PCR thermocyler concepts - old designs

[Abizar Lakdawalla]

Discovered some old images where I was playing with thermocycler ideas.

First one is based on a hair dryer - my take the record for the slowest ramp rates!

Second is practical - based on a straight halogen lamp and a cylindrical tube.

[Nathan McCorkle]

I have a commercially-produced hot-air thermocycler, I haven't used it
for PCR... but I do remember reading it had slower ramp rates than
others that were cheap on ebay/etc.

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--
-Nathan

[John Griessen]

On 01/19/2017 06:08 PM, Nathan McCorkle wrote:
> I have a commercially-produced hot-air thermocycler, I haven't used it
> for PCR... but I do remember reading it had slower ramp rates than
> others that were cheap on ebay/etc

Some of the ancient heat block PCRs used thermoelectric cooling and heaters,
with a mechanical disconnect for the thermoelectric coolers so their
mass would not be part of the heat sink during heating and so they
could be left in cool mode during heating.

Any hot-air thermocycler that depends on letting the heaters and all
air passages cool down without some kind of mechanical separation will probably
take longer than the old types mentioned above.

When I start refining my ideas on air pcr I will be using fast opening and closing doors
to shift from heat to cool without shutting down a heater zone, and without
needing a Peltier thermoelectric cooler except as a hold at 4 deg C option
after completing the thermocycling. Without moving doors, air pcr would be lame.