Agilent Technologies R Series, User Manual

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125 Chapter 5: Maintenance and troubleshooting
BenchCel Microplate Handling Workstation R-Series User Guide
The amount of light that the sensor receives is displayed in the BenchCel
Diagnostics Controls tab. The microplate corners that have notches
should have much lower readings than the corners that do not have
notches. In the following example, the sensors detect a notch in the
upper right corner of the microplate.
The following factors can affect the reading of the notch sensor and
might require that you adjust the sensor light intensity:
❑
Microplate position . For optimum results, the sensor light should
bounce off of the plate at halfway between the top of the plate and
the top of the plate skirt.
❑
Microplate color. Darker plate color might require higher light
intensity.
❑
Microplate material . Shiny or reflective plates might require lower
light intensity.
❑
Microplate condition . Cracks, chips, scratches, or defects in the area
where the sensor light contacts the plate can affect sensor reading.
❑
Ambient light . Brighter rooms might require lower light intensity.
Aligning the plate
with the sensors
Make sure the microplate is aligned with the plate-orientation sensors
and that the sensor light hits the plate halfway between the top of the
microplate and the top of the microplate skirt.
To align the plate with the notch sensors:
1. Load two to three spare microplates in a stacker rack, and then load
the rack on the BenchCel device. For loading instructions, see
“Loading and unloading labware” on page 84 and “Installing and
removing stacker racks” on page 85.
2. In BenchCel Diagnostics, click the Controls tab.
3. Select the desired labware in the Labware list.