Nova incinerator

May 04, 2015

University of Nebraska Medical Center
Pathology and Microbiology
Graduate student

Overall

Performance

Ease-of-Optimization

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Company:

Argos Technologies

Product Name:

Microcinerator

Catalog Number:

S3011

Our University does not allow open flames and thus we use an incinerator to flame our inoculating loops and hockey sticks (for sterilization). However, of the 6 Nova incinerators we have, 2 have not had any problems. The heating element for the remaining 4 seem to break quite frequently (at least once a year) and are difficult to replace. They also seem to take longer to heat up than other incinerators we have had.

Experimental Design and Results Summary

Application

Heat sterilization

Starting Material

Inoculating loops, glass hockey sticks, etc

Protocol Overview

Turn incinerator on (can take up 15 minutes to fully heat up). Insert inoculating loop into heating element until hot. Or dip hockey sticks in 100% ethanol, then insert into heating element to flame off ethanol.

Tips

Incinerator is hot, be careful working around it.

Results Summary

The incinerator is good when it works. It does take a little longer to heat up than other incinerators (in our experience) and the heating element breaks quite often. Replacing the heating element is very expensive and very difficult.

Features Summary

It gets very hot!

Additional Notes

None

Image Gallery

Summary

The Good

Incinerator is good at heating up and sterilizing loops and hockey sticks

The Bad

Heating element breaks easily and is hard to replace.

The Bottom Line

For the incinerators that kept breaking, we decided to retire them and try other brands. However, the two that have had no problems continue to have no problems and work very well for us.

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