F
LEXCELL
®
I
NTERNATIONAL
C
ORPORATION
16
4. ADDENDUMS TO THE FLEX JR.
™
TENSION SYSTEM
F
OR
O
PTIMAL
P
ERFORMANCE OF THE
T
ENSION UNIT
:
A.
Place the FlexLink
®
higher than the
microscope device. This will reduce the
amount of moisture reaching the valves in
the system.
B.
When running a regimen with static steps,
or when the system will be idle for several
hours once a regimen has finished, it is
necessary to place the included Water
Trap inline between the FlexLink
®
and the
baseplate or microscope device. Be sure to
place the Water Trap
below
the Flex Jr.
™
Tension FlexLink
®
. Humid air from the
incubator tends to condense within the
tubing lines. This moisture may in turn
lead to problems with long term regimens.
This fluid collection can be prevented
from entering the FlexLink
®
by the
insertion of the Water Trap.
The Water Trap needs to be placed so that
it is maintained in a
vertical position
. It
should be checked frequently (twice a day
initially while a regimen is running) and
should be emptied when the Water Trap
becomes half full. On the first trial,
monitor the Water Trap every
15 minutes for the first two hours to be
sure that a significant amount of water is
not accumulating. If so, there may be a
leak
in
the
platform
and/or
gasket/BioFlex
®
plate assembly. See
“System Troubleshooting, Problem 1”
(pg. 15) to correct this problem. The
valves and transducers may be damaged if
moisture is allowed to accumulate.
C.
Prior to each experiment, check the
baseplate tubing at the exit point of the
incubator for any condensed moisture
(Fig. 14). If water is visible in the tubing,
it must be removed before running
another experiment. The water can be
first removed by removing the tubing
from the
FLEX IN
and
FLEX OUT
connections on the back of the
FlexLink
®
. Then, disconnect the tubing
connections to the baseplate, and
connect the
FLEX IN
tubing to the
FLEX OUT
tubing using the quick-
disconnect clips. Apply dry air flow to
the open end of the
FLEX IN
tubing to
remove the moisture. You should feel
the air flowing out of the open end of the
FLEX OUT
tubing.
Figure 14.
FLEX IN
and
FLEX OUT
Tubing
at the exit port of an incubator.
D.
Use the system drying filter and the
shutdown
program
after
every
