Molecular Devices SPECTRAmax 340PC User manual

SPECTRAmax
®
340PC
Microplate Spectrophotometer
Operator’s Manual
Molecular Devices Corporation
1311 Orleans Drive
Sunnyvale, California 94089
Part # 0112-0049
Rev. A

ii SPECTRAmax 340PC Microplate Spectrophotometer Operator’s Manual
Molecular Devices Corporation
SPECTRAmax
®
340PC Operator’s Manual
Copyright
 Copyright 1998, Molecular Devices Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may
be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language
or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chem-
ical, manual, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Molecular Devices Corporation,
1311 Orleans Drive, Sunnyvale, California, 94089, United States of America.
Patents
The SPECTRAmax 340PC and methods are protected by the following patents:
U.S. Patents
4,968,148 and 5,112,134 ; Canadian Patent 1,305,334 .
Other U.S. and International patents pending.
Trademarks
Automix and PathCheck are trademarks and SPECTRAmax and SOFTmax are registered trademarks
of Molecular Devices Corporation.
Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Incorporated.
All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
owners.
Disclaimer
Molecular Devices Corporation reserves the right to change its products and services at any time to
incorporate technological developments. This manual is subject to change without notice.
Although this manual has been prepared with every precaution to ensure accuracy, Molecular Devices
Corporation assumes no liability for any errors or omissions, nor for any damages resulting from the
application or use of this information.
Molecular Devices Corporation Instrument Warranty
Molecular Devices Corporation warrants this product against defects in material or workmanship as
follows:
1) All parts of the SPECTRAmax 340PC Microplate Spectrophotometer are warranted for a period of
one (1) year from the original date of delivery.
1) All labor charges to repair the product for a period of one (1) year from the original date of delivery
will be paid by Molecular Devices Corporation.
1) This warranty covers the SPECTRAmax 340PC instrument only, and does not extend to any com-
puter, printer, software, reagents, or disposables used with the instrument.

SPECTRAmax 340PC Microplate Spectrophotometer Operator’s Manual iii
Labor and Parts
To obtain warranty service during the applicable warranty period, you must take the product or deliver
the product properly packaged in the original shipping materials and carton to an authorized Molecular
Devices Corporation service facility. You must call or write to the nearest Molecular Devices Corpora-
tion service facility to schedule warranty service. You may call Molecular Devices Corporation at the
telephone number or address below to locate the nearest service facility. You must schedule warranty
service
prior to bringing or shipping the product for servicing. At the time of requesting warranty ser-
vice, you must present proof of purchase documentation which includes the date of purchase and Mo-
lecular Devices Corporation must have the enclosed Warranty Registration form completed, signed
and returned by you within ten (10) working days of the date of delivery.
This warranty only covers defects arising under normal usage and does not cover malfunctions of fail-
ures resulting from misuse, abuse, neglect, alteration, modification, or repairs by other than an autho-
rized Molecular Devices Corporation service facility.
Repair or replacement as provided under this warranty is the exclusive remedy of the purchaser (the
“Buyer”).
Molecular Devices Corporation (the “Seller”) shall not be liable for any incidental or
consequential damages for breach of any express or implied warranty on this product, except
to the extent required by applicable law. The Seller specifically excludes all express and im-
plied warranties including without limitation any implied warranty that the products sold under
this agreement are merchantable or are fit for any particular purpose, except such warranties
expressly identified as warranties and set forth in the Seller’s current operating manual, cata-
log or written guarantee covering such product. The Seller also makes no warranty that the
products sold under this agreement are delivered free of the rightful claim of any third party by
way of patent infringement or the like.
If the Buyer furnishes specifications to the Seller, the Buyer
agrees to hold the Seller harmless against any claim which arises out of compliance with the specifi-
cations.
Any description of the products contained in this agreement is for the sole purpose of identifying them.
Any such description is not part of the basis of the bargain, and does not constitute a warranty that the
products shall conform to that description. Any sample or model used in connection with this agree-
ment is for illustrative purposes only, is not part of the basis of the bargain, and is not to be construed
as a warranty that the products will conform to the sample or model. No affirmation of fact or promise
made by the Seller, whether or not in this agreement, shall constitute a warranty that the products will
conform to the affirmation or the promise.
For the name of the nearest authorized Molecular Devices Corporation service facility please contact
Molecular Devices at one of the following telephone numbers:
[phone]
[phone] (U.S. and California)

