Hi,

The hospital I work for has rec'd the MTS Gel equipment for starting an in-house transfusion service. Included is the MTS electronic pipette. I previously used the 3-vol. repeating pipette at other hospitals. I am told that they don't make the manual adjustable 3-vol ones anymore. I'm finding the electronic one a little cumbersome to use (that is the tactful version). I would like to hear what others think about it.

Thanks

PS: If this has been discussed before, please direct me to the post. I couldn't find anything, at least not quickly.

Over the years we have used the MTS gel system I have had the opportunity to use both of the electronic versions (yes there was a model change for the electronic pipette) as well as the adjustable 3 volume ID-tipmaster. The electronic and manually adjustable both have their advantages. The electronic version does take a bit of time to adjust to, but functions very well and has been a solid performer for our facility. Be certain to keep up with the maintenance and to have a spare battery on hand for the situation where the battery fails and needs to be replaced. One advantage when working with the electronic version is the ability to work with much shorter samples than is possible with the Tipmaster. When drawing the samples up in the Tipmaster it is necessary to draw up enough sample to be certain a true volume is dispensed. The electronic works much better in short sample situations when attempting to make 3% and 0.8% solutions as it opperates differently than the Tipmaster (difficult to explain, but should make sense once you have experience with both). Hang in there as it will get better over time

We have been using the BioHit electronic pipette for years, and we love them! Once you use them consistently, they become second nature.

We still have a couple of Tipmaster pipettes around, but I believe only one or two techs use them. When we switched to ABO/Rh gel cards, the last hold-outs on the BioHit came around!

I too have used both the bio-hit and the tipmaster and I prefer the bio-hit as well. I think it is more a matter of cost at the places that I have worked at. Where I am now, we have 3 bio-hits because they do tend to get abused here and I have to have regular maintenance and battery replacement performed bi-annually, but they are very reliable and very good for small samples.

We have two BioHit electronic pipettes and a TipMaster for back-up. Once you and your staff get used to them, I think you will find that they are very easy to use and if you keep them maintained, will work for you for quite some time. We also perform calibration checks twice a year.

Hang in there, you will get used to it. Everyone posting is correct, if you keep the electronic pipette maintained it can last you up to 10 years.

I played with the Tipmaster when we started gel years ago and went straight to the electronic version. We never used the Tipmaster for patient testing - seemed cumbersome and way too much irritation and effort for my thumbs.

We are just now starting to get into gel and trying to get used to the pipettors. I have both the electronic Biohit and the manual tipmaster. I'm not really thrilled with either one of them. Has anyone ever used any other pipettors for gel testing?