calibrating gilsons

[Bernard Murray]

In article <A.C.Hilton-1609941239360001 at bcs88.bham.ac.uk>, A.C.Hilton at bham.ac.uk (Wiggy) writes:
> In article <351109$h2g at nuscc.nus.sg>, medp4003 at cobra.nus.sg (Farid John
> Ghadessy) wrote:
> 
> > Hello,
> > 
> > Do most people calibrate their Gilsons in-house or send them to an agent? 
> > I'm sure the buggers here are ripping us off as it costs loads for a 
> > simple calibration and tune-up. Could we be doing this ourselves and if
> > so do we need any special equipment?
> > John F. Ghadessy.

> You can do it yourself quite easily with an allen key, balance, some water
> and a  table that gives the tollerances of each Gilson.
> The table can be obtained from Gilson but if you can't get hold of it I
> could post the info. to you.
> Wig.
> 
>       ** It's because I come from Wigan that my name is Wiggy,**
>       ** and nothing to do with my head................Honest!**
			[Nah!, I think you're a secret Jasper Carrott fan!]

Didn't the Gilson people sell calibration kits that allowed you to do this in
the lab?  If I remember correctly they supplied the tools and a few spares as
well as a series of glass capillary tubes that you attached to the pipette with
an adaptor.  I think you drew up the required volume of water and then adjusted
the pipette until the meniscus was at the appropriate line in the tube - so,
about as accurate as volumetric flasks.  I don't know if such kits are still
available.
			Bernard

Bernard Murray, Ph.D.
bernard at elsie.nci.nih.gov (National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda MD, USA)