BioTek EL406 FX Washer Dispenser by Agilent Technologies

"Overall, the Biotek EL406 Plate washer is an efficient and reliable instrument. Protocol design is easier to learn and implement. A service contract is recommended for this instrument as frequent use will result in wearing of the manifold. Service requests are responded to in a prompt and professional manner."

"Easy to integrate with automation system. Work flawless time after time. Results are very repeatable."

"I've used this product in many different capacities ranging from simple 96 well ELISA plate washing to 384 Luminex xMAP® magnetic bead washing to complex 1536 well high content screening cell fixation and signal development. We also purchased the plate stacker, and once integrated, it significantly reduced plate processing time and for most workflows, enabled the washer to be a truly walk-away instrument."

"The EL406 works great for our application and we routinely use it in a large bioautomation system."

"This washer dispenser does a great job plowing thru 10's of plates per day both setting up ELISA plates and washing and adding 2ndary and detection reagents. Has helped with consistency of results and has taken a big ergonomic load off of lab personnel. We are still working on optimizing the magnetic bead capture and washing of those plates but it is easy to develop methods with the liquid handling software."

"Effective, easy to use, easy to clean. Used for a lot of different applications"

"We have fewer problem and the instrument is easy to use."

"We see very consistent results with our EL406. We routinely calibrate aspiration heights, and we see little to no variation between calibrations. The unit is easy to use, works through our automation platform, and is easy to teach others to use."

"It's a flexible platform with very well designed software. We've used it for screening monoclonal antibody supernatants either by ELISA or by staining cell-surface antigens for FACS. We've added a stacker with a robotic arm for increased capability. The fluidics are pretty solid--we haven't had any issues for the 3 years we've owned it. The 96-nozzle washed head makes washing 384-well plates painfully slow, but you can always upgrade. Small suspension cell pellets (~50 K cells) can be dislodged well during washing using the angled dispense in V-bottom wells."

"I had a Biotek 405TS for years and loved it, but the EL406 is a big step up with far more advanced options. Combined with a plate stacker and the ability to coat/buffer plates, it is a huge time saver."

"Reliable washer/dispenser: three+ years with no problems, use almost every day. Easy to use software."

"Consistent results in 384-well format. It is used routinely in our high throughput screening core from 1 to 100s of plates."

"This product is extremely effective for our needs. We run ~80,000 ELISA assays each month. Without the BioTek EL 406's I do not believe we could handle this capacity easily. The BioTek EL 406's are used in conjunction with the Beckman Coulter Biomek NXp LHS. The other LHS used with the EL 406's is the Perkin Elmer Janus. We rarely have issues with the BioTek instruments and all 4 are several years old. The Technical Support for these instruments is also superb, and we have Preventive Maintenance Contracts on each instrument. I wish all of our ELISA equipment was as reliable and durable as the BioTek EL 406 instruments. "

"The EL-406 has been a workhorse in our HTP screening efforts. We use it daily for various filling and aspiration protocols and have not have any issues with the machine. Highly recommended."

"This is excellent for washing and dispensing. The writing of the protocols is relatively easy. The maintenance is straightforward. "

"The EL406 is a workhorse dispenser and washer.  We use it all day every day for cell dispensing, washing, and reagent dispensing.  On the whole, it is very easy to use and the Liquid Handling control software that it comes with allows very easy protocol programming, validation, and testing.  The only drawback is that there is one peristaltic pump and two syringes, so you are limited in how many different solutions you can dispense at once.  If that number was increased, the product would be even better!"

"The EL406 is a very robust, easy to use system.  I have had no problems using it and no issues with the system itself having any problems. The one potential negative is that the cassettes used on the peristaltic pump tend to clog and do not seem to stay calibrated very well and need to be replaced often."

"Very easy to use, the user can come up with their own protocols. The flexibility to use 96, 384 well , 1536 well plate heads is great and the cassettes are fairly easy to install and use."

"A flexible and easy to use platform for liquid dispensing and microplate washing that utilizes multiple technologies. A great all-in-one solution that I use daily as a key part of both biochemical and cell-based assays. There is a high degree of reliability for 1536-well plate workflows that gives you confidence in results. Does not require the constant adjustment and re-calibration that I have experienced with other platforms. Syringe pump dispensors give excellent performance in sensitive cell dispensing steps. Cell viability is maintained and the heads are more resistant to clogging than peristoltic pump solutions from other vendors."

"This was bought with stackers but these can't integrate."

"We should have bought more of these instead of purchasing large automation system."

"robust and flexible assay automation system."

"Excellent service- Biotek helped adapt the machine to our needs."