Maintenance method will test the pressure and conductive liquid level sensing performance of the system. The Weekly Maintenance method will prompt the user to clean the instrument (see Section 6.1, Weekly Cleaning) and then will test instrument calibration, pressure and conductive liquid level sensing. Because the Weekly Maintenance method includes the functions tested in the Daily Maintenance method, it is not necessary to run both Daily Maintenance and Weekly Maintenance on the same day. When starting a Maintenance method, make sure to close the door of the instrument before pressing the Proceed button. Perform the on-screen instructions that are provided for each method. The gantry of the instrument can be freely moved from side to side in order to facilitate performing the on-screen instructions. Make sure that the tip eject bar has been removed from the Waste Position and that the door of the instrument is closed. After the maintenance method is complete, replace the tip eject bar on the Waste Position. The pin on the waste position should ﬁt in the small hole at the front of the tip eject bar, the large cut out should be at the back of the instrument and the angled side of the tip eject bar should be on the right side and facing downward toward the waste bin.

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5.2 Methods

Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

UV Sanitization (Optional)

If you have a Maxprep™ Liquid Handler with the optional UV light you can run the UV Sanitization method to perform a UV treatment for an amount of time designated in the administrator preferences (see Section 4.3, Administrator Settings). The visibility of the UV Sanitization Maintenance method is speciﬁed on the ‘Common Settings’ tab of the ‘Preferences’ screen (see Section 4.3, Administrator Settings).

The methods supplied with the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler can be used to perform preprocessing of samples for a variety of Maxwell® RSC puriﬁcation kits and to perform a variety of post-processing processes (e.g., quantitation, PCR setup, qPCR setup, normalization, etc.). Please refer to your speciﬁc Maxwell® RSC reagent kit and method type Technical Manuals for information on method setup and variant method options. Two mechanisms for selecting a method to run are enabled in the Maxprep™ software. Selection of a method from the list of installed methods and administrator-deﬁned variant methods can be used for method selection as well as conﬁrmation. Alternatively, for preprocessing methods, enter or scan the bar code information on a Maxwell® RSC puriﬁcation kit box. This will ﬁlter the list of methods to display the appropriate installed preprocessing method(s) for that kit with subsequent selection and conﬁrmation being performed by the user.

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5.3 Starting a Method

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From the ‘Home’ screen (Figure 30) select the Start button to begin the process of running a method.

Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

Figure 30. Maxprep™ software ‘Home’ screen. Selecting the Start button begins the process of running a method on the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler.

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Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

The ‘Methods’ screen displays the list of methods installed in the Maxprep™ Software (Figure 31). The following information is displayed for each method:

Mark this method or variant method as a favorite for ﬁltering purposes.

When the folder icon appears in an entry it indicates that variant methods have been created for this entry. Select the method entry to expand the folder and view the available administrator-deﬁned variant methods.

Name

Description

Type

Sample Type

The name of the method

A description of the method

Indicates whether this is a preprocessing or post-processing method

Indicates whether this method applies to DNA samples, RNA samples, or Universal (total nucleic acid) samples

Catalog ID

Version

The catalog number for the kit (if any) associated with this method

The version number of this method

Use the ﬁlter check boxes on the left side of the screen to display only certain types of methods. You can ﬁlter by:

• Method Type: Preprocessing or post-processing methods.

• Sample Type: DNA, RNA or Universal (total nucleic acid) sample types.

• Favorites: Only methods where the Favorites star icon to the left of the method is

highlighted.

• Keyword: Type in a word or word fragment to only show methods that contain that word in

the Name, Description or CatalogID ﬁeld.

Once you have chosen a method to run, either select the method or variant to highlight or use the alternative instructions below to select preprocessing methods based on preprocessing kit bar code. A Proceed button will appear on the right side of the highlighted method entry. Press the Proceed button to start the selected method.

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Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

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5.3 Starting a Method (continued)

Figure 31. Selecting a method to run from the ‘Methods’ screen. Select a method or administrator-deﬁned variant method from the ‘Methods’ screen. Once a method is selected it will be highlighted in yellow. Press the Proceed button to start the method.

Alternative method selection for preprocessing methods

To select an appropriate preprocessing method for a Maxwell® RSC puriﬁcation kit, touch the text box at the top of the ‘Methods’ screen (Figure 31) and either scan or type the bar code on the Maxwell® RSC reagent kit box indicated by the Scan Here label (Figure 32). The Maxprep™ software requires manual entry of bar codes in the following format: Product Catalog Number, Kit Lot Number, Expiration Date in year-month format (example: AS13303221872020-05, where the product catalog number is AS1330, the kit lot number is 322187 and the expiration date is 2020-05). Only if the bar code entered has this format will a method be selected. If applicable, select any of the other variants that you wish to run to change the selection.

There are two possible warnings that can be displayed based on entry of kit bar code information. For kits that have passed the expiration date, the Maxprep™ software will display a warning that the kit is past expiration. If the administrator has allowed the use of expired kits, the user can make the choice of whether to proceed with this method or not; otherwise, the software will not allow the selection of a method based on a bar code that indicates the kit has expired. When there is no corresponding method for a kit based on the bar code entry, the software will display a warning of the issue. Check the Promega web site (www.promega.com/ resources/tools/maxprepmethod) to see if a method has been released for the kit.

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Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

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Figure Number

Note: The method run will abort immediately if the door of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is open when the Run button is pressed. Make sure to close the door of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler when starting a method run.

Figure 32. Kit label indicating bar code to scan. Shown in the blue box is the bar code to scan on the kit label for starting a puriﬁcation run.

