Agilent Technologies BenchCel User manual

BenchCel Microplate Handler
User Guide
Original Instructions

Notices
Manual Part Number
G5580-90000 Revision B
November 2020
Copyright
© Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2020
No part of this manual may be reproduced
in any form or by any means (including
electronic storage and retrieval or
translation into a foreign language) without
prior agreement and written consent from
Agilent Technologies, Inc. as governed by
United States and international copyright
laws.
Contact Information
Agilent Technologies Inc.
Automation Solutions
5301 Stevens Creek Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA 95051
USA
Web:
https://www.agilent.com
Contact page:
https://www.agilent.com/en/contact-
us/page
Documentation feedback:
[e-mail]
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and other countries.
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provided “as is,” and is subject to being
changed, without notice, in future editions.
Further, to the maximum extent permitted
by applicable law, Agilent disclaims all war-
ranties, either express or implied, with
regard to this manual and any information
contained herein, including but not limited
to the implied warranties of merchantability
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or consequential damages in connection
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ment shall control.
Technology Licenses
The hardware and/or software described in
this document are furnished under a license
and may be used or copied only in
accordance with the terms of such license.
Restricted Rights Legend
If software is for use in the performance of
a U.S. Government prime contract or
subcontract, Software is delivered and
licensed as “Commercial computer
software” as defined in DFAR 252.227-7014
(June 1995), or as a “commercial item” as
defined in FAR 2.101(a) or as “Restricted
computer software” as defined in FAR
52.227-19 (June 1987) or any equivalent
agency regulation or contract clause. Use,
duplication or disclosure of Software is
subject to Agilent Technologies’ standard
commercial license terms, and non-DOD
Departments and Agencies of the U.S.
Government will receive no greater than
Restricted Rights as defined in FAR 52.227-
19(c)(1-2) (June 1987). U.S. Government
users will receive no greater than Limited
Rights as defined in FAR 52.227-14
(June1987) or DFAR 252.227-7015 (b)(2)
(November 1995), as applicable in any
technical data.
Safety Notices
A WARNING notice denotes a haz-
ard. It calls attention to an operating
procedure, practice, or the like that, if
not correctly performed or adhered
to, could result in personal injury or
death. Do not proceed beyond a
WARNING notice until the indicated
conditions are fully understood and
met.
A CAUTION notice denotes a hazard.
It calls attention to an operating proce-
dure, practice, or the like that, if not
correctly performed or adhered to,
could result in damage to the product
or loss of important data. Do not pro-
ceed beyond a CAUTION notice until
the indicated conditions are fully
understood and met.
WARNING
CAUTION

iiiBenchCel Microplate Handler User Guide
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
About this guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
Accessing product user information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
1. Safety guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
General safety information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Safety and regulatory compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Emergency stops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Safety equipment and features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Potential safety hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
BenchCel Microplate Handler description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Hardware overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Integration options for workstations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Labware considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Software description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3. Installing BenchCel Microplate Handler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Installation workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Verifying laboratory requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Unpacking BenchCel Microplate Handler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Mounting the robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
About integrating devices in a BenchCel Workstation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Connecting the power source. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Connecting the pendant directly to the BenchCel device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Connecting the pendant through the Robot Disable Hub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Connecting and disconnecting the air source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Connecting the computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Installing the shield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4. Setting up the BenchCel device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Setup workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Starting up and shutting down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Creating BenchCel device in the VWorks software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Opening BenchCel Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Creating profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Initializing the device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Setting and managing teachpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Contents
iviv BenchCel Microplate Handler User Guide
5. Setting sensor thresholds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Overview for setting sensor thresholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Calculating the Plate presence threshold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Determining the optimum Orientation sensor offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Calculating the Orientation threshold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Worksheet for setting sensor thresholds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
6. Preparing for a run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Workflow for operating the BenchCel Microplate Handler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Handling the labware racks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Filling and emptying the labware racks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Installing and uninstalling the labware racks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Performing pre-run checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
7. Maintenance and troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Routine maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Cleaning up after a protocol run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Replacing the fuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Hardware problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Software error messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Diagnostic tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Adjusting the stacker gripper pressure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Reporting problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
A. Quick reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Rack-release button indicator light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
BenchCel Diagnostics - Controls tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
BenchCel Diagnostics - Jog/Teach tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
BenchCel Diagnostics - Labware tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
BenchCel Diagnostics - General Settings tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
BenchCel Diagnostics - Profiles tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Teachpoint Details dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

v
Preface
This preface contains the following topics:
•“About this guide” on page vi
•“Accessing product user information” on page viii

