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.

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.

A SeqGen customer recently contacted us saying that they had noticed a green/blue background during sample runs and water plate runs. They had done a good job of trying to troubleshoot the issue themselves. After many failed attempts and lost time on their project, they threw in the towel and contacted SeqGen for a solution. We thought these troubleshooting efforts would be helpful if ever you experience the same issue.

Many of our users have found that when using water for injections instead of Hi-Di formamide, they end up with issues that prevent base calling, even when following the machine standards. Proper technique should produce signal strengths well above the minimum threshold when samples are resuspended in formamide.

However, if you are still having issues with signal strength, you can try resuspending your samples in water, since this can increase signal strength by over 10x. If you do try employing water for injections, make sure you’re cautious of these three things:

No matter what industry you’re in, budgets are tight. Costs for reagents, coverage plans, unexpected breakdowns, and plenty of other issues--the funds dry up quickly.

However, over the years we’ve picked up plenty of tips and tricks that can save your lab money and extend the life of your machine and its parts. So without further ado, here are 4 ways you can squeeze more out of your lab’s budget now.