Once the bar code is correctly entered and the desired method or variant has been selected, press the Proceed button to display the ‘Method Run’ screen (Figure 33). The name of the selected method is shown in the title bar of the ‘Method Run’ screen. Summary information for the method is displayed on the left side of the screen. To start the run, close the door of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler and press the Run button. If the Administrator has chosen to enforce maintenance on the system, a warning will be displayed if a maintenance run has not been performed prior to starting a method run.

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Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

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5.3 Starting a Method (continued)

Figure 33. ‘Method Run’ screen. At the top of this screen, the selected method is indicated. A summary of the selected method is displayed on the left side of the screen. Close the door of the instrument and press the Run button to start the selected method.

Once a method is started, you will be presented with a series of user interface screens. These screens will request user input for various run-time variables (e.g., sample number, elution volume, etc.) and will provide a detailed description of how to place the labware and samples needed on the deck of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler. More detailed information regarding the speciﬁcs of the variables that need to be entered and the deck setup instructions for preprocessing, quantitation, ampliﬁcation and normalization can be found in the following Technical Manuals:

• Preprocessing Methods for the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Technical Manual #TM529.

• QuantiFluor® Dye Quantitation Methods for the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Technical Manual #TM531.

• Ampliﬁcation Setup Methods for the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Technical Manual #TM526.

• Normalization, Dilution and Transfer Methods for the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Technical Manual #TM530.

Details for speciﬁc methods can be found in the method-speciﬁc Technical Manuals on the Promega web site (www.promega.com).

Close the door of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler when prompted after deck setup is complete (Figure 34).

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Figure 34. ‘Final Setup’ Screen. This is the last user interface screen displayed before the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler starts processing samples. Close the instrument door before pressing the Next button.

While the method runs, the method run screen will update with information regarding the current step in the method and display a progress bar indicating progress through the method. On the lower left side of the screen, you will see an Elapsed Time showing the amount of time the method has been running. Press the Logs button during the run to see the instrument log ﬁle as it is being generated.

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Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

5.3 Starting a Method (continued)

If for any reason you need to pause the instrument during a run, press the Pause button. The instrument will ﬁnish the current step, and the door will unlock, allowing you access to the inside of the instrument. When you are ﬁnished with the pause, close the instrument door and press the Resume button to resume the run.

Note: The method run will abort immediately if the door of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is open when the Resume button is pressed. Make sure to close the door of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler when resuming a method run after a pause.

If you need to abort the method run currently in progress, press the Abort button.

If there is a need to perform an immediate stop of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler during a run, press the power button to power the instrument off. The method run will be aborted, and the

Any samples being processed will be lost if a run is aborted.

doors will unlock.

Completion of a Method

Methods can end through one of three mechanisms:

• The method completes successfully.

• The method is aborted by the user .

• The method is aborted as a result of an instrument error.

Method Completes Successfully

When the method completes successfully there will be a message indicating that the method has completed successfully (Figure 35).

Figure 35. Message after method completion. Upon completion of the currently running method, there will be a message indicating that the run has completed successfully.

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Used labware and

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reagents should be disposed of appropriately according to your institution’s procedures for hazardous and biohazardous waste.

An aborted run (initiated by the user or due to instrument error) will result in the loss of all processed samples.

Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

Open the door of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler, store or discard any unused reagents. Remove any sample tubes, Maxwell® deck trays, reagents and processing plates, and either discard or store them appropriately.

A local report will be generated for the run containing run parameters, sample tracking information, and user/system information. If the administrator has enabled Auto Export for reports, the report ﬁles will be automatically exported to the administrator-speciﬁed ﬁle location. To access local reports, from the ‘Home’ screen press the Results button (see Section 5.6. Accessing Reports). If connected to the Portal software, run information will be saved to the Portal software.

Method Aborted by the User or an Instrument Error

If the user presses the Abort button during a method, or if there is an instrument error that causes the method to abort, a message is displayed, indicating that the instrument should be powered off and any tips or tools be manually removed (Figure 36). If no tips or tools are loaded on the pipetting channels it is not necessary to power the instrument off after an abort. There can be many reasons why a user might choose to abort a method. Many instrument errors can occur because of the presence of unexpected labware on the deck of the instrument. Always use care when setting up the instrument, and conﬁrm that the deck conﬁguration speciﬁed by the method setup instructions matches the physical layout of the instrument. After a method is aborted, if the channels are wedged in a piece of labware and are not free to move, or if you are unsure of whether the channels are free to move, power off the instrument and manually remove any tips or tools from the pipetting channels. See Section 5.4, Error Recovery, for instructions on manually resolving hardware issues.

For any physical crash of the instrument hardware, after resolving the issue and removing any loaded tips or tools, check for visible damage to the pipetting channels. If there is no visible damage, run the Weekly Maintenance method to check instrument functions and calibration. Passing results from the Weekly Maintenance indicate that the instrument is clear to run again. If Weekly Maintenance produces failing results, contact Promega Technical Service (techserv@ promega.com) to schedule a service visit.

Figure 36. Message after a method is aborted. If a method is aborted either by the user or an instrument error, the ‘Manual System Recovery’ screen will be displayed.

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5.4 Error Recovery

In the event of an error that results in a physical crash of the system, it may be necessary to turn the system power off and manually resolve any crashes as well as remove tips or tools that are loaded on the system. Follow the instructions below for recovering from a physical crash of the system.

1. Power off the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler by pressing the power button on the front right side of the instrument.

2. Shut down the Maxprep™ software by pressing the X icon in the upper right corner of the software.

Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

Used labware and reagents should be disposed of appropriately according to your institution’s procedures for hazardous and biohazardous waste.

3. Prior to resolving any hardware issues, open the door of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler, store or discard any unused reagents. Remove any sample tubes, Maxwell® Deck Trays and processing plates, and either discard or store them appropriately.

