GeneRead QIAcube

The following disinfectants and detergents are recommended for cleaning the QIAcube:

• Mikrozid® Liquid (Schülke & Mayr GmbH) — ethanol-based disinfectant for spraying onto surfaces (consists of 25 g ethanol and 35 g 1-propanol per 100 g Mikrozid Liquid)
• RBS®-35 Detergent Concentrate (Pierce Chemical Co.) — anionic and nonionic surfactant based detergent for cleaning the touch screen and worktable door
• RNaseZap® (Ambion) — for complete removal of RNase contamination from glass and plastic surfaces
• 0.1 M NaOH — for cleaning the worktable and racks to remove RNase contamination (alternative to RNaseZap)
• Note: Alcohol is not recommended for cleaning of the door.

Europe 

Lysetol® AF (Gigsept® Instru AF) (Schülke & Mayr GmbH) — disinfectant for submerging worktable items (consists of 14 g cocospropylene-diamine-guanidine diacetate, 35 g phenoxypropanols, and 2.5 g benzalkonium chloride per 100 g Lysetol AF, with anticorrosion components, fragrance, and 15–30% nonionic surfactants).

USA

DECON-QUAT® 100 (Veltek Associates, Inc.) — quaternary ammonium salt based disinfectant concentrate for submerging worktable items (contains 5% alkyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride and 5% alkyldimethylethylbenzylammonium chloride).

Note: If you want to use disinfectants different from those recommended, ensure that their compositions are similar to those described above.

No. The QIAcube is designed for fully automated processing of up to 12 samples using QIAGEN spin-column kits. Do not use spin columns manufactured by other suppliers with the QIAcube. Damage caused by use of other types of spin columns will void the instrument warranty.

See:  http://www.qiagen.com/products/catalogpagecontrols/header/qiacube/360/default.aspx for a demonstration on how the QIAcube is used with the RNeasy Mini Kit for automated purification of RNA.

The QIAcube has the following weight and dimensions:  

• Weight: 70.5 kg (155.4 lb.)
• Width: 65 cm (25.6 in.)
• Depth: 62 cm (24.4 in.)
• Height (door closed): 57 cm (22.4 in.)
• Height (door open): 81 cm (32 in.)

Please refer to section 6.5 'Decontaminating the QIAcube' in chapter 6 'Maintenance Procedures' of the QIAcube User Manual.

Yes, rotor and/or buckets can be removed from the QIAcube for cleaning. For information on how to remove these parts, refer to the QIAcube User Manual.

You can stop a QIAcube protocol if there is an emergency by pressing “Cancel”. To confirm that you want to stop the protocol run, press “OK”. To cancel the 'stop protocol' command, press “Cancel”.

Note: If a protocol run is stopped, the run cannot be restarted. The samples must be processed manually. The last protocol step performed by the QIAcube will be displayed in the touch screen. For more information, refer to the QIAcube User Manual.

The corresponding manual kits can be used for all available protocols on the QIAcube. The manual kits contain sufficient buffers and reagents to process the number of spin columns provided with the kit.

In addition to the purification kit, Rotor Adapters (10 x 24), cat. no 990394, and the required disposable tips:

• Filter-Tips, 200 µl (1024), cat no. 990332,
• Filter-Tips, 1000 µl (1024), cat no. 990352,
• Filter-Tips, 1000 µl wide-bore (1024), cat no. 990452,

need to be ordered separately. To find out which filter-tips are required for a specific application, refer to the corresponding protocol sheet.

No. The QIAcube is equipped with an optical sensor, which determines the tip size and the number of tips loaded onto the worktable prior to starting a run.

The QIAcube can use partially used tip racks from previous runs, provided that the racks contain sufficient tips to process the number of samples loaded for the current run.