Preface
About this guide
vi BenchCel Microplate Handler User Guide
About this guide
Who should read this guide
This user guide is for people with the following job roles:
What this guide covers
This guide describes the G5580A BenchCel Microplate Handler and earlier R-Series
models. This guide covers installation, setup, operation, and maintenance.
This guide does not provide instructions for the following:
•Agilent devices that are integrated with the BenchCel Microplate Handler in a
workstation configuration, such as the Bravo Platform, PlateLoc Thermal
Microplate Sealer, Microplate Labeler, and Labware MiniHub
•Third-party devices
For more information about these topics, see the relevant user guides for these
products.
Software version
This guide is applicable for the following software:
•BenchCel Diagnostics 21.3.0, which is included in VWorks software 14.0 and later.
•BenchCel Diagnostics versions included in VWorks software 12.3 – 13.1.x.
What is new in this edition
and
Job role Responsibilities
Installer Unpacks, installs, and tests the device before it is used.
Integrator Configures hardware and writes software.
Lab manager,
administrator, or
technician
•Manages the automation system that contains the device
•Develops the applications that are run on the system
•Develops training materials and standard operating
procedures for operators
Operator Performs the daily production work on the device and solves
routine problems.
Description See…
Added descriptions for VWorks software
14.0.
“Software description” on page 29

vii
Preface
About this guide
BenchCel Microplate Handler User Guide
Related guides
You should use this guide in conjunction with the following guides:
•Automation Solutions Products General Safety Guide. Provides general safety
information and describes potential safety hazards that you might encounter when
using Automation Solutions products. A copy of this safety guide is included with
your shipment.
•VWorks software guides:
–VWorks Automation Control Setup Guide. Explains how to define labware and
labware classes, liquid classes, and pipetting techniques.
The VWorks 14.0 version also explains the VWorks compliance features and
how to set up an experiments databases.
–VWorks Automation Control User Guide. Explains how to create protocols, and
set task parameters for each device in the system.
•BenchCel Microplate Handler Quick Guide. The quick guide summarizes the
instructions in this user guide.
•Agilent Technologies device user guides. These guides explain how to set up and
use the devices that you integrate with the BenchCel Microplate Handler, such as
the Bravo Platform User Guide.
•Third-party device user documents, if applicable. These guides explain how to set
up and use the third-party devices.
Updated the Robot Disable Hub
descriptions to specify the 3-Port Robot
Disable Hub.
•“Safety equipment and features” on
page 8
•“Connecting the pendant through
the Robot Disable Hub” on page 53
Updated the instructions for creating the
device file to include how to select the
teachpoint for an integrated device.
“Specifying BenchCel accessibility at
other devices” on page 72
Updated the profile and teachpoint
descriptions and procedures to reflect
changes introduced in VWorks software
14.0.
•“Creating profiles” on page 76
•“Setting and managing teachpoints”
on page 84
•“BenchCel Diagnostics - Profiles
tab” on page 179
Updated the fuse replacement procedure
to make the description consistent for
both 115 V and 230 V power.
“Replacing the fuse” on page 134
Added a description of the indicators on
the Controls tab.
“BenchCel Diagnostics - Controls tab” on
page 167
Description See…

Preface
Accessing product user information
viii BenchCel Microplate Handler User Guide
Accessing product user information
About this topic
This topic describes the different formats of user information and explains how to
access it for the Agilent Automation Solutions products.
Where to find user information
The user information is available in the following locations:
•Knowledge base. The help system for the Automation Solutions products is
available from:
–Help menu within the VWorks software: Select Help > Knowledge Base or press
F1.
–From the Windows desktop: Select Start ( ) > All Apps > Agilent
Technologies > VWorks Knowledge Base.
For guidelines on using the VWorks context-sensitive help and knowledge base
features, see Using the knowledge base, below.
•PDF files. The PDF files of the user guides are installed with the VWorks software
(C:\Program Files (x86)\Agilent Technologies\VWorks\UserGuides) and are
available in the VWorks Knowledge Base.
•Website. You can search the online VWorks Knowledge Base or download the latest
version of any PDF file from the Agilent website at www.agilent.com/chem/askb.
Accessing safety information
Safety information for the Agilent Automation Solutions devices appears in the
Automation Solutions Products General Safety Guide and in the corresponding device
safety guide or user guide.
You can also search the knowledge base or the PDF files for safety information.
Using the knowledge base
Knowledge base topics are displayed using web browser software such as Microsoft
Edge.
Note: If you want to use Internet Explorer to display the topics, you might have to allow
local files to run active content (scripts and ActiveX controls). To do this, in Internet
Explorer, open the Internet Options dialog box. Click the Advanced tab, locate the
Security section, and select Allow active content to run in files on my computer.

ix
Preface
Accessing product user information
BenchCel Microplate Handler User Guide
Opening the help topic for an area in the VWorks window
To access the context-sensitive help feature:
1In the main window of the VWorks software, click the help button . The pointer
changes to . Notice that the different icons or areas are highlighted as you
move the pointer over them.
2Click an icon or area of interest. The relevant topic or document opens.

Preface
Accessing product user information
xBenchCel Microplate Handler User Guide
Features in the Knowledge Base window
Step For this task...
1Contents pane. Lists all the books and the table of contents of the books.
2Search. Allows you to search the Knowledge Base (all products or selected products) using
keywords.
3Topic area. Displays the selected online help topic.
4Navigation buttons. Enable you to navigate through the next or previous topics listed in the Contents
tab.
5Toolbar buttons: Enable you to:
•Expand or collapse all the sections in a topic that has drop-down headings.
•Print the topic.
•Send feedback by email for a given topic.