4. Check to see if there is any visible damage to the pipetting channels of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler. If there is visible damage, contact Promega Technical Services (techserv@ promega.com) to schedule a service visit prior to running the system again.

5. If there are any tips or tools loaded on the pipetting channels, you will need to remove these manually.

a. With the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler powered off, push the pipetting channels up until

they are clear of any obstruction. Note: Wear appropriate personal protective equipment

(lab coat, gloves, safety glasses) when removing tips or tools from the system. b. Remove carriers or labware to ensure free access to the pipetting channels. c. When you eject the tip, any liquid will be released onto the deck. Place something under

the channels to catch tips and liquid. d. Pull the pipetting channel downward to access the squeeze drive on the pipetting

channel (Figure 37). e. Turn the squeeze drive in the direction indicated in Figure 37 to release the squeeze

motor. A spring on the pipetting channel will forcibly shuck the tip or tool once the

squeeze drive has been loosened. f. Push the channel upwards so that it is clear to move side to side. g. Repeat steps c–f for all pipetting channels that have a tip or tool loaded.

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Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

Figure 37. Squeeze Drive. Turn the squeeze drive in the direction indicated to release any tools or pipette tips from the pipetting channels.

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Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

5.4 Error Recovery (continued)

6. Once all tips or tools have been released from the pipetting channels, discard any tips or plungers and replace any tools in their appropriate tool holder (Figure 38). When plunger tools are removed from the channels, conﬁrm that the o-ring is still present on the plunger tool before placing it back in the tool holder. When gripper paddles are removed from the channels, replace them in the tool holder so that the pins and magnets are facing toward the center of the tool holder.

Figure 38. Tool Holder. Replace any tools that have been removed from the pipetting channels in their appropriate location on the left side of the instrument.

7. Press the power button to turn on the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler. Restart the computer. Start the Maxprep™ software by double-clicking the Maxprep™ software icon on the desktop.

8. From the ‘Home’ screen press Maintenance, and then run the Weekly Maintenance method. This method will prompt you to clean the deck of the instrument and then will check the calibration of the pipetting channels, the performance of the liquid level sensing mechanisms and the integrity of the pipetting system.

9. If the Weekly Maintenance method proceeds to completion and the report indicates that Weekly Maintenance has passed, you are clear to run further methods on the system.

10. If the Weekly Maintenance method does not complete, or the report indicates that Weekly Maintenance has not passed, contact Promega Technical Services (techserv@promega.com) to troubleshoot the issue and determine whether to schedule a service visit before running the system again.

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5.5 Reports

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Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

Running a method results in the creation of a local report of sample tracking and run-speciﬁc information. Reports will be automatically exported to an administrator-deﬁned drive location if Auto Export functionality has been enabled (see Section 4.3, Administrator Settings).

Local reports provide a mechanism for viewing information about method runs on a per method basis. These reports can be accessed by selecting the Results button on the Maxprep™ ‘Home’ screen.

A local report is generated after completion of a method run (Figure 39). Included in the local report are sample tracking information, the ﬁnal status of the method (Completed or Aborted), the time the method was started, the length of time the method took to process, the operator ID and the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler details (software version, ﬁrmware version, instrument name, serial number, etc.). A second tab on the report displays the method-speciﬁc variable settings that were used for this method.

Figure 39. ‘Report View’ screen. The ‘Report View’ screen displays a report generated from the most recently run method. Included in this report are sample tracking information, the ﬁnal status of the method (Completed or Aborted), the time the method run was started, the length of time the method took to process, the operator ID and additional instrument information. A second tab on the report displays method-speciﬁc variable settings for this method. In the upper left corner of the screen are Print and Export buttons that can be used for printing or exporting report information.

Use the buttons on the left side of the ‘Report View’ screen to:

• Print reports using a printer that can be accessed by the PC.

• Export reports in tab-delimited text ﬁle format as well as Microsoft Excel® format and PDF

format depending on administrator settings (Figure 40).

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5.5 Reports (continued)

Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

Figure 40. ‘Export Result’ screen. When the Export button is pressed the user is asked to navigate to the folder in which the report ﬁles should be saved.

Press the Export button to navigate to the ﬁle location where the report should be exported, and then press the OK button. The Maxprep™ software exports reports in tab-delimited text format as well as .xls format and .pdf format depending on administrator settings. You can use Excel® viewer or PDF viewer to view the report.

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You can use the tab-delimited format ﬁle (*.txt) with Laboratory Information Management Systems (i.e. LIMS). An example of the tab-delimited format ﬁle is shown in Figure 41.

Figure 41. Example of an exported text ﬁle in the tab-delimited format.

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5.6 Accessing Reports

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From the ‘Home’ screen of the Maxprep™ software, press the Results button to access method reports and system maintenance reports. The ‘Results’ screen displays a listing of the reports for the methods that have been run (Figure 42). You can ﬁlter reports by selecting the buttons on the left side to view reports for runs completed Today, This Month, the past Six Months, This Year or All Maxprep™ Liquid Handler runs completed over the life of the instrument. You can also use the Method, System or All Types buttons on the left side of the screen to toggle between report types.

Select the column headers to sort the reports based on column contents. Select the desired row to see a detailed view of the report data from that method run (Figure 43). Administrators can delete records from the software by pressing the X icon to the right of the desired report row if the option to Allow Deletion of Results has been enabled in the software preferences (see Section 4.3, Administrator Settings). Press the Export All button to export all reports to a designated drive location in tab-delimited text format as well as .pdf and Excel® format as speciﬁed by the Administrator (see Section 4.3, Administrator Settings).

Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

Figure 42. ‘Results’ screen. The ‘Results’ screen lists the reports from all of the methods that have been run. Select any given report listing to see a detailed view of the report data from that method run. Filter the displayed results using the Method, System or All Types buttons on the left side of the ‘Results’ screen. Selecting a date range button on the left side of the screen will ﬁlter the reports displayed based on their run date.

