Specifications      Operation      Troubleshooting

Specifications:

Can the FREEDOM ROCKER™ work in labs in other countries?

Yes.  A wall transformer will convert the voltage from your wall outlet to 12V DC for the Freedom Rocker™.   Select the proper voltage when you order your instrument.

How much room does the FREEDOM ROCKER™ require? 

The Freedom Rocker™ takes up only 10 inches (25 cm) of lab bench.  It is 10 inches (25 cm) wide by 15 inches (38 cm) deep, including the pump and the rocker.  The bottles for wash buffer, waste, and reagent collection can be placed behind or to the side of the Freedom Rocker™, or even on a shelf above or below the lab bench.

Can the Freedom Rocker™ drain the waste to a sink?

Yes, the hose for waste liquid can either run to a container or to a sink.

What happens at the end of the final wash step?

After the programmed duration of the final wash step, the instrument beeps to let the user know that the wash is complete.  However, to keep the membranes, gels, or slides from drying out, the rocking continues and the wash buffer is not pumped from the tray(s) until the user depresses the “RUN”, the "PAUSE/CONTINUE" or the “DRAIN” button.  Then the rocking stops and the buffer is pumped out of the trays.

How many trays can the FREEDOM ROCKER™ run at once? 

The Freedom Rocker™ models FRSK22 and DX2 can run 1 large tray or 2 tray small or medium trays.  With the purchase of AHDS24 Small Aspiration Head, one small or medim tray can be used.
The FRSK42 and the DX4 models run 4 trays at once.  To run just 1 or 2 trays at a time, a different tube set and a different aspiration head are required.  2 tray accessory kits are available. Or the aspiration heads and the tube sets can be ordered separately.  See the pricelist for ordering information and current pricing.

Do all the trays follow the same protocol? 

Yes, the Freedom Rocker™ pumps the liquids in and out of all the trays simultaneously to/from the same reagent/waste containers.  Different reagents can be manually poured in the different trays initially, however, when these reagents are aspirated out of the trays, they will be combined in the waste or recover bottle.

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Operation:

How do you change the settings?

Press the “SELECT” button several times, until the parameter you want to change lights up.  Then rotate the knob to adjust the setting to the value you want.  Then press the “SELECT” button again if you want to change another parameter.

How do you program whether or not the reagent solution is recovered?

Pressing the “RECOVER REAGENT” button on the front panel changes whether or not the reagent solution is collected after the reagent step.  When the light by the button is on, the reagent will be recovered.  If the light is off, when the reagent solution is aspirated, it will be sent to the waste container.

How do you operate in Manual Mode?

Simply press the “FILL”, “ROCK”, or “DRAIN” buttons to dispense wash buffer, rock, or aspirate the liquid in the tray(s).  The Rock rate and the dispense/aspirate volumes can be changed by pressing the “SELECT” button until the desired parameter lights up, then rotate the knob to adjust the setting.  By pressing any of the “FILL”, “ROCK”, or “DRAIN” buttons overrides the Automatic and Semi-automatic modes, putting the instrument into Manual Mode.

What is Semi-Automatic Mode?

In semi-automatic mode the rocker operates as an ordinary rocker with a built-in countdown timer.  Simply set the reagent duration to the desired time, set the wash durations to “0”, and press “RUN”.  The washes will not occur.  After the desired duration, the instrument will beep.  (The rocking will continue and the liquid will remain in the trays so that the membrane, gel, or slides do not dry out.)  Press “RUN” or “DRAIN” to stop the rocking and aspirate the liquid.) 

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Troubleshooting

If nothing happens.  All the lights are off and the display is blank.

Check that the power is properly connected.  If the wall transformer is plugged in all the way and the power line is plugged into the instrument, then either the wall outlet or the wall transformer is bad.  Plug something else into the same wall outlet.  Does it work?  If so, then the power supply is probably bad.  Contact us for a replacement.

If liquid is not dispensed immediately after the pump is turned on, the tubing was probably empty and needed to be primed.  If this is the case, the problem should not occur as long as the tubing does not fill up again with air. 

If liquid is not dispensed or aspirated, the caps are probably tightly screwed onto the bottles and air is not able to enter or leave the bottles and equalize the pressure.  Loosen the caps on the bottles.  If not caught early, this could lead to tubing popping off a fitting or leakage at a fitting.

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