H101-CRYO-BL instructions

Owned by Andrew Vaughan
Last updated: Mar 15, 2024
3 min read

Using the Okolab heating and cooling incubator

Please leave the OKO-TOUCH controller and Lauda water bath switched on at all times. Just set the temperature and CO2 for the next user at the end of your session. This is to prevent an error with the water bath that results in a beeping alarm.

The H101-CRYO-BL is a stage-top water jacket incubator that can be used to heat or cool specimens. To operate the system, set the temperature on the OKO-TOUCH by pressing the temperature on the touch screen (a, in the figure below) and pressing the + or – buttons to increase or decrease the temperature and press Set (b,1 and 2 below).

The controller is in Chamber control mode by default, so the temperature shown on the Oko Touch is the temperature of the water flowing through the water jacket chamber. This should be equal to the temperature shown on the Lauda water bath.

It is possible to monitor the temperature in the chamber using the fine gauge thermocouple (green wire), which inserts into the chamber. To see the temperature measured by this thermocouple, click on the cog icon to go to the Settings window (a, in the figure below). Then click the Temperature icon (b).

Click the Status icon (a, in the figure below). The Free Sensor reading gives you the temperature of the fine gauge thermocouple.

Also in the Status window, the Chamber temperature gives the water jacket temperature and the Room Temp reading gives the temperature of the NTC thermistor (white wire with a metal probe on the end) that is usually to be found in the cage around the microscope.

Control modes for temperature

The system can also be operated in Sample control mode, where the fine gauge thermocouple is immersed in the specimen (or an equivalent well) and the temperature is fed back to the water bath. In this case the temperature regulation must be paused before the lid is removed so the system doesn’t overheat. Once the lid is put back on the temperature regulation can be restarted.

To operate the system in sample control mode, press Control Mode (a, in the figure below). Change the control mode to Sample.

To pause the temperature regulation prior to removing the lid, press Open Incubator in the Control Mode window (a, in the figure below). To restart regulation, press Incubator Closed.

Supplying CO2 to the heating and cooling incubator

When supplying CO2 to the chamber you will also need to turn the air pump on, so the correct proportions of air and CO2 are mixed together, otherwise the CO2 concentration will shoot up and stay high.

  1. Press the CO2% button on the OKO-TOUCH controller (red arrow in the image below). Use the the +/- buttons to raise or lower the CO2 set point to your desired percentage.
  2. Press the cogs button in the menu on the left.
  3. Press the Gas button.
  4. Press the Air Source button.
  5. Select Air Pump.

When you are setting the CO2 level back to zero, please remember to turn off the air pump by selecting Compressed Air instead of Air Pump in the Air Source screen.