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Figure 43. Method report. An example of the sample tracking information present in a method run report. The second tab on the report displays variables set during the run.

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Operating the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

Notes

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Cleaning the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

6.1 Weekly Cleaning

It is important to keep the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler clean during regular operation. It is recommended to perform a full cleaning of the system as part of the Weekly Maintenance

Wear gloves and appropriate personal protective equipment. If the instrument is used with biohazardous materials, dispose of any cleaning materials used in accordance with your institutional guidelines.

procedure. If samples or reagents have been spilled, it is important to clean the instrument immediately to avoid damage or contamination of samples.

Follow the instructions below to perform a full cleaning of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler.

• Do not remove the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler outer panels for cleaning. This will void the

warranty.

• Do not use a spray bottle to soak instrument surfaces with large volumes of liquid.

• Never allow liquids to remain on instrument surfaces for extended periods of time.

• Do not use bleach solutions for cleaning any instrument surfaces.

1. From the ‘Home’ screen, press the Maintenance button. Close the instrument door and select the Weekly Maintenance item from the list of maintenance methods.

Used labware and reagents should be disposed of appropriately according to your institution’s procedures for hazardous and biohazardous waste.

2. Once the method has started, open the door of the instrument to clean the instrument. While cleaning the instrument during the Weekly Maintenance method, it is possible to manually move the gantry of the system left and right to access carriers and tip waste.

3. Remove any Maxwell® deck trays, samples and consumables from the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler.

4. Remove the tip eject bar from the waste position (Figure 44) and clean with a disinfectant spray such as Steris LpH® following the manufacturer’s instructions.

5. Remove the tip waste bin from the instrument (Figure 44). Remove the waste bag and dispose of any used tips. Clean the tip waste container with disinfectant spray and then rinse with water. Do not autoclave the tip waste bin.

6. Line the waste bin with a new waste bag. Reorder Maxprep™ Waste Bags, Clear, from Promega (Cat.# AS9305). Return the waste bin to the system.

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Cleaning the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

6.1 Weekly Cleaning (continued)

7. Perform the following instructions for each of the carriers that have a handle on the front.

a. Remove the carrier from the deck of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler. To remove carriers,

grasp the handle on the carrier and pull it straight out toward you, supporting the bottom of the carrier as you remove it from the system.

b. Clean the carrier and the deck area underneath the carrier with a disinfectant spray

such as Steris LpH® following the manufacturer’s instructions.

c. Replace the carrier at the same deck location from which it was removed. Support the

bottom of the carrier, and place the back edge of the carrier on the track positions at the front of the instrument; then slide the carrier straight back until it touches the backstop of the instrument.

Tip Eject Bar

Calibration Block

Waste Basket

Figure 44. Tip eject bar and plastic waste bin. To the right of the carriers is a waste position that has a removable black tip eject bar as well as a calibration block. On the far right side of the instrument is a removable black plastic waste bin that is used for disposal of used tips.

8. Clean the four Pipetting Channels with a towel wetted with 70% ethanol.

9. Clean interior and exterior panels and door with a towel wetted with 70% ethanol.

10. Close the instrument door, and Press OK on the ‘Weekly Maintenance’ screen to proceed with checking pipetting channel performance and instrument calibration.

11. Once the Weekly Maintenance method is complete, replace the tip eject bar on the waste position. The pin on the waste position should ﬁt in the small hole at the front of the tip eject bar, the large cut out should be at the back of the instrument and the angled side of the tip eject bar should be on the right side and facing downward toward the waste bin.

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6.2 Dealing with Spills

Wipe up any spills immediately. If any material spills in the instrument, wipe up the material with a cloth dampened with 70% ethanol. Note that the reagents contain hazardous materials;

Bleach reacts with guanidine thiocyanate, which may be present in the Maxwell® RSC Cartridges, and should not be added to any sample waste containing lysis solutions. Do not use bleach to clean Maxwell® RSC reagent spills.

therefore, dispose of the cleaning materials according to your institutional guidelines. Wipe well once visible material is removed. In case of spills in the instrument where there is a potential biohazard, wipe up the spill with paper towels and wash the spill area with a detergent solution such as Steris LpH® following the manufacturer’s instructions. Dispose of towels used according to your institutional guidelines for biohazardous waste.

Cleaning the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

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Cleaning the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler

Notes

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Troubleshooting

For questions not addressed here, please contact your local Promega Branch, Ofﬁce or Distributor. Contact information available at: www.promega.com. E-mail: techserv@promega.com

Symptoms Causes and Comments

PC touch screen does not appear to be working

Cannot load new methods or change method run parameters

Power failure during a run In the event of a power failure, turn off the instrument and the PC. When

Verify that the power cords are securely connected to the PC and monitor.

Verify that the USB cable is securely connected between the PC and monitor.

Restart the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler PC, and launch the Maxprep™ software. If the issue is not resolved, contact Promega Technical Services for further assistance.

Only operators with administrator-level access to the Maxprep™ software have the ability to change certain functions. If you do not have administrator-level access, contact your site administrator.

power has returned, turn the instrument and PC back on.

Communication failure with Portal software

• An aborted run (due to power failure) will result in the loss of all the

samples.

• Do not attempt to repurify samples from an aborted run.

In the event of a communication failure with the Portal software, the software will not allow another method to be run until one of the following two conditions are met:

• Communication is re-established to the Portal software.

• The administrator disables Portal sample tracking temporarily.

Contact your IT department to determine whether a network outage or some other network communication failure has occurred and how to resolve the issue.

