Hello, Does anyone have experience with Biohit eLINE Electronic Pipettors? We are thinking about retiring our Ortho ID-tipmasters that we use for the MTS-gel and are considering the eLINE as a replacement. Thanks.

I do not have direct experience with the unit you are looking at; I am considering purchase of the same unit as a replacement to the Ortho MTS eletronic pipette. While looking for information on this I ran across someone very helpful. I e-mailed Wescott Laboratory Solutions looking for a price quote and information about disposable tips. I received a call from Harvey Wescott (!) asking for clarification of my needs. I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with him as he asked questions and answered my questions. He sent me a sample tray of tips his company carries promising me I would be impressed (he was absolutley right). He also indicated that the MTS electronic pipette is a hybrid of the Biohit e-line and Proline. The e-line uses a different tip than the MTS version, but Wescott Labs carries the tips. The icing on the cake for me was the pricing for the tips was about half of what we have been paying for the MTS tips. I am not affiliated with Wescott Labs in any way; I am just an appreciative customer. Hope this information helps!

Yes, I have had some experience with them.

Pros: very accurate, they calibrate to a much tighter range than the ID Tipmaster

Cons: techs say they are difficult to learn to use, some of the boards go bad and have to be replaced occasionally, can break if dropped (not as sturdy as the ID Tipmaster)

We currently use the electronic BioHit Proline 10- 100 uL. We are happy with them

I just purchased some reagent racks from Wescott and rec'd a sample of his MTS pipet tips - haven't tried them yet but they are definitely less expensive.

I do not have direct experience with the unit you are looking at; I am considering purchase of the same unit as a replacement to the Ortho MTS eletronic pipette. While looking for information on this I ran across someone very helpful. I e-mailed Wescott Laboratory Solutions looking for a price quote and information about disposable tips. I received a call from Harvey Wescott (!) asking for clarification of my needs. I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with him as he asked questions and answered my questions. He sent me a sample tray of tips his company carries promising me I would be impressed (he was absolutley right). He also indicated that the MTS electronic pipette is a hybrid of the Biohit e-line and Proline. The e-line uses a different tip than the MTS version, but Wescott Labs carries the tips. The icing on the cake for me was the pricing for the tips was about half of what we have been paying for the MTS tips. I am not affiliated with Wescott Labs in any way; I am just an appreciative customer. Hope this information helps!

I have used the Biohits before. They were easy to use but if dropped a few times, did need some repair.

Look at Ovation's ergonomic pipettes..adjustable volumes. Easy tip eject.. It is worth the cost. Made by the MLA people. A little learning curve but you'll never go back to a "stick" pipette again.

Just don't get surprised if you shoot tips across the bench. I seem to hit the eject button more often than I should on the Ovations pipettes.

Ahhhh! But no more elbow tendonitis from ejecting the ID Tipmaster with the thumb eject that is so very ergonomically wrong...my elbow surgeries and injections from years of the tipmaster use can attest to that fact. "One of the worst cases of tennis elbow on someone that has never played tennis" as my orthopod said.

Just don't get surprised if you shoot tips across the bench. I seem to hit the eject button more often than I should on the Ovations pipettes.

Biohit has some great video content about their equipment on their Youtube channel that might be able to help you make a decision.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_wH_0odaoM

Hope this helps!

I have extensive experience with the Biohit MTS pipettes. Out of the 30+ that we have had, their failure rate is atrocious. Currently, we have 4 that are working. The rest have been used for parts. Batteries are expensive as are the pipettes. Does anyone have a good electronic blood bank pipette they would recommend?

Jerry Monroy, MT/MLS

I would like to add, we have been ranked the busiest Level 1 in the nation for several years so we have a high volume of samples done on the bench despite having 3 ProVues constantly running. We are in desperate need of a reliable electronic pipette. I personally use the ID-Tipmaster as I'm tired of troubleshooting the Biohits.

JM

 

I agree with the everyone's comments regarding the failure rate of the MTS Biohit pipettes.   Currently we have 5 of them.   Out of the 5 I have 3 that are malfunctioning.   We seem to be purchasing 1 to 2 replacements every year. As jmonroy1973 stated the batteries are just as expensive as the pipette.   I am also looking for recommendations on another electronic pipette to try.      

I have a Sartorius electronic pipette that I have brought in to trial. It seems to function just fine. It has programmable volumes that can be stored into memory. Cannot speak to its long term durability.

jmonroy1973, What did you end up doing about the battery? Someone said you'd know where to order.