Pipette heads

About this topic

The Vertical Pipetting Station head mount is fitted with a 3‑axis positioning stage (x-, y-, and z-axes) that provides access to all quadrants of 96-well, 384‑well, and 1536‑well microplates. The head mount accepts interchangeable pipette heads with either disposable tips or fixed tips. This topic describes the types of pipette heads.

Disposable-tip pipette heads

Disposable-tip pipette heads enable you to change pipette tips during a run to prevent cross-contamination. The following types of disposable-tip pipette heads are available for use on the Vertical Pipetting Station:

•	Series II and Series III 96- and 384-channel pipette heads can dispense fluid into all the wells in a plate simultaneously.

Note: The Series II and Series III pipette heads are functionally equivalent on the Vertical Pipetting Station.

•	8- and 16-channel serial-dilution pipette heads can dispense fluid into a single column or row in a plate.

Note: If you have an older model Vertical Pipetting Station, verify that the device can accept a serial-dilution pipette head before attempting to install one.

Figure. Series III 384-channel disposable-tip pipette head

 

The following table lists the available disposable-tip pipette heads.

 

Head type	Max volume	Dispense into…
8LT	200 µL	96-well, 384-well
16ST	70 µL	96-well, 384-well, 1536-well plates
96LT	200 µL	96-well, 384-well plates
96ST	70 µL	96-well, 384-well, 1536-well plates
384ST	70 µL	384-well, 1536-well plates

The large transfer (LT) pipette heads can dispense up to 200 µL per well and the small transfer (ST) pipette heads can dispense up to 70 µL per well. You can use the 96ST and 384ST pipette heads to dispense fluid into each quadrant of a plate and replace the tips after completing each quadrant.

Fixed-tip pipette heads

The fixed-tip pipette heads have non-disposable dispensing needles and include the following types:

•	96‑ and 384‑channel. Able to dispense fluid into an entire plate simultaneously.

•	8‑channel. Able to dispense fluid into a single column in a plate.

The following table lists the available fixed-tip pipette heads.

 

Head type	Max volume	Dispense into…
8F200	200 µL	96-well, 384-well, and 1536-well plates
96F	50 µL	96-well, 384-well, and 1536-well plates
96F	200 µL	96-well, 384-well, and 1536-well plates
384F	50 µL	384-well, 1536-well plates

Controlling the pipette heads

You use the VWorks software to control the pipette head. For example, the software allows you to do the following:

•	Move the pipette heads into position

•	Calibrate volumes

•	Enable tip touching

•	Enable dynamic tip extension and retraction

Related topics

 

For more information about…	See…
Setting up the Vertical Pipetting Station and installing a pipette head	Setting up Vertical Pipetting Station
Exchanging a pipette head	Changing the pipette head
Creating a profile	Creating Vertical Pipetting Station profiles