iv SPECTRAmax 340PC Microplate Spectrophotometer Operator’s Manual

SPECTRAmax 340PC Microplate Spectrophotometer Operator’s Manual v
Contents
Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Conventions Used in this Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Glossary of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Chapter 1— Instrument Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
General Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
PathCheck™ Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Component Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
The Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
LCD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Keys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Status Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
The Microplate Drawer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Microplates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
The Back Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10
Functional Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Instrument Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Saving a Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Recalling a Saved Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Modes of Stand-Alone Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
Endpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
Kinetic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
Blank Pattern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
Wavelength Selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Temperature Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Automix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-15
Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16
Printed Data Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16
Default Override Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16
Computer Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-17
SOFTmax
®
PRO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-17
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-19
Chapter 2—Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
Installation Warnings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Installation Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Unpacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Setting Up for Stand-Alone Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Setting Up for Computer Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4

vi SPECTRAmax 340PC Microplate Spectrophotometer Operator’s Manual
Chapter 3—Stand-Alone Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Prepare for a Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Turn the Instrument and Printer On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Set the Temperature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Choose a Read Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Using a Blank Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Endpoint Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Kinetic Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Select the Wavelength(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Save/Recall Instrument Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Read the Microplate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Operation Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Chapter 4— Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Warnings and Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Cleaning the Fan Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Changing the Fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Long-Term Shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Moving the SPECTRAmax 340PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Chapter 5—Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
Error Codes and Probable Causes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Error Code Classifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Warning Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
Opening the Drawer Manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
Appendix A—Printers and Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
Compatible Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
Appendix B—Accessories Available for Use with the SPECTRAmax 340PC . . . . . . . . . . . B-1
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .I-1

SPECTRAmax 340PC Microplate Spectrophotometer Operator’s Manual vii
Figures Figure 1.1 SPECTRAmax 340PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Figure 1.2 Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Figure 1.3 LCD Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Figure 1.4 Microplate Drawer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Figure 1.5 Components on the Back Panel of the
SPECTRAmax 340PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10
Figure 2.1 View of Rear Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Figure 3.1 Preparing the Blank Pattern Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Figure 4.1 Underside of SPECTRAmax 340PC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Figure 4.2 Pry Open the Fuse Box Cover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Figure 4.3 Removing the Fuse Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Figure 4.4 The Fuse Box and Holder with Fuses Removed . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Tables
Table 1.1 Intervals and Number of Readings for
Total Kinetic Run Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
Table 5.1 Error Codes, Messages, and Notes about the Errors . . . . . . 5-4

viii SPECTRAmax 340PC Microplate Spectrophotometer Operator’s Manual
Conventions
Used in this
Manual
The names of keys that appear on the SPECTRAmax 340PC control panel are
shown in boxed Helvetica type. Example:
[Setup] .
Italic and boldface type are used for emphasis. Examples: “Press carefully to
engage,” “
Do not press down. ”
A note provides information that will help you properly execute an
action or procedure.
Indicates an action or condition that could potentially damage
the instrument or one of its components or could result in loss of data.
Indicates a situation that could result in potential injury to a
person working with the system
.
Indicates a condition involving potentially infectious biologi-
cal agents requiring that proper handling precautions be taken.
Glossary of
Te r ms
Absorbance, A
The amount of light absorbed by a solution. To measure absorbance accurately, it
is necessary to eliminate light scatter. In the absence of turbidity, absorbance =
optical density.
A = log (I
0
/I)
I
0
= incident light
I = transmitted light
In this manual, we use the terms absorbance and optical density interchangeably.
Optical Density, OD
The amount of light passing through a sample to a detector relative to the total
amount of light available. Optical Density includes absorbance of the sample plus
light scatter from turbidity.
Transmittance, T
The ratio of transmitted light to the incident light.
T = I/I
0
%T = 100 T
NOTE:
!CAUTION:
WARNING:
BIOHAZARD:

Chapter 1 Instrument Description
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
General Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
PathCheck™ Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
Component Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
The Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
LCD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Status Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
The Microplate Drawer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Microplates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
The Back Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10
Functional Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Instrument Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Saving a Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Recalling a Saved Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Modes of Stand-Alone Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
Endpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
Kinetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
Blank Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
Wavelength Selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Temperature Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Automix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-15
Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16
Printed Data Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16
Computer Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16
SOFTmax
®
PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16
Default Override Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18

Chapter 1
1-2 SPECTRAmax 340PC Microplate Spectrophotometer Operator’s Manual