DIY Refrigerated Centrifuge

42 views
Skip to first unread message

Kavish Sirisena

unread,
Oct 22, 2022, 11:40:18 PM10/22/22
to DIYbio
Greetings fellow researchers! 

I am in need of a refrigerated centrifuge to process some proteins samples extracted from a mammalian cell line. The lab that I currently work does not have a refrigerated centrifuge to accommodate this. Is there any other alternative way to reduce the temperature of the working conditions?

I was thinkin maybe I could suspend a small eppendorf tube inside a bigger tube filled with water and subject it to freezing. However I am not sure how this would affect the centrifugation procedure.

Looking for your valued opinions on this matter!
TIA

Kavish
IRD Genetics - Sri Lanka

djwr...@gmail.com

unread,
Oct 23, 2022, 4:15:23 AM10/23/22
to diy...@googlegroups.com
I throw mine inside the refrigerator the night before and run it inside.

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 22, 2022, at 8:40 PM, Kavish Sirisena <kavish....@gmail.com> wrote:

Greetings fellow researchers! 
--
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups DIYbio group. To post to this group, send email to diy...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to diybio+un...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/diybio?hl=en
Learn more at www.diybio.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DIYbio" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to diybio+un...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/diybio/ef36bd63-e5b4-4902-8099-46ff39925e53n%40googlegroups.com.

S James Parsons Jr

unread,
Oct 23, 2022, 7:20:44 AM10/23/22
to diy...@googlegroups.com
Would you be able to get a sacrificial refrigerator and move your centrifuge into it?

On Oct 23, 2022, at 4:15 AM, djwr...@gmail.com wrote:

I throw mine inside the refrigerator the night before and run it inside.

Jonathan Ferooz

unread,
Oct 23, 2022, 1:12:34 PM10/23/22
to diy...@googlegroups.com

Putting the centrifuge in a cool bag with cool pack? Or just putting the rotor in a fridge before?

--
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups DIYbio group. To post to this group, send email to diy...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to diybio+un...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/diybio?hl=en
Learn more at www.diybio.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DIYbio" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to diybio+un...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/diybio/ef36bd63-e5b4-4902-8099-46ff39925e53n%40googlegroups.com.
--
ATG start Entreprise : 0772.880.459 TVA : BE 0772.880.459

Dan Kolis

unread,
Oct 23, 2022, 1:12:45 PM10/23/22
to diy...@googlegroups.com
How long is the run in minutes ? What's the temperature and tolerance and volumes of each unit sample, how many etc. how many G ? Are the materials hazards ? ( ex normalize to a BSL-X risk ).

Is it a multi day, week month or ongoing requirement in your best estimation ?

Answering the question(s) before there asked enables answers before there composed...

Much more detail enables better answers and stories of direct experiences....

Regards,
Daniel B. Kolis

Dan Kolis

unread,
Oct 23, 2022, 1:12:53 PM10/23/22
to DIYbio
Ive had complete success with Peltier fixtures. this $5 semi moves 8 W and has a 8 by 15 mm face...

KW: Thermoelectric Cooler Peltier TES1-03102 TES1-03103 03104 mini 15*15mm low power 3V2A high efficiency Peltier on ali baba but that search will find it in the product pipeline better for your situation, probably.

If its an ONGOING requirement a fixture with a 9 V battery 555 timer and this would make it stand alone entirely from other open issues for temp.

Until the batteries dead, that is ... Low duty cycle is required so the thing lasts awhile... its all about delta T and thermal resistance, little dissappation material aka 'fin'.

Example idea...
Screenshot from 2022-10-23 12-10-38.png

Marc Juul

unread,
Oct 24, 2022, 11:59:25 PM10/24/22
to DIYbio
Do be careful if deciding to cool the entire centrifuge. The centrifuges that have built-in cooling generally have at least some of the electronics encased in conformal coating to prevent issues with condensation. The small tabletop centrifuges I've taken apart don't have this feature. If your lab happens to have a dry air source (e.g. for IR spectrometry) then you could maybe do something with that to prevent condensation. If you are cooling the centrifuge itself then you likely want to add condensation protection and I don't recommend manually adding conformal coating to the circuit boards without also adding extra cooling for the mosfets since the mosfets in the three-phase inverter dissipate enough power that overheating is a common failure mode in the medium format eppendorf refrigerated centrifuges even though those are strapped to a block of aluminum which is then strapped to the thick steel case of the centrifuge chamber. Normally I'd be gung ho about people hacking their gear and seeing what breaks but I assume you don't want to risk killing your centrifuge with the difficulty of importing stuff into Sri Lanka right now.

bioscisam

unread,
Oct 25, 2022, 11:10:43 AM10/25/22
to DIYbio
I did try this, rather than refrigerating the whole centrifuge just refrigerating the removable carousell (big lump of metal) , OK for a few short spins but the machine quickly heats it up. Some setups might allow you to add ice or dry ice to the tube carrier (obvs. be careful with dry ice and not popping gas tight things).

John Griessen

unread,
Oct 31, 2022, 12:44:30 PM10/31/22
to diy...@googlegroups.com
On 10/23/22 10:26, Dan Kolis wrote:
> Ive had complete success with Peltier fixtures. this $5 semi moves 8 W and has a 8 by 15 mm face...

What was it like balancing the weight and attaching wires so they don't move on a centrifuge rotor?
The 9V battery seems large for centrifuges we usually think of. Are you using an old school centrifuge for 50 ml vials?

Dan Kolis

unread,
Oct 31, 2022, 3:14:20 PM10/31/22
to diy...@googlegroups.com
I used Pelitier coolers for fuel systems, not life science wet lab. the Peltier 3 layer stack was pinned to a manifold which ran perhaps at a duty cycle of 50% with maybe 0.3 G of vibration continuously. As in nominally expected to run perhaps 3 years without maintenance.. This chilled Methane maybe down 45 C. Note Pelitier cooling versus expended power is very quirky.  Unlike compression chilling, its weirdly non-linear, when lightly loaded versus cell capacity, its efficient and worsens as it achieves higher loading... ex a multi layer stack will do a better job at fixed dissipation then a less or singular stack... just because the one considered is a area of a postage stamp, the same thermodynamics apply...

I see some alum or perhaps some better allow test tube holders and assoc charging stations. Creating a center of gravity for a load is by definition pretty simple.. 

Yet, actually creating anything repeatability usable is a non trivial process of trial and error. Obviously, the best way to achieve the goal a few times is go someplace else with the 'right' equipment and ... the goal is achieved.

But *if* it is easy to visualize the requirement is ongoing, especially if other temperature management requirements are achieved; ( handling simplified, lower RMS of unwanted delta T deviations, etc. ) It might be worth considering.

Managing temperature is a very very common industry requirement. Omage has a catalog the weight of a hand brick and a half with thousands of doo dads to do these things...

https://www.omega.ca/en/

50 ml seems a convenient mass to consider chilling with a rechargeable aka 'battery' one of fixture... 

ther unwanted wiggle in the centrifuge is Omega V^2 so again the question of the reasonableness or not of the notion involves extreme specification of the goals, delta T's and G's, how long the new temp must be maintained, etc....

Also, if for instance the device is rechargable on a USB 5 V port probably it can squirt back the temperature encountered. That is, instead of being an improvisation, such a device can be a normalizing aspect of utility in the science of the process itself, possibly...

Regards,
Daniel B. Kolis





--
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups DIYbio group. To post to this group, send email to diy...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to diybio+un...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/diybio?hl=en
Learn more at www.diybio.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DIYbio" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to diybio+un...@googlegroups.com.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages