Easy Calibration Techniques for BRAND^® Liquid Handling Instruments

ISO 9001 and GLP guidelines require routine calibration (approx. every 3-12 months) and readjustment of measuring instruments if necessary. Typically, time-consuming readjustment can be finished in seconds with BRAND^® Liquid Handling instruments.

The following BRAND^® Liquid Handling instruments are equipped with this time-saving adjustment technology:

• No need to send the instruments out for calibration and adjustment.
• Accuracy can be adjusted to meet the needs of your special applications.
• No tools necessary for adjustment. Adjustments can be performed in seconds.

Easy Calibration of Mechanical Instruments

(e.g., bottle-top dispenser Dispensette^®)

Example:

Gravimetric testing yields a delivered volume of 9.90 mL with a set volume of 10 mL (e.g., after a longer period of usage or for specific applications). Adjustment is quick and easy in five steps:

1. Open housing by sliding the latch and removing the front.

Example

Gravimetric testing yields a delivered volume of 201.3 µL with a set volume of 200 µL. Adjustment in just a few steps:

1. Initial display

2. Activate calibration mode by pressing the MENU key for 3 seconds and using the arrow keys to switch calibration mode to "on".

3. When the CAL display is flashing, calibration mode shows the initial volume.

4. Use the arrow keys on the Transferpette^® electronic microliter pipette to set the determined volume.

5. After confirming the volume, the values for the tested and corrected volume in the display change. The CAL symbol remains on to confirm that the adjustment was performed. The factory setting can be restored at any time.

To further facilitate calibration, BRAND^® has developed EASYCAL™ calibration software. Instrument specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) describe step-by-step testing procedures. All necessary calculations are carried out automatically by the user-friendly software. A free demo version of EASYCAL™ and SOPs are available for download from www.brand.de.

Calibration Service from BRAND^® for Liquid Handling Instruments

Instruments used for control, inspection, measuring and testing require written protocols for routine testing and calibration. A testing schedule and inspection and testing procedure must be defined. Documentation is required of the Accuracy and Coefficient of Variation testing that is performed.

Frequent confirmation can become time consuming and expensive. Measuring instruments must be taken out of service and may have to be adjusted or repaired. Maintaining an in-house calibration lab with specially trained personnel can be very costly.

BRAND^® offers full calibration service including instrument adjustment and repair. This reduces service downtime, saves money and provides an independent review organization for the calibration of the instruments.

BRAND^® calibration service is available for:

• Piston-operated pipettes (single and multichannel)
• Bottle-top dispensers
• Digital bottle-top burettes
• Repetitive pipettes (stepper)

Testing According to DIN EN ISO 8655

At BRAND^®, a team of qualified personnel working in temperature and humidity-controlled rooms, using the most modern balances and calibration software, calibrateliquid handling instruments, regardless of their make, according to DIN EN ISO 8655.

Instruments with adjustable volumes such as Transferpette^® microliter pipette or the Dispensette^® bottle-top dispenser are tested at nominal volume, 50 % and 10 % or 20 % of the nominal volume.

Results of the calibration are documented with a detailed calibration certificate, which meets the requirements of many different testing procedures.

BRAND^® calibration service

• Calibration and adjustment of liquid} handling instruments regardless of their make (BRAND® instruments can be maintained and repaired if necessary).
• Detailed calibration certificate: works calibration certificate or DAkkS calibration certificate
• Upon request, we will issue an additional certificate that documents the metrological status of the instruments you send in for adjustment/maintenance/repair.
• Cost-efficient handling

Detailed Calibration Certificates

DAkkS Calibration Certificate

Issued by the DAkkS calibration laboratory at BRAND^® (also available for volumetric instruments of glass and plastics).

DAkkS Calibration Laboratory at BRAND^®

Accredited by the DAkkS as calibration laboratory in the German calibration service

Since the beginning of 2010, DAkkS (Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle GmbH) has been the sole provider of accreditation services for regulatory matters in Germany. The legal foundations for DAkkS are Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008 and the German Federal Accreditation Law (AkkStelleG).

DAkkS is the successor to DKD (Deutscher Kalibrierdienst) for calibration laboratories.

As a joint governmental-industrial body, DAkkS represents a link between the national standards established by Germany's PTB (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt) and the measuring instruments used in industrial and research laboratories, and by testing institutions and authorities.

It thus effectively complements the existing verification system, the primary focus of which is consumer protection. DKD – well-known name, completely new function. Following the establishment of DAkkS, DKD is no longer active in accreditation matters, and it was reconstituted in 2011 with a new mission under guidance from the PTB. Since that time, DKD has been responsible for further developing the fundamentals of metrological calibration, expanding technical support and promoting standardization in metrology.

DAkkS Calibration Laboratory

The former DKD calibration laboratory at BRAND for volumetric instruments was changed into an accredited calibration laboratory by the DAkkS according to DIN EN ISO/IEC 17 025. The calibration laboratory at BRAND^® is therefore authorized to issue DAkkS calibration certificates for the following volumetric instruments. They are available in several languages.

BRAND^® calibrates the following volumetric instruments, no matter if they are new or already in use:

• Piston-operated pipettes, from 0.1 μL to 10 mL
• Multichannel piston-operated pipettes, from 0.1 μL to 300 μL
• Piston-operated burettes, from 5 μL to 200 mL
• Dispensers, dilutors, from 5 μL to 200 mL
• Glass volumetric instruments, adjusted to contain (TC, In) from 1 μL to 10 l
• Glass volumetric instruments, adjusted to deliver (TD, Ex) from 100 μL to 100 mL
• Plastic volumetric instruments, adjusted to contain (TC, In) from 1 mL to 2000 mL
• Plastic volumetric instruments, adjusted to deliver (TD, Ex) from 1 mL to 100 mL
• Glass density bottles, from 1 cm³ to 100 cm³

A major difference between works calibration services and DAkkS laboratories is the accurate

determination of the respective uncertainty of measurement guaranteed by the accredited laboratory and supervised by the DAkkS.

DAkkS Calibration Certificate

The DAkkS calibration certificate documents officially the traceability of measuring results to national and international standards as required by the standards DIN EN ISO 9001 and DIN EN ISO/IEC 17 025 for the monitoring of measuring instruments.

When is a DAkkS calibration certificate necessary?

DAkkS calibration certificates are appropriate in uses in which calibrations of an accredited laboratory are requested, where high level calibrations are demanded and for calibration of reference standards and instruments for comparative measurements.

For ordering volumetric instruments with DAkkS calibration certificate, add "DAkkS" as a prefix to the catalog number. To obtain a DAkkS calibration certificate for volumetric instruments already in use (regardless of their make), send the instruments to BRAND marked with the note "DAkkS calibration".