The Barnstead/Thermolyne “Labquake” Shaker/Rotator (w/ bar and 32 clips) is an essential piece of equipment in our laboratory. It is used on a daily basis and is vital for many of our experiments involving incubation reactions, such as DNA purification protocols, etc. The Labquake has a constant, non-adjustable motor speed of 8 rpm, which is sufficient for most in vitro incubation reactions. The sturdy design of this instrument includes a clip bar that is made of aluminum and clips, clip retainer, and reversal control bar made of stainless steel. It can be used either at room temperature or in the cold room and has a temperature range of 0 – 65 C. One of the unique, convenient functions of the Labquake is that its motor can stop and reverse at any point (such as when one impedes the rotating clips) without having to turn off the motor itself. Hence, one can add extra tubes or remove tubes while it is rotating.
The assembly of this instrument is very simple and it is designed so that the clips may be rearranged on the clip bar simply by sliding the clips off the end of the bar and replacing the clips as desired. The individual clips stretches, so tubes of different diameters can be inserted, ranging from 1.5 ml eppendorf tubes to small culture tubes up to 6-3/8 inches.
Another unique feature of this instrument is that the tubes can be rotated continuously at 360 degrees or they can rocked back and forth through an angle of up to 300 degrees using the ‘reversal control bar with a reversal control bumper’ located at the end of the clip bar inserted into the motor case. This control bar can be inserted through a hole at one end of the clip bar. The reversal control bar must be turned so that it is at right angles to the motor case and pointing toward it. The reversal control bumper which is at one end of the reversal control bar hits one side of motor case. This impediment causes the rotation to reverse, then the reversal control bumper hits the other side of the motor case, continuously repeating this back and forth motions. The number of reversals per unit time can be changed by lowering or raising the position of the control bar. Also, the reversal control bar can be turned so that it is parallel to the motor case, so it will not touch the motor case, allowing for the complete, continuous rotation of the clip bar.
As expected, there has been a minimal amount of maintenance required for this instrument - oiling or greasing is not even required. We have not experienced any mechanical problems so far, so this instrument, despite its constant usage, is very dependable.
Hee Chul Lee
Graduate Student
Dept. of Biochemistry
NYU School of Medicine