Bio-Rad High-Throughput Dodeca™ Gel Stainers - Manual (Page 4)

Section 1
Product Introduction
1.1 Overview
The Dodeca™ Stainer is a high-throughput gel staining device designed primarily
for large format 2-D polyacrylamide gels. The Dodeca stainer comes in two sizes,
large and small. Each size accommodates up to 12 gels (for gel size compatibility
see Tables 1A and 1B). By processing up to 12 gels, the Dodeca stainers match the
capacity of the PROTEAN IEF cell for first dimension isoelectric focusing and the
PROTEAN Plus Dodeca cell for second dimension separation to help streamline the
2-D gel electrophoresis workflow.
The Dodeca stainers have an integrated shaking mechanism (patent pending),
therefore no external shaking device is needed. The shaker motor, attached to the
lid, causes the shaking rack to oscillate. This oscillating motion results in equally
efficient staining of all twelve gels in the shaking rack. A shaker control unit, which
sits on the lid, contains the power switch and controls the oscillating speed.
The staining trays hold the gels in place during staining to prevent breakage.
Various tray configurations are available to provide the best fit for the selected gel
size (see Tables 1A and 1B). These trays are also used to transport gels through-
out the laboratory. The stained gel easily slides off the open side of the staining
tray onto an imager or spot cutter platform.
The shaking rack holds up to 12 staining trays as a single unit for easy handling.
Built-in handles make it easy to place the shaking rack inside the solution tank. The
various staining solutions are added via the reagent access door built into the lid.
Reagent removal is achieved via two drain ports incorporated at the base of the
solution tank.
Fig. 1 A. Large Dodeca Stainer.
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