We all know that uneasy, sinking feeling. It’s the end of the week, your machine is failing, and it feels like all is lost. Your plans to have a productive day at work are ruined, and so is your weekend. Sometimes your instrument has a different idea of fun. But that’s why you have SeqGen. Our expert team of service engineers are ready for any malfunction you might encounter. But before you give us a ring, there are a few simple steps you can take to expedite the troubleshooting process.

At SeqGen, we love sharing our best maintenance tips and tricks. The most rewarding part of running this blog is helping you learn more about your sequencer and how to care for it. Over the years, we've helped our end users troubleshoot all kinds of technical difficulties, from leaks to clogs to false error messages. But a lot of the questions we receive from customers circle back to the same problems. 

That's why we're diving into our archives this week and pulling our most popular, most requested blogs into one convenient post. After all, the classics never go out of style!

I am not a morning person. I don’t function well at o-dark-thirty. But thankfully, we have a wonderful invention called coffee. Each morning, I drag myself to the Keurig, place the cup under the spout and push start. One morning, I followed the same process and got nothing – barely any of the liquid cheer streamed out to fill my cup. Without proper care, the same thing could happen with your sequencer equipment. Instead of simply cleaning the outside of my Keurig and the cup holder, I needed to dig deeper and maintain the inside of the machine to keep my morning joy flowing steadily. 

It’s summertime, and for me, that means yard work. Or rather, my attempt at yard work. Last year was a scorcher, complete with water rations all over the country. But this year, I made a commitment to my yard to not let it die too much. To revive my brown paradise, I gave the task of watering to my five-year-old, who loves to soak everything and everyone in the process.

But when I went to turn off the hose, I was greeted by a massive pool of water, mud, mulch, and grass clippings just under the faucet. Clearly, water had been pushed in and out of the hose. However, I could tell a large amount had also leaked from the outdoor water faucet and started to build up. This gotme thinking — the same thing could happen with sequencer equipment.  

We have all seen those ridiculous internet images of chocolate chip cookies cooking on the dashboard of a car. But how ridiculous is that really? We all know that feeling when we climb into our hot summer car – seats scorching our legs, steering wheel unbearable to the touch, hot air blowing from the A/C unit. Now imagine how constant exposure to high temperatures and humidity could affect your laser performance.

SeqGen is dedicated to our customers and your machines. Your concerns become our concerns. We have been receiving many emails and phone calls from our customers asking if they have to upgrade their sequencing and fragment analysis software to work on the Windows 7 operating system. Like many major updates with these machines, this can run you a pretty penny, and you’ll want to make sure you actually need the update before you blow your budget.

Seriously, does anyone like to move? There isn’t enough pizza in the world to persuade your “friends” to borrow their pickup truck.  However, SeqGen is hired frequently to move lab equipment, and we love pizza.  We understand the importance of moving quickly and carefully in order to get your business back up and running smoothly as usual. Every move is different, but with each move we have become better equipped for the next.

Your sequencer is stuck at yellow-light status. This means that the machine has not established a connection with the computer.

The famous line “If I only knew then what I know now” can mean a measure of savings down the road when it comes to your instruments.  In our busy lives there is a simple but forgotten cost-saving step, if you’re willing to do some regular maintenance. It may even end up saving you thousands in laser replacement costs or machine down time.

Your machine is manufactured with many interdependent parts that allow it to function properly. The laser is one of the sequencer’s most critical parts enabling you to complete runs, and the air filter could be the key to extending the life of the laser. 

The ABI 3130 and 3730 models have an air filter that helps remove contaminants before they reach the laser.  Between the routine laser maintenance and realignments performed, you can do one simple thing to help your machine: clean the air filter regularly. All you need is a $3 can of air from your local hardware store and the ability to follow these three simple steps.