Labconco FreeZone Bulk Tray Dryer 78060 Series - Manual (Page 19)

Chapter 4: Using Your Bulk Tray Dryer
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Freeze Drying Using the Manifold Valves
Some Bulk Tray Dryers are equipped with a manifold with six sample valves.
The following procedure should be followed when freeze drying samples using
the manifold.
1. Turn the power switch on the Bulk Tray Dryer to OFF and close the door.
Set the vacuum control to CLOSE.
2. Pre-freeze samples; shell freezing of samples is recommended.
Appropriate containers for freeze drying includes ampules, serum bottles,
and wide mouth freeze drying flasks. Proper sample container size should
always be at least two to three times the sample size (i.e., 150 ml samples
should be prepared in 300 ml containers or larger).
3. Start the Freeze Dry System in either the Auto or Manual mode. See the
Freeze Dry System User’s Manual.
4. Connect a pre-frozen sample to a valve on the manifold using an adapter.
After connecting a pre-frozen sample to a valve, turn the plastic valve
knob to the “VACUUM” position to open the valve, which connects the
attached sample to system vacuum. The bevel on the knob should be
positioned toward the sample port.
Valve in Vacuum or Run Position
5. Before adding another sample, allow system vacuum to return to 0.133
mBar or lower. Any combination of valves and sample sizes may be
utilized at one time provided that the system vacuum and collector
temperature remain sufficiently low to prevent melting of the frozen
sample.
Note location of taper on
knob in vacuum position