Choosing a pipettor may not appear to be a crucial decision for the lab, but because of the extent of time using a pipettor and its many applications, some careful consideration should go into it. We use electronic pipettors mainly for cell culture where it is desirable to have a pipettor that is powerful, has adjustable flow rates and a long battery life, is easy to clean and compatible with a wide range of pipette sizes. As a lab, we have been using the Gilson Pipetting Aid for over 6 months and have found it a considerable improvement over previous pipettors. Despite its low price, which was the initial reason for buying it, the device offers many useful features and its practical design make it ideal for cell culture.
The first important feature of the Gilson Pipetting Aid is that it can stand up freely due to plastic wings built in the handle; thus, there is no need for a separate holder (although one is provided) and no need to balance the pipettor on other equipment. In addition, aspirated liquid can be kept in the pipette when not in use, without it flowing back into the device, which is an annoying drawback of other pipettors. The dispensing/aspirating speeds can be altered with accuracy, depending on the amount of pressure applied to the dispensing buttons, although this is not directly proportional and is, therefore, sometimes difficult to control. This is only a problem when pipetting very small volumes or when delicate pipetting is required; to aid pipetting under these conditions, there is a control switch on the handle which can be moved to the ‘low’ setting, enabling finer control over dispensing/aspirating. ‘High’ speed becomes useful when resuspending cells, which can be done quickly and easily due to the high power of the pipettor. In addition to the pipettor speed, the device has another button for the dispensing mode: ‘grav’ or ‘blow’ which is not something we find useful.
The battery life is long for this pipettor: About 6-8 hours of use, and there is a battery light indicator built into the top of the handle to pre-warn the user about 10 minutes beforehand. The pipettor can be taken apart very easily and all the components inside can be cleaned and autoclaved, again very useful for cell culture. We have autoclaved the components within the nose of the device without any loss in function. The safety cut-off valve in the device prevents any harmful or contaminating liquids from being sucked into the handle; a 0.2 µm membrane filter also protects against any contaminating vapours. This membrane filter is the disposable syringe type used by most labs so is easily replaceable. Finally, the pipettor fits all sizes of pipette that we use in the lab, including the smallest 1 mL pipettes which are held firmly in place.
Because of the success with our first Gilson Pipetting Aid, we bought 2 more for the lab and have had no problems with them. Routinely, I use the pipettor for 3-6 hours a day and have found it very comfortable as it fits the shape of my hand well. Also, switching the speed-control buttons is fairly easy to change during use with one hand due to the location of the buttons above the thumb. There are no major drawbacks and I would recommend the pipettor to other labs, particularly if doing lots of cell culture. Although the dispensing speed can be a little difficult to control, this should not detract from the benefits of the pipettor and its thoughtful design. The inexpensive price is an added incentive.