Thermo Scientific Multiskan Sky User manual

Cat. No. N18964 Rev 1.0 2017
Thermo Scientific
Multiskan™ Sky
User Manual

© 2017 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. All rights reserved.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. provides this document to its customers with a product purchase to use in the
product operation. This document is copyright protected and any reproduction of the whole or any part of this
document is strictly prohibited, except with the written authorization of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
The contents of this document are subject to change without notice. All technical information in this
document is for reference purposes only. System configurations and specifications in this document supersede
all previous information received by the purchaser.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. makes no representations that this document is complete, accurate or error-
free and assumes no responsibility and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, damage or loss that
might result from any use of this document, even if the information in the document is followed
properly.
This document is not part of any sales contract between Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and a purchaser. This
document shall in no way govern or modify any Terms and Conditions of Sale, which Terms and Conditions of
Sale shall govern all conflicting information between the two documents.
Release history:
For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

WEEE Compliance
This product is required to comply with the European Union’s Waste Electrical & Electronic
Equipment (WEEE) Directive 2002/96/EC. It is marked with the following symbol:
Thermo Fisher Scientific has contracted with one or more recycling or disposal companies in each
European Union (EU) Member State, and these companies should dispose of or recycle this product.
See www.thermofisher.com/rohsweee for further information on Thermo Fisher Scientific’s compliance
with these Directives and the recyclers in your country.

Thermo Scientific Thermo Scientific Multiskan Sky User Manual i
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Preface
About this guide
This manual is for the following instruments:
• Multiskan™ Sky – Cat. No. 51119500, 51119550 (Japan) and 51119570 (China)
• Multiskan™ Sky with Touch Screen – Cat. No. 51119600, 51119650 (Japan) and 51119670
(China)
• Multiskan™ Sky with Cuvette and Touch Screen – Cat. No. 51119700, 51119750 (Japan) and
51119770 (China)
• Multiskan™ Sky with Touch Screen + μDrop Plate – Cat. No. 51119600DP, 51119650DP (Japan)
and 51119670DP (China)
• Multiskan™ Sky with Cuvette and Touch Screen + μDrop Plate – Cat. No. 51119700DP,
51119750DP (Japan) and 51119770DP (China)
Use Multiskan Sky as standalone (the models with the touch screen) or with Thermo Scientific™
SkanIt™ Software. Multiskan Sky is intended to be used in research laboratories by qualified personnel.
This document aims to give you the information you need to:
• Install and operate Multiskan Sky.
• Navigate in the Multiskan Sky user interface.
• Install and use SkanIt Software.
This manual also includes the maintenance checklist and specifications of Multiskan Sky.
Read the manual in its entirety before you start to operate the instrument.
Save this manual for future reference. This manual is an important part of the instrument and should
be readily available.
Related documentation
In addition to this manual and all its language versions, Thermo Fisher Scientific provides the
following documents for Multiskan Sky and SkanIt Software:
•Thermo Scientific™ Multiskan™ Sky Technical Manual (Cat. No. N18965)
Note Screen shots appear with simulated data, the actual content may differ slightly.

ii Thermo Scientific Multiskan Sky User Manual Thermo Scientific
•Thermo Scientific™ SkanIt™ Software for Microplate Readers Technical Manual (Cat. No. N16046)
The instrument software also provides context sensitive help.
Safety and special notices
Make sure you follow the precautionary statements presented in this guide or on the instrument. The
safety and other special notices appear in boxes.
Safety and special notices include the following:
Contacting us
For the latest information on products and services, visit our website at:
www.thermofisher.com/platereaders
In our efforts to provide useful and appropriate documentation, we appreciate any comments you may
have on this manual to your local Thermo Fisher Scientific representative.
CAUTION Highlights hazards to humans, property, or the environment. Each CAUTION notice is
accompanied by a CAUTION symbol.
WARNING Risk of injury to the user or users.
WARNING Risk of electric shock.
IMPORTANT Highlights information necessary to prevent damage to software, loss of data, or
invalid test results; or may contain information that is critical for optimal performance of the
system.
Note Highlights information of general interest.
Tip Highlights helpful information that can make a task easier.

Thermo Scientific Thermo Scientific Multiskan Sky User Manual iii
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Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
About this guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Related documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Safety and special notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Contacting us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Chapter 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Instrument layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Principle of operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter 2 Install Multiskan Sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Remove the transport lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Connect the mains supply cable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Connect the instrument to a computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Install SkanIt Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Operational check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Initial settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Chapter 3 Install SkanIt Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
SkanIt Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Installation overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Connect the software to the instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Main elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Application menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Session tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Task ribbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Select the software language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 4 Instrument operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Switch the instrument on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Touch screen display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Navigation bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Function tiles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Application bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Measure a microplate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Measure a cuvette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Air blanking for cuvettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Contents

Contents
iv Thermo Scientific Multiskan Sky User Manual Thermo Scientific
Instrument incubator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
View results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Export files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Power save feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Thermo Fisher Connect cloud-based tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Chapter 5 Using SkanIt Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Session structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Plate layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Protocol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Protocol actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Start a measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Calculations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Saved sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Open an existing session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Chapter 6 Safety and Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
General specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Safety specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Maintenance checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Thermo Scientific Thermo Scientific Multiskan Sky User Manual 1
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Introduction
Multiskan Sky is a spectrophotometer that is used to measure photometric assays with defined 96- and
384-well microplates. Multiskan Sky with the cuvette version can also measure photometric assays with
cuvettes. Additionally, Multiskan Sky is compatible with the Thermo Scientific™ μDrop Plate.
Figure 1. Thermo Scientific Multiskan Sky.
Multiskan Sky with the touch screen can be connected to Thermo Fisher Connect cloud-based
capabilities or the local area network. Multiskan Sky is designed to be part of an analyzing system for
the end user, who is responsible for validating the system to ensure reliable and safe results.
We recommend Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) during the analyzing process.
Instrument layout
The front view of an instrument with the cuvette port.
CAUTION Follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Do not use the instrument in any
other way.
CAUTION Do not expose the instrument to corrosive liquids or gases during use, storage or
transport.
CAUTION Operate the instrument only with software and hardware that is specifically designed or
selected for it. Thermo Fisher Scientific assumes no liability for the use of third-party software
applications.
Note Your instrument may not have all of the features presented in this guide.

1Introduction
Instrument layout
2Thermo Scientific Multiskan Sky User Manual Thermo Scientific
Figure 2. Cuvette port (only in cuvette model) (1), touch screen display (only in the models with the display)
(2), measurement chamber door (3), power button (4).
The instrument with the cuvette port and measurement chamber door open.
Figure 3. Cuvette port (1), plate carrier (2).
The back view of the instrument.
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3
4
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2