Cheap pipetters

[Dan]

I ordered two sets of Huawei brand Gilson knockoffs a couple weeks ago
and finally got a chance to sit down and do some work with them.
Here's my impressions of them so far.

The Huawei pipetters show up on Ebay, usually retailing for $100-110
for a full set of 1000, 200 and 20 ul. For perspective, most brand
name pipetters retail for over $300 *per* pipetter. These are about
1/10th the cost. Some sellers advertise a 1000,100,10 ul set but I
spoke with one of them and they said that the more standard (and more
useful) 1000,200,20 set could be substituted at the same price if
asked for.

Cosmetically, these pipeteers are almost identical to the Gilson
pipetters most of us are used to. There are two immediately obvious
differences.

The first is that the metal tip ejector has been replaced by a plastic
one that wraps around the barrel. To be honest, I like this style
better and it isn't subject to corrosion like the Gilson metal
ejectors tend to be. One downside is that you have to be careful if
you need to pull the ejector off. As with the Gilson models, you
sometimes need to remove the ejector to clean the barrel. I found to
my surprise that the ejector button isn't held in place. It and the
spring go flying across the room unless you keep a finger on it if you
pull the ejector off.

The second difference is that the main adjustment screw that changes
the volume has been changed from metal to plastic. I imagine that
this will negatively affect the long-term accuracy of the pipetter but
given that you can get 10 of these for the price of one Gilson, who
cares? Just be sure to do a quick calibration every few months and
you should be OK.

I've tested all 6 pipetters for accuracy at the high and low ends of
the volume range. One H200 and H1000 are pipetting about 1% high, the
rest are spot on. This compares to what I've seen for Gilson
pipetters.

The pipetting action is smooth, not quite as smooth as I remember
Gilson pipetters being but quite sufficient for the task at hand.
They all have the knurled knob you can use to adjust the volume like
late model Gilsons have which is very nice if you are wearing gloves.
The H1000s are a bit hard to adjust. The H20s are a bit too easy and
I am a little concerned about accidentally changing the volume during
pipetting if not careful.

No replacement seals are provided but I assume that contacting the
importer can get you replacement kits. However, unless you are doing
a lot of pipetting, seal replacements isn't something you should have
to do often.

Overall, my experience with these pipetters has been good so far. I
definitely got my $110 worth so far. I'll post updates as I use them
more to let you know how the these wear with age but so far they
appear to be perfectly good pipetters for lab use. The price is
excellent and should be in the reach of most folks interested in doing
home bio work.

[Cory Tobin]

> The H1000s are a bit hard to adjust.  The H20s are a bit too easy and
> I am a little concerned about accidentally changing the volume during
> pipetting if not careful.

The Gilsons have a little piece of rubber that increases the friction
between the knob and pipette. If it breaks off the knob turns too
easily and the pipette will change volume while you're not watching.
If your H20 is having this problem you may be able to fix it with a
little bit of rubber and some super glue.

-Cory

[Dan]

There's a gasket there, it's just a bit loose fitting. It's nowhere
as bas as a Gilson where the gasket has broken off but should be
something the user is aware of.