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Troubleshooting

Symptoms Causes and Comments

Communication failure with Portal software (continued)

Data from the run that occurred prior to communication failure will not be lost. It will be exported to Portal software when communication is reestablished.

If Portal sample tracking has been disabled temporarily, remember to start Portal sample tracking again when the communication issue has been resolved.

If there is a persistent problem exporting a given set of data to the Portal software, the administrator can access the Portal tab on the ‘Preferences’ screen (Section 4.3, Administrator Settings) and press the Clear Pending Export button to discard the data currently being exported.

Instrument Connection Errors In the event that errors in instrument communication or functions are

observed when starting a method, a full restart of the system is required. Shut down the Maxprep™ software, and turn off the Maxprep™ Instrument. Restart the Maxprep™ Instrument and restart the Maxprep™ PC. When the PC has ﬁnished rebooting, Restart the Maxprep™ software.

7.1 Errors and Warnings

Error Explanation

Initialization Failure: Access Denied, not a valid Promega User, Please contact your system administrator

Method: Aborted By User User aborted method.

A previous instrument task is still active. Please try again later.

Promega User is not set up correctly in Windows® Operating System. Consult the Appendix of this Technical Manual and/or contact your administrator/IT personnel to resolve this issue.

• An aborted run (initiated by the user) will result in

the loss of all the samples.

• Do not attempt to repurify samples from an

aborted run.

User tried to do something while previous run was active. Wait for the current process to complete. If error still persists, contact your IT administrator or Promega Technical Services.

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Troubleshooting

Error Explanation

An error during method initialization. Unable to ping instrument.

The Maxprep™ software is unable to communicate with the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler. Make sure the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is on and wait until the green light on the gantry bar code scanner is visible. Shut down and restart the Maxprep™ software.

7.2 Using a USB Flash Drive

• When using a USB ﬂash drive, insert it before running any method, and do not remove it until

the method is ﬁnished.

• Do not insert or remove a USB ﬂash drive while instrument is running.

• Since USB ﬂash drives may vary from vendor to vendor or from type to type, incompatibilities

can occur. If your USB ﬂash drive is not detected after a few seconds or if you encounter any issues with the USB ﬂash drive, shut down and restart the PC. Also try a different brand of USB ﬂash drive.

• If the PC becomes unresponsive after inserting a USB ﬂash drive, shut down and restart the

PC and the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler.

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Troubleshooting

Notes

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Instrument Service

8.1 Service

We recommend that the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler receive a preventive maintenance service visit at least once a year.

8.2 Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Service

The Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is designed to provide years of consistent performance. If a problem arises with your instrument, please contact Promega or your local Promega representative for support. Visit the Promega Web site at: www.promega.com for the contact information for the Promega branch or distributor nearest you. If further action is required, repair options will be presented and an on-site service visit may be scheduled.

8.3 Instrument Disposal

Contact your local Promega Representative for disposal of the instrument. Please follow your institutional and country-speciﬁc requirements to handle the disposal of accessories. Instrument must be decontaminated prior to disposal.

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Instrument Service

Notes

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Warranties, Service Agreements and Related Products

9.1 Warranty

Upon purchase of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler, the instrument will be covered by a one-year Standard Warranty. The Standard Warranty covers all parts and labor. After the warranty period is over, the customer can continue to receive the same comprehensive service and support from Promega as when the system was under warranty by purchasing one of the Warranty and Service Agreement options listed in Section 9.2.

9.2 Warranty and Service Agreement Options

Instrument damage due to customer neglect or negligence are not covered by Warranties or Service Agreements. Channel replacement due to instrument crashes are not covered by Warranties or Service Agreements.

Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Premier Warranty Upgrade (Cat.# SA1391)

The Premier Warranty Upgrade includes all parts, labor and on-site service visits by a factorytrained service technician within 2 business days (where available). Additionally, it includes one annual on-site Preventive Maintenance visit by a service technician. Additional Preventive Maintenance visits are available separately.

Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Standard Service Agreement (Cat.# SA1392)

The Standard Service Agreement covers all parts, labor and on-site visits. The system will be repaired and returned to original factory speciﬁcations. Preventive Maintenance visits are available separately.

Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Premier Service Agreement (Cat.# SA1393)

The Premier Service Agreement includes all parts, labor and on-site visits. The system will be repaired and returned to original factory speciﬁcations. A service technician will be on-site within 2 business days for repairs. Additionally, it includes one annual on-site Preventive Maintenance visit by a service technician. Additional Preventive Maintenance visits are available separately.

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Warranties, Service Agreements and Related Products

9.2 Warranty and Service Agreement Options (continued)

Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Preventive Maintenance (Cat.# SA1396)

To keep the system operating at peak performance, we recommend that Maxprep™ Liquid Handlers receive a Preventive Maintenance check at least every 12 months of use. During this procedure, our qualiﬁed service personnel test the instrument, check parts for wear and replace them as needed. Additionally, the system is aligned and functionality is veriﬁed. Documentation for your ﬁles is provided. The Preventive Maintenance service is performed by scheduling an onsite Preventive Maintenance visit.

