Good morning, I urgently need to perform ddPCR analysis on some samples using a QX200 Droplet Reader that's been sitting in my lab for a while. A technician came in last month to set it up and I successfully performed an experiment last Friday. On Monday, though, I switched on the Reader and noticed that none of the PCR plates I had prepared where recognized by the instrument. The green light that usually flashes green when you insert a plate doesn't light up and the software doesn't allow me to start the run. I used original Bio-Rad plates that were successfully recognized when placed in another QX200 droplet reader from a different facility. As suggested by the technician, I unmounted and cleaned the plate support, but nothing changed. We replaced both the waste and oil bottles, but without success.
Perhaps some of you fellow researchers has experienced a similar issue with this device? Thank you so much for your kind advice.
I have a similar issue sometimes with our QX200, but for myself, it is a connection issue from the reader to the laptop. I restart the computer it is connected to, with the QX200 Reader turned on, open my template and that has worked for me. All 4 lights on the reader turn on and the run options appear in the program.
I second Sue Brown 's suggestion. That has worked for us in the past. The QX200 can also freak out and act like a USB drive if Windows has a pending update. Worth checking if the computer is all updated. Sometimes it's worked for me to change the USB port (not that it should matter) that the QX200 is connected to. After all this, my QX200 had the same issue as yours yesterday. Will report back when I resolve it. Sometimes it just takes a LONG (45 min?) for the device to talk to the PC and software.
BTW, which software are you using to read droplets?
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