Stage maintenance

The FluidFM BOT has to be regularly serviced, in particular the stages in X, Y and Z need to be cleaned and lubricated to assure highest performance and reliability.

The cleaning and lubrication should take place 1-2 times a year, depending on usage intensity of the FluidFM BOT system.

One cleaning & check-up is part of the optional FluidFM BOT annual maintenance contract.

Cleaning and lubrication kit

The cleaning and lubrication kit is composed to satisfy the high requirements a nanometer-positioning system poses. Warranty will be forfeit if other cleaning tools and especially lubricants are used with the system.

One kit is part of each BOT installation and will last typically 24 months. More kits can be ordered from Cytosurge anytime.

Content

The cleaning & lubrication kit for FluidFM BOT contains:

• 50 ml BOT stage lubricant
• 10 x Swabs
• 10 x Cleaning wipes

Preparation

Prepare the FluidFM BOT system and yourself with the following steps for the cleaning:

1. Remove any sample.
2. Grip a protective probe with ARYA.
3. Turn off ARYA.
4. Turn all power off (Pressure controller and FluidFM BOT controller).

Cleaning

First, the stage rails are cleaned form dust and the old lubricant with wipes.

Clean the XY stage

1. Remove the Z stage from the system and place it sideways, not upright, to make sure the probe does not touch the surface.
2. Clean old dust and lubricant from the XY rails with a cleaning wipe. Wear gloves and do not use any liquids for the cleaning.
3. There are two rails for X and two rails for Y.
4. Each rail has a cross-section like below. Clean it on the sides where indicated with arrows on the pictures below. Thoroughly, without applying force.
5. Dust is a common issue in most labs, so take your time cleaning the rails.

Clean the Z stage

1. Remove the Z stage from the system.
2. Remove the black cover of the Z stage.
3. Clean old dust and lubricant from the two Z stage rails.

Lubrication

Once clean, lubricant is applied to all rails with swabs.

Apply lubricant to X stage

• Position the X stage to the very left, as shown below.

• Below the rails are indicated in red.

• Lubricate the rails on both sides where indicated by the arrows (yellow surface below).

• Apply 100 ul per surface, or 400 ul per rail. Use the cotton swab for this.

• Move the X stage to the very right.Repeat the lubrication procedure on this side.

Apply lubricant to Y stage

• Remove the cover of the Y stage as indicated below. Mind the screws and remove them from the system.

• Move the Y stage to the upper most position. Apply 50 ul lubricant per surface, or 200 ul per rail.

• Move the Y stage to the lower most position and repeat the lubrication
• Mount the cover of the Y stage again

Apply lubricant to Z stage

• Remove the cover of the Z stage. a. Loosen all screws b. Slide off the cover vertically

• Place the Z stage either on the XY stage for this, or position it horizontally on a table, such that the probe does not collide with the table.
• The Z stage has two rails. Apply the lubricant with a cotton swab to both of them and use 100 ul per rail. Below in blue are the surfaces indicated which should be lubricated.

• Move the Z stage to the lower most position and lubricate the accessible part of the rail.

• Then move the Z stage to the upper most position and apply the lubricant on the now accessible part.
• Place the cover again on the z stage

Assembly

Assemble the Z stage again correctly onto the XY stage.

Burn in

Run the designated workflow to evenly distribute the lubricant on all rails.

Calibration

Run the calibration workflows to recalibrate X-Y and Z.