Beckman Z1 Coulter Particle Counter Procedures

The following procedure will be performed utilizing aseptic technique, as

described in Aseptic Techniques Used for Mammalian Cell Culture
Priming Machine
1. Turn instrument on. Make sure waste jar is not full, diluent jar is full.
a. Be gentle taking machine pieces in and out of the bottles, they will
easily fracture.
2. Lower ledge and remove vial with Coulter Clenz (blue), set aside vial.
3. Fill new vial with Z-Pak diluent (20 mL), load vial, and close door.
4. On computer board, press FUNCTION, select PRIME APERTURE,
press START twice.
a. The machine will run through 9 cycles to remove blue fluid out of
aperture tube.
5. After priming, load fresh 10 mL vial of diluent and press SET-UP (check
size settings) and press START.
a. Cell count readings will be below 100.
b. If cell count is larger than 100, repeat step 5.
Running Samples
1. Load your samples (100L each) into separate vials containing 9.9 mL
diluent. Cap and gently invert vial three times.
a. Minimize bubbles produced when mixing, they will be counted.
2. Press START and read each sample three times.
3. Take the average of the three readings for your final count.
a. If readings become dissimilar, aperture may be clogged. Use the
small, pink brush to clean the opening and repeat readings.
*Good dilution readings will be from 3,000-10,000.
Cleaning Machine
1. Put fresh 20 mL vial of diluent on shelf, move vial up and down 10 times to
clean aperture tube.
2. Press SET-UP (check size settings) and press START.
a. Cell count readings will be below 100.
b. If cell count is larger than 100, repeat step 2.
3. Place vial with Coulter Clenz (blue) on.
4. Switch off instrument (O=OFF)
5. Empty vials of liquid waste into 10% bleach.
a. If liquid waste is at fill line, pour liquid waste into sink.
6. Place empty plastic vials into biohazard waste container.
a. If small biohazard container is full, empty into large biohazard
container.
7. Spray and wipe down area with 70% Ethanol.
8. Replace red cap on diluent dispenser.