I have a question that we are having trouble wrapping our minds around.  Our platelet incubator is getting too warm, so we have been using it with the door open.  Because we are doing this, we have been taking the room temperature every four hours.  Do we need to continue doing this?  The platelet incubator chart recorder is still fully functional and the alarm is still functioning as well.

I would say yes, you should take temps every 4 hours, because the equipment is malfunctioning.

I would say - no.  Get the technician out to see why your platelet incubator is malfunctioning - and tell him it's urgent!  and if they can't come out straight away that they should send you a replacement in the meantime.

by all means, better safe than sorry next time you are surveyed.

I think you would have to validate the chart recorder and alarm for the new way (door open) that you are using the equipment. But that means that you are accepting that  the door hanging open is 'normal' operation, which of course you are not. I would take the temp every 4 hours or get an external chart recorder/alarm if it's going to take awhile to get things fixed.

I'm afraid I fall on the "Why bother" side of this discussion.  All you care about is the temp in side the incubator.  If the door is open and the chart indicates the temp is where it should be I think you are just fine unless there is someting in the operators manual that indicates that the temp sensors and chart fails to function when the door is open.  Is your department staffed 24/7?  If so, I fail to see a problem.  But then I've had more than a few issues with inspectors over the years. 

We use to have this problem quite a lot- and realised that the heat exchangers were getting iced up and the temp started rising. So now we defrost every 2 months as part of the deep clean schedule ( of course this was after getting the engineer out to fix quite a few times... and as it had been turned off overnight, everything was always fine when he arrived- just cost us ££££ !)

I'm afraid I fall on the "Why bother" side of this discussion.  All you care about is the temp in side the incubator.  If the door is open and the chart indicates the temp is where it should be I think you are just fine unless there is someting in the operators manual that indicates that the temp sensors and chart fails to function when the door is open.  Is your department staffed 24/7?  If so, I fail to see a problem.  But then I've had more than a few issues with inspectors over the years. 

I agree John, I don't see a problem either.   

Fix your incubator and this becomes a moot point!

Fix your incubator and this becomes a moot point!

 

We are in the process of getting a new one, but we all know how long these transactions can take.  In the meantime this is what we are currently dealing with.

It seems like if your chamber is warming ABOVE room temperature, then you might be better off taking the platelet rocker out of the chamber, placing it on a counter at ambient temperature and monitoring the room temperature until you can get your replacement.

The advantage I see to leaving the rotator in the chamber with the door open is you still have the functioning chart recorder and the alarm system to warn you if the temp gets out of range.  If you put the rotator on the counter you will need to document the temp every 4 hours.  I'm kinda lazy and prefer to let the equipment work for me. 

OK, if you can't fix it I'm with John, leave the rotator in the box. Lucky guy, getting a new one. It's a sore subject for me since I've asked for an incubator for, oh, decades. Our ambient temperature flucuates, and we end up running around the lab to move the rotator to a warmer or cooler spot to keep the temp in range. Ridiculous.

Edited February 13, 201411 yr by Dr. Pepper

If you had that external chart recorder/alarm, you wouldn't have to take temps every 4 hours AND it would alarm so you'd know when you have to move it to a cooler/warmer spot in the lab.   

 

On a happier note, my incubator - 23 years old and starting to fade - is finally scheduled for replacement in the 3rd quarter this year. Yippee!