Tips For Maintaining Laboratory Equipment

If you have a laboratory, it is very important to have all your equipment and the whole facility absolutely clean. This cleanliness is a major prerequisite for having accurate and reliable results. All the science experiments that you conduct in the lab demand precise and accurate measurements. If you fail to maintain the hygiene of your lab and tools, the whole study will be counted as unreliable. Any dirt and contamination can completely derail the lab results. Keeping your lab and all the equipment clean is as important as conducting an experiment.

Having your lab, all the equipment including molecular biology products immaculate is crucial. Read on to learn some important tips that will help you maintain your laboratory equipment:

1. Calibration

The most important method of ensuring your lab equipment is maintained is by calibrating it. Not having your equipment calibrated on a daily basis will lead to inaccurate results and data corruption. With daily calibration, you will only have to run the quick preventive measures to start your experiments.
Not having your pipettes calibrated can cause serious errors and damage your scientific data. It’s better to calibrate all your equipment that is used for measuring, according to the instructions provided by the manufacturer.

2. Repair

Most of the time, scientists carry on with the same old equipment, maybe because they aren’t aware that the tools need repair or change, or maybe because they’re too lethargic. If any of your lab tools aren’t providing accurate results, be quick to get them checked, and have that particular piece repaired at your earliest. There are many things in a laboratory that can be made as good as new just by replacing the simple components or having them repaired. It’s advisable to repair your equipment as soon as possible to avoid the excessive cost of replacement.

3. Refurbishing

Refurbishing the equipment is also an incredible way to get them up and running like they used to. However, the process needs to be carried out with utmost care. All the parts are to be disassembled, and then each component needs to be cleaned. After the cleaning process, you can lubricate the parts and put them back together again. Do note that during the cleaning process, you should also pay attention to all the parts that are in a bad state, so if a replacement is necessary, you can put them away before assembling the whole equipment.

4. Cleanliness

The most basic, easiest yet the most effective method of having your lab equipment maintained is to take care of the hygiene. Unfortunately, many lab owners skip this part, and they pay all the attention to the experiments. Little do they know that cleanliness and sanitary are equally important. To maintain the original shape of your equipment and constantly get accurate results, make sure you wipe the exterior parts of all the equipment on a daily basis and perform a deep cleaning every once a week. Also, make sure that you don’t treat all the equipment the same because some tools require specific cleaning methods that are mostly written on the instruction manual given by the manufacturer.

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