Cleaning FED's

Aaron Roseberry

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Sep 12, 2022, 5:40:52 PM9/12/22

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Hi Everyone-

How are people cleaning their FED's after they've had them in mouse home cages? Our animal resources program can be a bit anal, so we're trying to figure out the best way to clean the outside housing between uses. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Aaron Roseberry

Ames Sutton

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Sep 12, 2022, 7:28:30 PM9/12/22

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Hi Aaron,

We use the same solution we use to clean all of our behavioral chambers — 0.03% acetic acid with water as the solvent. I’m interested in hearing what other folks use, too!

Ames

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Hamid Taghipour

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Sep 13, 2022, 11:07:58 AM9/13/22

to Aaron Roseberry, FEDforum

Hello!

I think it depends on the material used for printing the parts, we ordered the FED3 housing from Shapeways printed on PA12, once I emailed them about the recommended solution to clean this material, and they said it is okay to use soapy water!
We do not put the FEDs inside the cage, rather we have them mounted outside the cage, so the parts of the FED that are exposed to the mice (the nose poke and the pellet well) become seriously dirty over time, I follow this procedure:
1) Use a compressed air duster to remove dust and debris( I recommend putting on a face mask).
2) Use paper (wet wipes) and soapy water to clean the body (it is better to spray it on the paper rather than on the FED to avoid accidentally damaging the electronics)
3)Use q-tips (already sprayed with soapy water) to clean the edges that are not accessible via paper or wipes.
4)Finally, before moving the FEDs to the animal facility, we use 70% ethanol to disinfect the FEDs which also helps to clean them. (again you can use paper or q-tips or wipes)
(if you are using superglue to adhere the nose piece, make sure the solution you are using won't dissolve the glue!- so to have better control, it is better to use q-tips once cleaning that part of the FED)

I hope it helps and I am interested to hear what other people do for cleaning their FEDs.

Best.

Hamid.

Hamid Taghipourbibalan

Ph.D. Fellow in Behavioral Neuroscience, Mccutcheonlab, UiT, Tromsø, Norway

Contact:+4746566050

Skype ID: htbibalan_1

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Michael Wulf

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Sep 13, 2022, 12:26:56 PM9/13/22

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Hi all,

almost all of our FEDs are printed with HP PA12 nylon (Shapeways and HUBS) and we use compressed air and Cavicide. We have all of our FEDs behind a divider in the cages so they are not getting super dirty though.

Best,

Michael

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Michael Wulf
Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine
Department of Neuroscience
Kepecs Lab

Lex

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Sep 13, 2022, 12:57:33 PM9/13/22

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We also just clean them with soapy water and a paper towel, but we almost always use the in-cage wall divider as well, which really helps keep them clean!

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zane andrews

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Sep 13, 2022, 7:50:58 PM9/13/22

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This is not really relevant to the question of cleaning housing but for the PCBs, microcontroller and other components we use Electrolube (recommended by our electronics expert Nino Benci). Over time the PCBs and electronic components get crusty and Electrolube really works.

https://au.rs-online.com/web/p/electronics-cleaners/3271542?cm_mmc=AU-PLA-DS3A-_-google-_-PLA_AU_EN_Facilities_Cleaning_%26_Maintenance_Whoop-_-(AU:Whoop!)+Electronics+Cleaners-_-3271542&matchtype=&pla-299939156540&gclid=CjwKCAjw1ICZBhAzEiwAFfvFhFRS9nGRKihSMC_RGOaI4FPdcqBxdbjL_WNwuDm34MXO2CAy6qdO_hoCf5sQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://au.rs-online.com/web/c/facilities-cleaning-maintenance/electronics-cleaners-protective-coatings/electronics-cleaners/?applied-dimensions=4294966688

Hope those links works for non-Australians (pretty much everyone on this forum i reckon).

Cheers

ZAne

Antonio Benci

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Sep 14, 2022, 7:15:21 PM9/14/22

to FEDforum, zane andrews

Adding to Zanes comments.

In addition to using the Electrolube Aerosol Cleaner, an alternative method to cleaning the electronics is to use deionised water and a soft bristled brush to remove any sticky gunk.

Then use WD-40 Specialist Contact Cleaner to disperse the water and an air gun, set to less than 85 decC, to dry the FED units.

Drying the units is critical, any residual moisture will promote more pellet powder to stick.

Cheers.

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Katherine McCullough

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Sep 14, 2022, 11:07:29 PM9/14/22

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Hi Lex,

Could you provide more information on these dividers? Are they 3D printed as well?

Thanks,

Katie

Lex Kravitz

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Sep 15, 2022, 12:59:35 PM9/15/22

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Sure! This was a great idea that Zane and Antonio at Monash had. We made 3D printed designs for using in Allentown NextGen caging (photo below) and for the older amber cages as well. you can find the TinkerCAD file here for the Allentown, I have to track down the other one. We also use magnets to mount the FED3 on the wall. Hope this helps! -Lex

Matias Andina

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Sep 15, 2022, 2:04:16 PM9/15/22

to Lex Kravitz, FEDforum

Just to chime in, we wash them with a cloth/paper towels soaked in soapy water followed by 70% ethanol multiple times. The key to keeping them clean is to prevent mice from interacting with them too much.

We found that the divisors work nicely for this and also support water bottle hangers. We laser cut them and put magnets on them.

Here is a link to the files https://github.com/matiasandina/homecage_hardware/tree/master/divisor. We also cut a few of them where the windows are not centered.

I'm also going to use the same idea to add FED3 to the autopilot behavior box (https://wiki.auto-pi-lot.com/index.php/Autopilot_Behavior_Box)

Best,

Matias

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