Warranty Beneﬁt Standard Warranty Premier Warranty

Warranty Period

Parts and Labor

Shipping of Parts

Loaner Instrument

On-Site Support

Preventive Maintenance

Application Support

1 Year 1 Year

Yes Yes

Yes (UPS Ground, 5–7 business days)

No No

Yes (within 5 business days) Yes (within 2 business days)

No (available separately) Yes (1)

Yes (limit 2 visits) Yes (limit 3 visits)

Yes (UPS Overnight)

Maxprep™ Liquid Handler Installation Qualiﬁcation and Operational Qualiﬁcation

Cat.# SA1397, SA1398, SA1399

The Installation Qualiﬁcation service product includes a series of formal instrument checks, delivers written documentation of instrument functionality, and demonstrates that everything ordered with the instrument is supplied and installed at the customer’s laboratory. This service product must be delivered by a Promega representative who is certiﬁed to perform the Installation Qualiﬁcation. The service product involves a site visit to perform:

• Installation by qualiﬁed Promega personnel

• Inspection of shipping containers, instrument and accessories

• Comparison of items received vs. items on purchase order

• Inspection of laboratory conditions

• Review of all hazards and precautions with users

• Conﬁrmation/installation of correct ﬁrmware version

• Testing of instrument run

• Recording and documenting installation and actions

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Warranties, Service Agreements and Related Products

The Operational Qualiﬁcation service product demonstrates that the instrument functions according to its operational speciﬁcations. This service product must be delivered by a Promega representative who is certiﬁed to perform the Operational Qualiﬁcation. The service product involves a site visit to perform:

• Running of operational veriﬁcation tests

• Documenting of all calibration and test results

• Training of customer(s) to operate the instrument

• Training of customer(s) to use the log book

• Completion of customer-speciﬁc log book, instrument sticker and OQ documentation

Limited Warranty and Service Guidelines

Pursuant to this Warranty, Promega warrants to the original purchaser of the Promega Maxprep™ Liquid Handler that Promega will provide the parts and labor required for service and repair of the instrument for one year from the date of purchase. Your Warranty includes on-site service and repair of your instrument. This Warranty may be renewed, in one-year terms, provided the renewal is requested prior to the expiration of the current Warranty or Service Agreement.

Promega agrees, as its sole responsibility under this Warranty, and upon prompt notice of a defect, to repair or replace (at Promega’s discretion) any instrument discovered to be defective within the term of this Warranty. This Warranty does not include repair or replacement necessitated by accident, neglect, misuse, unauthorized repair or modiﬁcation of the instrument.

This Warranty and the remedies set forth herein are exclusive and in lieu of all other express or implied warranties (including implied warranties of merchantability, ﬁtness for a particular purpose and noninfringement), and no other warranties shall be binding upon Promega. In no event, shall Promega be liable for any special, incidental or consequential damages resulting from the use or malfunction of this instrument or the system with which it is used.

Out-of-Warranty Service

Contact Promega or your local Promega representative. We will be happy to assist you by telephone at no charge. Repair service will be quoted prior to any work being performed.

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9.3 Related Products

PRODUCT SIZE CAT.#

Maxwell® RSC Instrument 1 each AS4500

Maxwell® RSC 48 Instrument 1 each AS8500

Bar Code Reader, Maxwell® Systems 1 each AS3200

Maxprep™ UV Lamp 1 each AS9310

Maxprep™ Waste Bags, Clear 100/pack AS9305

Maxwell® RSC/CSC Deck Tray 1 each SP6019

Maxwell® RSC 48 Front Deck Tray 1 each AS8401

Maxwell® RSC 48 Back Deck Tray 1 each AS8402

Maxprep™ Carrier, Maxwell® RSC 1 each AS9402

Maxprep™ Carrier, Maxwell® RSC 48 Front 1 each AS9403

Maxprep™ Carrier, Maxwell® RSC 48 Back 1 each AS9404

Maxprep™ Liquid Handler, RSC Carriers 1 each AS9100

Maxprep™ Liquid Handler, RSC Carriers w/ UV light 1 each AS9101

Maxprep™ Liquid Handler, RSC 48 Carriers 1 each AS9200

Maxprep™ Liquid Handler, RSC 48 Carriers w/ UV light 1 each AS9201

1.1ml, Square-Well, V-Bottom Deep Well Plate 25/pack V6821

Nunc 2.0ml Deep Well Plates 60/pack AS9307

Maxprep™ 1000µl Conductive Disposable Tips, Filtered (3,840) 40/box AS9303

Maxprep™ 300µl Conductive Disposable Tips, Filtered (5,760) 60/box AS9302

Maxprep™ 50µl Conductive Disposable Tips, Filtered (5,760) 60/box AS9301

Maxwell® RSC Plunger Pack 1 each AS1670

Maxprep™ Reagent Reservoir, 50ml 28/pack AS9304

Maxprep™ Plunger Holder 1 each AS9408

Maxprep™ Carrier, 12–13mm Sample Tubes 1 each AS9405

Maxprep™ Carrier, 15–17mm Sample Tubes 1 each AS9406

Maxprep™ Carrier, 10mm Sample Tubes 1 each AS9407

Maxprep™ 3-Position Reagent Tube Holder 1 each AS9409

Maxprep™ Gripper Paddle 1 each AS9410

Maxprep™ Plunger Tool 1 each AS9411

Maxprep™ Reagent Carrier 1 each AS9412

Warranties, Service Agreements and Related Products

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Certiﬁcate of Decontamination

Disinfection and decontamination are required prior to shipping any instrument accessories for repair. Returned items must be accompanied by a signed and dated Certiﬁcate of Decontamination, which must be provided in the shipping box.

To disinfect and decontaminate: Wipe exposed surfaces of the accessories using a cloth dampened with 70% ethanol. Follow immediately with a cloth dampened with deionized water. Repeat the procedure as many times as required to effectively disinfect and decontaminate the instrument.

Failure to follow these decontamination guidelines, sign and return the Decontamination Form will result in decontamination charges before the instrument will be serviced.

Select either (A) or (B):

A. I conﬁrm that the returned items have not been contaminated by body ﬂuids or by toxic, carcinogenic, radioactive

or other hazardous materials.

B. I conﬁrm that the returned items have been decontaminated and can be handled without exposing personnel to

health hazards.

