On-Site Puck Loading
NE-Puck Loading
Required items:
- Puck Separator Tool
- Puck (Base and Lid)
- NE-Puck Loading Tool aka NE-Puck Loader
- NE-Puck Loading Dewar with Magnetic Base
- 4-Puck Styrofoam Dewar
- Vial Clamp (HR4-671 from Hampton Research shown in photos) or Specimen Mount Tweezers
- Your Sample in Cryovial (18mm and attached to Robot-appropriate base)
- Puck Cryotongs
- (Click on an image to enlarge. Liquid nitrogen omitted in images for clarity.)
- Split an empty puck using the puck pusher
- Attach the puck lid to the NE-Puck Loading Tool.
- Place the assembled lid and NE-Puck Loader into the NE-Puck Loading Dewar on the side without the magnet. Align the pins with the notch.
- Remove a sample from the shipping cane with a vial clamp. Holding the vial clamp with the handle down will make it easier to insert the vial into the NE-Puck Loader.
- Insert the vial into the NE-Puck Loader.
- Nudge the end of the vial with the vial clamp to make sure that it is firmly placed inside the Loader and that the vial is centered so that the pin base is engaged with the lid.
- Keep careful track of which crystal is placed in which well. The NE-Puck Loader is engraved with numbers. The numbers match the position in the lid. Note the position of slot 1 and slot 6. When loading the puck, remember to correctly identify these two slots, then proceed counterclockwise until there are no more slots.
- Completely fill the NE-Puck Loader, then use the puck cryotongs to push the filled Loader onto the magnet.
- The strong magnet holds the sample bases to the lid so that the vials can be removed. Use either a vial clamp or specimen mount tweezers to remove the vials. It is faster to use specimen mount tweezers.
- When all the vials have been removed, attach the puck pusher, press down on the plunger and remove the NE-Puck Loader.
- Place the base in the styrofoam dewar on the side without the magnet to chill it.
- Attach the base to the lid by aligning the half-round of the lid with the half-round of the puck then pushing down until the holding pins snap into place.
- Either push the complete cryopuck off the magnet or tilt the cryopuck to disconnect it from the magnet.
- Move the completed cryopuck to the 4-puck styrofoam dewar for transfer into the Robot puck storage dewar.