Introduction – Techne TC-PLUS User Manual

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INTRODUCTION

The TC-PLUS is an advanced gradient thermal cycler designed to accurately and rapidly control the

temperatures of samples between 0ºC (or 20°C below ambient) and 100°C. It has many scientific

applications including PCR

, reverse transcription, ligation and sequencing. It has user-

interchangeable blocks to allow for most commonly used consumables including 0.2ml x 96 well

plates and 0.2ml tubes, 0.5ml tubes and 384 well plates. The heated lid automatically applies the

correct pressure to suit the consumable used.

The TC-PLUS is programmed via a 5.7” colour VGA LCD touch screen using simple and intuitive

software. Programs and run progress can be viewed as a temperature/step graphical display, allowing

the user to readily check the status or position within a run. Files can be saved with user names and/or

keywords which allows for rapid searching and retrieval. A USB port on the front of the unit allows

transfer of files to and from a USB memory stick and for the easy update of instrument software.

The thermal block incorporates the very latest in Peltier design featuring the Thermal Energy Recovery

System (TERS

). This allows the TC-PLUS to achieve ramp rates of up to 5ºC/s and is also energy

saving, resulting in reduced running costs.

The TC-PLUS can be used as a stand-alone unit or, for high-throughput applications, to control up to

nine additional Satellite units via USB connections. Satellite units can also be remotely controlled from

a PC using the Techne Workbench software. Programs and temperature files are saved as text files

for integration into a LIMS System.

Purchase of this instrument conveys a limited non-transferable immunity from suit for the

purchaser's own internal research and development and applied fields other than human in-vitro

diagnostics under non-real-time thermal cycler patents of Applied Biosystems LLC.