Circle the type of material used in the instrument: Chemical Biological Radioactive**

Brieﬂy describe the decontamination procedure performed: _________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Date: _______________________________________ Place: ________________________________________________

Signature: ____________________________________ Name (block capital letters): ______________________________

This instrument is certiﬁed by the undersigned to be free of radioactive contamination. (** The signature of a Radiation Safety Ofﬁcer is also required if the instrument was used with radioactive materials.)

Date: _______________________________________ Place: ________________________________________________

Signature: ____________________________________ Name (block capital letters): ______________________________

Title: _______________________________________________________________________________________________

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Certiﬁcate of Decontamination

Notes

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Appendix: Conﬁguring the PC

11.1 Maxprep™ Liquid Handler and PC

The Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is controlled by Maxprep™ software on a PC and touchscreen monitor that are provided with the system. This appendix describes the setup and conﬁguration options for the PC provided with the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler.

Your IT department or site Administrator should conﬁgure the PC according to the IT rules and IT procedures pertinent to your site. The following is a set of guidelines for your IT personnel or site Administrator.

We do not recommend loading additional programs onto the PC because these may interfere with the instrument operation.

Some institutions require antivirus software installed on PCs within the institution. If installing an antivirus program please ensure it is set to manual, not automatic, update.

Antivirus scanning will slow the performance of the PC and may affect the performance of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler while it is processing samples.

Additional recommendations:

• Disable automatic Windows® updates and virus scans.

• Disable automatic power off, sleep or hibernation settings.

• Disable “Fast Startup”. Set the power button to Shut Down, not Sleep.

• Disable any other automatically or manually started software that would consume PC

resources during operation.

• Ensure there are no domain policies that would overwrite any of the above settings.

Note: The PC that is provided with the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is already conﬁgured for the settings listed above.

Depending on your institution’s IT policy, you may or may not be able to conﬁgure or change the settings for the PC if it is connected to your site network domain. Do not load other programs on the PC because these may interfere with instrument operation.

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Appendix: Conﬁguring the PC

11.1 Maxprep™ Liquid Handler and PC (continued)

The ﬁrst time you use the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler and PC, you should check the conﬁguration of the following options. Settings can be changed later, if required, by following these instructions again.

Information provided in this document is not meant to be a single instruction set for conﬁguring the PC. Rather, the instructions provided herein are intended to be used as individual descriptions of how to conﬁgure various options within the PC environment. Perform the instruction sets that are applicable to your particular site.

11.2 Glossary

For users who are unfamiliar with the Windows® 10 Operating system, this section describes terms and actions common to this operating system.

‘Lock’ Screen: Windows® user accounts with password protection or network domain user accounts need to sign in to the PC to access the Maxprep™ software. When the PC is started, restarted or in a locked state, the ‘Lock’ screen will be displayed. If prompted on the ‘Lock’ screen, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to access the login and password text boxes. Enter username and password information, and then press return or the arrow key to sign in.

‘Desktop Screen’: The ‘Desktop’ screen (Figure 45) is the starting point for the instructions provided in this document. The Task bar at the bottom of the ‘Desktop’ screen displays icons that provide access to the various functions described in this document. On the left side of the task bar are the Start button and the Search button. These buttons will be referenced throughout this document.

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Appendix: Conﬁguring the PC

14899T

Figure 45. The ‘Desktop’ screen. At the bottom of the ‘Desktop’ screen is the Task bar. Access to the options and settings referenced in this document is provided by the Start and Search buttons on the left side of the Taskbar. Swipe upward from the bottom of the screen to expose the Task bar.

Start Menu: The Start menu (Figure 46) is the major access point for settings and functions on the PC. The left side of the Start menu contains buttons for Accounts, Settings and Power.

Figure 46. The Start menu. The left side of the start menu displays buttons for Accounts, Settings and Power (indicated with orange circles from top to bottom).

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Appendix: Conﬁguring the PC

11.3 Adjusting Volume Settings

Volume settings on the PC can be adjusted through one of two means.

1. On the keyboard press Fn+F7 to mute the speaker, Fn+F8 to decrease the speaker volume, or Fn+F9 to increase the speaker volume on the PC.

2. Press the Speaker icon on the right side of the task bar to open a volume slider. Use the slider to increase, decrease or mute the speaker on the PC.

11.4 Conﬁguring Date and Time Settings

The current date and time will be conﬁgured during installation of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler. After installation, if there is a need to change the Date, Time or Time Zone please contact Promega Technical Services for information on how this can be accomplished.

11.5 Managing Local Windows® User Accounts

Operator credentials and access levels for the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler software are controlled through assigning accounts in the Windows® operating system to one of two Promega accesslevel groups. The sections below detail the process of adding and removing local Windows® user accounts that can be assigned to the access-level groups for the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler software. The instructions for adding and removing local Windows® user accounts are intended to be used when the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler is run as a stand-alone device (i.e., not connected to a network domain). To connect to your site internet domain, consult with your IT department and follow the instructions in Section 11.9, Connecting to a Network.

When your Maxprep™ Liquid Handler arrives, the PC will be conﬁgured with a Windows® user account called Maxprep. This account is password protected (Default Password = Promega) and is conﬁgured with Windows® administrator access rights as well as Maxprep™ Liquid Handler software administrator access rights.

Note: If the PC is connected to your site internet domain, your IT department should be consulted on how to add or remove users on the PC. Do not use these instructions if accounts on your company domain are used to access the PC.

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Appendix: Conﬁguring the PC

13912T

Creating Local Windows® User Accounts

If the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler system is run as a stand-alone device (i.e., not connected to your site domain), you can create local Windows® user accounts on the PC for each user of the system. To create a new user in the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler software, you will ﬁrst have to create a new account in Windows® 10 and then assign this account to one of the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler access-level groups. Below are instructions for creating a new, local account in the Windows® 10 Operating System.

