DIYBIO what type of centrifuge should I buy?

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Josh Melnick

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Dec 15, 2016, 10:27:48 AM12/15/16
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I need to buy a centrifuge, any suggestions? should it be variable speed and have a timer? what brand? I am working to start a lab up in Dallas at the moment. 

Sebastian S Cocioba

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Dec 15, 2016, 1:10:57 PM12/15/16
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I prefer a fixed angle fixed speed blood centrifuge for bacterial minipreps, it takes 15mL tubes well. And a micro-centrifuge with as many 1.5mL tube holes as possible. I rarely need to spin down more volume and a PCR tube spinner is pointless for me...just give them a good whip and the liquid sinks to the bottom. 

The blue and white timered blood centrifuges that have many brands slapped on them have flooded the market on eBay. They spin at a fixed 3500rpm and unless you are working with plant protoplasts then this will be fine for most things. As for the microcentrifuge, some folks swear by the eppendorf 5xxx series of fuges but anything that can reach above 10krpm would be great for the microfuges. My words are not gospel and your mileage may vary but all in all a microfuge and a blood fuge are the only two I ever use. 

Sebastian S. Cocioba
CEO & Founder
New York Botanics, LLC


On Dec 15, 2016, at 10:27 AM, Josh Melnick <j.r.m...@gmail.com> wrote:

I need to buy a centrifuge, any suggestions? should it be variable speed and have a timer? what brand? I am working to start a lab up in Dallas at the moment. 

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Abizar Lakdawalla

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Dec 15, 2016, 1:19:40 PM12/15/16
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When you are looking to buy from ebay etc., make sure the RIGHT rotor is there. I got a neat Haerus Biofuge 15 for 25 bucks which came with a rotor that is just a rotating cylinder (3725)! Works perfectly. Am now looking for a compatible rotor which seem to cost more than the centrifuge.

On Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 10:10 AM, Sebastian S Cocioba <scoc...@gmail.com> wrote:
I prefer a fixed angle fixed speed blood centrifuge for bacterial minipreps, it takes 15mL tubes well. And a micro-centrifuge with as many 1.5mL tube holes as possible. I rarely need to spin down more volume and a PCR tube spinner is pointless for me...just give them a good whip and the liquid sinks to the bottom. 

The blue and white timered blood centrifuges that have many brands slapped on them have flooded the market on eBay. They spin at a fixed 3500rpm and unless you are working with plant protoplasts then this will be fine for most things. As for the microcentrifuge, some folks swear by the eppendorf 5xxx series of fuges but anything that can reach above 10krpm would be great for the microfuges. My words are not gospel and your mileage may vary but all in all a microfuge and a blood fuge are the only two I ever use. 

Sebastian S. Cocioba
CEO & Founder
New York Botanics, LLC


On Dec 15, 2016, at 10:27 AM, Josh Melnick <j.r.m...@gmail.com> wrote:

I need to buy a centrifuge, any suggestions? should it be variable speed and have a timer? what brand? I am working to start a lab up in Dallas at the moment. 

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Kermit Henson

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Dec 16, 2016, 6:55:07 AM12/16/16
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For me, variable speed and timer are a MUST. No doubt about it. Spend a little more today, and safe a lot for tomorrow.
Do you need to precipitate at RT or at 4ºC?

How much money would you like to spend and which use? DNA, cell, proteins precipitation....

I wouldn't buy a 2nd hand unless (A) is very cheap or (B) can be fixed in case of need.

The lab is pro or diybio mode? If it is the second, built one by yourself, there are 3-4 models/iterations on github. We build the one from biohack academy (waag) and is enough to start (also is cheap, easy to repair and easy to improve). 

PM me if you need more help.

Abizar Lakdawalla

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Dec 16, 2016, 10:41:48 AM12/16/16
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I did build one but used existing centrifuge rotors that I got for free. You could potentially print or CNC your own rotor or get cheap ones from ebay.

BTW, small mini fuges cost a few hundred dollars brandnew.

On Dec 15, 2016 7:27 AM, "Josh Melnick" <j.r.m...@gmail.com> wrote:
I need to buy a centrifuge, any suggestions? should it be variable speed and have a timer? what brand? I am working to start a lab up in Dallas at the moment. 

--

Josh Melnick

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Dec 16, 2016, 2:22:31 PM12/16/16
to DIYbio
thank you. 

Michael Hogan

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Jan 4, 2017, 11:05:55 PM1/4/17
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Use a brushless DC motor and an ESC.

They are relatively cheap from hobby stores online, and they are of surprisingly high quality for the money.

If the ESC accepts servo-like signals, it can be easily controlled using, say, an Arduino .. then you have a reasonably simple way to implement arbitrarily complex speed/time sequences.

Here's one example of a centrifuge created using this basic approach.

https://hackaday.com/tag/centrifuge/

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