135
Thermal Cycler Temperature Verification System For GeneAmp
®
PCR Systems 2720, 9600, 9700, 9800,
and Veriti
®
System User Guide
C
GeneAmp
®
PCR 9700 Technical Note
C
This appendix addresses apparent discrepancies between the published instrument
specifications for accuracy and the pass/fail criterion used during the routine
temperature verification.
Temperature Accuracy Verification Test
• In the System Specification Sheet, the thermal cycler accuracy specifications
are published as ±0.25 °C.
• The single-channel Temperature Verification Kit (TVK) consists of the
hardware, thermometer and probe and an associated procedure.
• The TVK does
not
measure the original manufacturing specification of the
thermal cycler. The purpose of the TVK test is to detect any system failure that
may result in a shift in the original manufacturer’s calibration. This kit should be
used for temperature verification,
not
system calibration.
• For the GeneAmp
®
9700, the system has an aggregate accuracy of ±0.25 °C.
• The TVK has accuracy and discrepancy in addition to the original
manufacturing specification.
• Temperature calibration of Applied Biosystems thermal cyclers is extremely
stable, and no measurable change in the calibration accuracy is detectable
unless
a significant change occurs in the instrument characteristics after its
manufacture.
• Temperature Tolerance stack-up between TVK and the original manufacturing
specification is ±0.75 degrees Celsius.
Note:
As a result of the Temperature Tolerance Stack, the instrument firmware has
been pre-programmed to accept a Pass/Fail result of ±0.75 degrees Celsius; therefore
passing results may vary from 84.25 °C up to 85.75 °C.