What are these called?

[rockind78]

Electrically operated (either by battery or plug in), and uses vacuum to direct fluid transfer into and out of pipettes that you attach to it. I always thought they were automated pipettors but I can't find anything like what I use in the lab on the web. Any thoughts? I'm looking to purchase one. Thanks guys!

[Monique]

I just call it a pipetman, why not look up the company site of the one you use in the lab and order from them? :)

[iansmith]

it is call a pipet fillers/dispenser. We broke ours 2 weeks ago and it took a long time to find what was the real name. I finaly found the name when I looked in the pipets section of the fisher catalogue. Eppendorf calls also the elctronic ones pipet controller.

[rockind78]

Monique, I haven't been to the lab in awhile, as I am graduated and taking a little time off, but that IS a good idea. I am a good 40 minutes from the lab however. Thank you so much for your help Ian and Monique. I do appreciate it.

[Moonbear]

Monique, Pipetman is a brand name. It's really annoying sometimes that things just don't always have a standard name that's used for them.

Rockind, are you talking about the pump that you attach a serological pipet to, or the ones that are used for smaller volumes that you just attach a pipet tip to? We have many names for the pump, depending on our mood, since nobody seems to know it's real name...everything from pipet pump, pipet woman (since the smaller ones get called pipetmen, even though it's a brand name), pipet boy, electric pipettor, and occassionally, the bzzzz bzzzz thing (for the sound it makes when using it...so far that's been the most universally useful term when asking who's seen it last). Probably if you just look it up under the general term pipettor, you'll find it.

[Moonbear]

This site calls it a pipetting aid, but as you read the product description, I think they dance all around giving it a name other than their brand name!

http://www.htl.com.pl/laboratory_products/swiftpet.html

And this one calls it a portable serological pipettor. I'd hate to have to use the one that's not portable! :yuck:

http://www.americanlaboratory.com/newprod/Matr1121.html

No wonder nobody knows what the darned things are called, even the people selling them don't know. :confused:

[Monique]

We need some Drosophila people to give the thing a name :grumpy: :biggrin:

[Monique]

Hey Dustan, I looked up the one we have in the lab (it's a good one).. you can find it here http://www.biohit.com/view/categories.asp?document_id=327. The name? A midi plus :yuck: lets call it a bzzzz bzzzz thing after Moonbear :)

I'm just wondering.. you've graduated and you aren't within a 40 min radius of a lab.. WHY would you want to buy a bzzzz bzzzz thing?? I guess it can be usefull for correctly measuring ingredients for cocktail drinks? :smile:

[Monique]

This is weird.. I just read the specifications:

Convenient fold-out bench stand supports the unit and pipet when not in use*

*Units with this feature are not available for use or sale within the United States or for importation into the United States.
You can't even IMPORT it into the US if it has a bench stand?! That's just weird :)

[Moonbear]

Weird...maybe another company has a competing patent on the stand in the US.

Hmm, yeah, I suppose those could be fun use for measuring drinks at a party! One of our former students here is a co-owner of a bar called "The Lab"...I was expecting cool stuff like that in there (um, yeah, I've been in a lab too long, I consider that "cool" stuff), but apparently the name has little to do with the theme of the bar and more to do with confusing both parents and professors when claiming he was "working late at the lab last night." Of course when you own a bar, I suppose it's not really such a big deal if it takes 10 years to complete your degree.