Chapter 6 Maintain the System
Regular Maintenance
Perform a Spatial Calibration
Materials
Required
Purpose of the
Calibration
Prepare for the
Calibration
Notes
90
Perform a spatial calibration every 18 months, or as often as necessary, depending on
instrument use.
• Spectral calibration plate 1 from the spectral calibration kit for your instrument:
™
– StepOne
Real-Time PCR System Spectral Calibration Kit (PN 4371433)
™
– StepOnePlus
Real-Time PCR System Spectral Calibration Kit (PN 4371435)
• Safety glasses
• Powder-free gloves
• Centrifuge with reaction plate adapter
• StepOne system cable, yellow (from the system packing kit)
A spatial calibration maps the positions of the wells on the sample block(s) so that the
™
StepOne
software can associate increases in fluorescence during a run with specific
wells of the reaction plate.
PHYSICAL INJURY HAZARD. During instrument operation, the
temperature of the sample block(s) can exceed 100 ° C. If the instrument has been used
recently, keep your hands away until the sample block(s) reaches room temperature.
IMPORTANT!
Wear powder-free gloves when you handle calibration plates.
1. If you have not already done so, use the StepOne system cable to connect the:
• Yellow Ethernet port (
• Ethernet port (
Do not connect the StepOne system cable to the blue LAN Port (
IMPORTANT!
2. Get calibration plate 1 from the spectral calibration kit in the freezer.
3. Allow calibration plate 1 to warm to room temperature (approximately 5 min).
Do not remove calibration plate 1 from its packaging until you are
IMPORTANT!
ready to run it. The fluorescent dyes in the wells of both spectral calibration plates
are photosensitive. Prolonged exposure to light can diminish the fluorescence signal
strength of the dyes.
Applied Biosystems StepOne
) of the instrument to the
) of the computer running the StepOne
Ethernet
™
and StepOnePlus
Installation, Networking, and Maintenance Guide
™
software
).
™
Real-Time PCR Systems
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