Plate and well types for Water autosamplers

For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Answer

Plate and well types in Waters autosamplers
Most of the well plate types are in the ANSI (American National Standard Institute) format which is also recognized by SLAS (Society of Laboratory Automation and Screening). Verify that the plate is in an ANSI format, and then choose from the drop-down list in the Waters Console. No need to customize plates. Sample manager -> Configure -> Plate setup.




Needle placement
Waters autosamplers have two different configurations: flow through needle (FTN) or a fixed loop (FL). In the FTN, a stainless-steel needle is used. In the FL, a PEEK needle is used in conjunction with a stainless-steel puncture needle. Default needle placement in Waters autosamplers is dependent on the type of autosampler and is set in the Automatic settings. The automatic setting is displayed below and has some tolerance to allow the needle to get closer to the bottom of the sample container. This is done in the Advanced settings in the Sample manager method editor. Keep in mind to lower it in small steps as needles are fragile!
Example: Having a FTN with vials and “Needle Placement (from bottom)” is altered to 3 mm, which means that the needle is lowered an extra 1 mm into the vial than the default “Automatic setting.”

 

The purple marking on the left side of the Advanced button indicates that the method has been changed.