Instruction manual

Section 7
Electrophoresis
7.1 Assembling the Upper Buffer Chamber
1. Lay the inner core down flat on a bench. Seat the white U-shaped gasket onto the core with
the flat (non-stepped) side down (Figure 7.1). Make sure the U-shaped gasket is clear of
any particles, such as residual gel material, that may cause leakage.
Note: To help insure a good buffer seal with the gaskets for the D GENE cell, lubricate
the entire front of the gaskets (the shaded portion in Figure 7.1) with water or upper buffer
prior to attaching the gel sandwich to the central cooling core. This will allow the glass
plate sandwich to slide onto the gasket properly.
Fig. 7.1. Core gasket.
2. After the gel has polymerized, release the gel sandwich from the casting stand by turning
the camshafts 180°, to the up position and pulling them outward. Remove the gel sand-
wich. Remove any stopcocks and comb gaskets. Remove the comb.
3. With the short glass plate facing the core, position the gel sandwich so that the grooves
in the upper portion of the clamps are fitted onto the locating pins on the core. The gel
sandwich should be positioned at an angle of ≤ 20° with the core. Keeping this angle to
a minimum will prevent distortion of the gasket while the sandwich slides into place.
4. With your fingers below the latch on the core and your thumbs resting on the sandwich
clamps, gently push the gel sandwich onto the core with one simple motion. You should
be able to hear a click. The upper edge of the short inner glass plate should be butted
against the notches of the U-shaped gasket and the tabs of each clamp should be held
securely against the latch assemblies on both sides of the core (Figure 7.2).
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