First ever project suggestions? - Starting genetic lab for hobby purposes. - (Jun/05/2015 )
Running it from inside a refrigerator is a no-go I think. Once I close the lid on that thing, it will be isolated from the rest of the environment in the refrigerator. Whatever heat is produced inside the chamber, the cold from the outside will not penetrate.
I just called up an electro engineer friend of mine and told him about my suggestion. 1. Drill a hole in each side of the centrifuge, 2. insert plastic tubing with the exact diameter of the hole, 3. attach a blowing fan to a peltier-cooled block, 4. attach thermostat inside chamber, and have it regulate the fan speed.
That way I can have the fan blow a steady stream of cold air through the chamber of the centrifuge, and the thermostat will lower or increase the fan speed depending on the chamber temperature.
However - how accurate must the temperature be? Exactly 4 C? or can it be like.. from +1 C to + 6 C?
well the key is to keep the cells cold because that way they are better in terms of competency and also because they are "weaker" so you need to keep them at 4°C in order not too damage them too much.
Allright... so too low temperature= bad, too high temperature = also bad... :)
So, I've done some more thinking and this is what I am going to do:
Place small CPU fan inside lid of centrifuge, and one liquid CPU cooling system outside. Between these two I will sandwitch a heatsink, and a 400W peltier element.
A thermostat will regulate the speed of the liquid cooling system, which should allow me to control the temperature pretty accurately. :)
Would it be ok for me to go as low as say... 2 C, or as high as ... 5-6 C? Or is is 4 C exactly or I /fail?
the thermostat should be able to keep it pretty steady on 4 C though...
Going to order the parts off e-bay tonight. :) This will be an interesting project in may ways, both technically wth the equipment, as well as scientifically with the experiements... :D
Its fine.
It does not need to be exact 4°C , just keep it "cool", as you say: between 2 and 6°C.
As long as it does not freeze its ok (and keep it below 7°C or something like that).
Reading these posts, I fear the hobby proceeds without a basic understanding of the elements that scientists tacitly and thoughtfully apply not only for the rigor and reliability of their wscience but more importantly here for the safety of the person doing the work (e.g. drilling holes in centrfuges).
Styrofoam boxes, often used to ship dry ice containing samples, work very well. You can use two, a large and a small one, inside each other to improve the storage time.
These typically do not have to be vented. Find ones as thick as possible.
I fear more for people doing stuff like this without posting what they are doing/want to do on a forum like this.
So far he has not done anything yet, he will be working with something very safe (lab E.coli strain and some plasmids).
The drilling of a hole, I do not see this as something very dangerous. People drill holes all the time, granted not in centrifuges, but it should not be a big issue.
Phil Geis on Mon Jul 6 10:27:17 2015 said:
Reading these posts, I fear the hobby proceeds without a basic understanding of the elements that scientists tacitly and thoughtfully apply not only for the rigor and reliability of their wscience but more importantly here for the safety of the person doing the work (e.g. drilling holes in centrfuges).
Suggest we flatter ourselves if we presume we can establish safe and technically valid efforts via a fe discussions on a chat board.
Phil Geis on Mon Jul 6 21:07:15 2015 said:
Suggest we flatter ourselves if we presume we can establish safe and technically valid efforts via a fe discussions on a chat board.
true,
but its not really rocket science he is doing...
Also: if you think like that, everyone at his/her home with a screwdriver, saw, drill or lets say an ikea packet should not start it because of safety issues...
Phil Geis on Mon Jul 6 21:07:15 2015 said:
Suggest we flatter ourselves if we presume we can establish safe and technically valid efforts via a fe discussions on a chat board.
Dear Phil,
I think the guy is doing something we ourselves have not done. We never tried to build a thermal cycler ourselves or even a electrophoresis box for that matter and that is simplest electronics in the lab. He must exercise caution when doing such things but is also not a 10 year old that needs parental supervision while doing all this.
The joy is when you do everything yourself and we should encourage this habit, not only here but also in our respective labs. You could be the cautious one and point out all possible risks and that would also be great help.... but the IQ, OQ, PQ is too much over thinking.... let the boy have fun.