Is your Heraeus Pico 17/21, Fresco 17/21, VWR Microstar 17 & 17R, Fisher Accuspin 17 & 17R, IEC MicroCL 17 and MicroCL 21 centrifuge making a noise when you run it ?
There could be a few reasons why your centrifuge is making a noise with these centrifuge models.
We would recommend to make the following checks as detailed below:-
- Check the black rotor seal is seated correctly on your rotor as detailed by the arrow in the picture below ?
If the black seal is fitted as shown in the picture then move onto the second check. If the rotor seal is missing then it may be the black seal has become unseated and wrapped itself around the outside of the rotor and the remnants will be in the bowl of the centrifuge underneath the rotor. You will have a lot of black markings from the seal as it has disintegrated. These black markings will be on the outside of the rotor and outside of the bowl.
If this has happened you need to remove the rotor and clean up underneath the rotor to remove all the remaining pieces of the seal. You should also clean and debris from the rubber seal at the top of the bowl on refrigerated models. (WARNING !!! Always be careful for broken tubes or glass and follow your internal procedures for laboratory disruptions/spillages)
Once you have removed all remaining debris you can put the rotor back on and make sure it is on securely. You will then need to fit replacement seals to ensure your rotor and lid retain the biocontainment certification. You may have a spare set of these seals from when your centrifuge was delivered. If not then you can purchase a replacement from this supplier.
2. Check under the rotor for debris. You are looking to remove anything that should not be their for example broken tubes, tube caps, stickers. (WARNING !!! Always be careful for broken tubes or glass and follow your internal procedures for laboratory disruptions/spillages)
3. Finally, if your centrifuge is still noisy and you have followed step 1 & 2 then it is likely that the motor bearings in your centrifuge motor may have worn.
If the bearings in the motor have started to wear then the centrifuge will make a high pitch noise whilst it is running. The pitch of this noise is likely to increase the more the centrifuge is used.
Below is a video of a VWR Microstar 17R with a noisy motor.
A replacement motor can be purchased from this supplier or clicking the motor picture below: –
I would also take the opportunity while replacing the motor to also change the 3 rubber motor mounts.
The above picture is a birds eye view of a Eppendorf 5424 centrifuge with the lid cover removed. You can see in the top left of the picture that the lid spring leg has broken off and therefore does not enable the lid to spring open at the end of the run or hold the lid upright.