Notes:

1. If the PC is connected to your site internet domain, your IT department should be

consulted on how to add users to the domain that can be used on the PC. Do not use these instructions to create a new local account on the PC if accounts on your company domain are used to access the PC.

2. Only a Windows® user account with administrator-level access in Windows® can create

new local accounts in the Windows® Operating System.

1. Close the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler software if it is open. Click the X in the upper right corner of the screen, and then conﬁrm that you want to exit.

2. Click the Start button on the left side of the Task bar. Choose the Settings icon to open the ‘Windows Settings’ screen (Figure 47).

Figure 47. The ‘Windows Settings’ screen. The ‘Windows Settings’ screen provides access to multiple functions that can be used to conﬁgure options and settings for the PC.

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Appendix: Conﬁguring the PC

11.5 Managing Local Windows® User Accounts (continued)

3. Click the Accounts button on the ‘Windows® Settings’ screen to open the ‘Accounts’ screen (Figure 48).

Figure 48. ‘Accounts’ screen. Settings related to Windows® user accounts can be managed from the ‘Accounts’ screen.

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Appendix: Conﬁguring the PC

13926T

13927T

4. From the list on the left side of the screen, click the Family & other people button to display account settings for this PC (Figure 49).

Figure 49. Managing accounts. Windows® user accounts can be created, removed and managed from the Family & other people tab of the ‘Accounts’ screen.

5. To add a new user account, click the + sign next to the Add someone else to this PC heading. This will open the ‘Create an account for this PC’ screen (Figure 50).

Figure 50. Creating a new account. Enter name and password information to deﬁne the sign-in settings for a new Windows® user account on the ‘Create an account for this PC’ screen.

6. On the ‘Create an account for this PC’ screen, enter the username, password and password hint for the new local user account where indicated. Then click Next to create the new user account, and return to the ‘Accounts’ screen.

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Appendix: Conﬁguring the PC

11.5 Managing Local Windows® User Accounts (continued)

7. The new user account should now be listed under the Other people heading on the ‘Accounts’ screen.

8. By default, the new user account will have user access level rights within the Windows® 10 operating system. If you desire the new user account to have administrator rights, click the user account under the Other people heading to open options for that user (Figure 51).

Figure 51. Assigning account options. Touch any of the listed Windows® user accounts to access options for changing the account type.

9. Click the Change account type button to open the ‘Change account type’ screen (Figure 52). Using the drop-down menu under the Account type heading, choose whether this user should have Administrator or Standard User access rights within the Windows® 10 operating system. Click OK to save these changes or Cancel to discard the changes for this user and return to the ‘Change account type’ screen.

Note: Changing the account type for a user only affects their access level in the

Windows® 10 operating system, not in the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler software. Follow the instructions in Section 11.6 to change access level rights within the Maxprep™ Liquid

Handler software.

Figure 52. Changing account type. Use the drop-down menu on the ‘Change account type’ screen to assign the selected Windows® user account Standard User or Administrator access rights in the Windows® operating system.

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Changing the account type for a user only affects the access level in the Windows® 10 operating system, not in the Maxprep™ software. Follow the instructions in Section 11.6 to change access level rights within the Maxprep™ software.

Appendix: Conﬁguring the PC

10. You have now added a new account to Windows® 10. Click the X in the upper right corner of the ‘Accounts’ screen to close the screen. Proceed to Section 11.6 to assign access levels for the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler software to this new account, or repeat these steps to create additional accounts.

Removing a Local Windows® User Account

If the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler system is run as a stand-alone device (i.e., not connected to your site domain), you can remove local Windows® accounts on the PC that are no longer necessary. Below are instructions for removing a local Windows® user account in the Windows® 10 Operating System.

Notes:

1. Only a Windows® user account with administrator-level access in the Windows® operating system can remove accounts.

2. If the PC is connected to your company internet domain, your IT department should be consulted on how to limit access to the PC. Domain users logged into the PC will not have access to run the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler software unless they have been added to one of the Promega access groups (Section 11.6). Do not use these instructions to remove an account from the PC if accounts on your company domain are used to access the PC.

3. Make sure the local Windows® user account to be deleted is signed out of the PC (refer to Section 11.7, Managing the Current Active Account).

1. Close the Maxprep™ Liquid Handler software if it is open. Click the X in the upper left corner of the screen, and then conﬁrm that you want to exit.

2. Conﬁrm that the Windows® user account to be removed is not signed into Windows®. Click the Start button on the left side of the Task bar. Choose the Accounts icon from the left side of the Start menu to open the Account information popup (Figure 56). Other user accounts will be listed and indicated as signed in if the account is currently signed in on the PC.

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Appendix: Conﬁguring the PC

11.5 Managing Local Windows® User Accounts (continued)

14900TA

Figure 53. Account information popup. Accessed from the Start menu, the Account information popup displays the Windows® user accounts on the PC and indicates which accounts are signed in.

3. If the account to be removed is signed in on the PC, click that account name in the Account information popup to switch to that account. Once you have changed to the account to be removed, from the ‘Desktop’ screen, click the Start button in the lower left corner of the screen. Choose the Accounts icon from the left side of the Start menu to open the Account information popup. Click Sign Out to sign out of the account that will be removed.

4. After signing out, sign back into an account with administrator-level access in Windows® operating system.

5. From the ‘Desktop’ screen, swipe upward from the bottom of the screen to expose the Task bar, and then touch the Start button on the left side of the Task bar. Choose the Settings icon to open the ‘Windows Settings’ screen (Figure 54).

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Promega Maxprep AS9100, Maxprep AS9101, Maxprep AS9201, Maxprep AS9200 Operating Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual