Incubator Shelving - (Aug/03/2008 )

Has anyone experienced bowing or buckling of incubator shelves? We are fighting an uneven monolayer problem and have attempted to level the incubator itself and its shelves but in some instances the shelves are buckled so we cannot ensure the levelness of the entire shelf. We have both copper and steel shelving. The steel shelves seem to hold up better. Does anyone know of center supports or more rigid shelving? We have a ton of T175 flasks that go in and out of these incubators which I'm sure does not help. We have begun trying to leave the cultures out in the hood or level surface to allow them to adhere on an even surface. In severe cases once the cultures are in the incubator there is still a difference in media distribution due to the un-levelness of the shelving.

Help!

Have the shelves been autoclave many times?

Not autoclaved, but we do run the decontamination cycle from time to time which goes up to 90c. I can see what you are saying that this would make them buckle perhaps, should we not do this? Should the manufacturer make better shelving?

I think you may make a complain to the manufacturer/supplier about the defective shelves.

The manufacturer should test the shelves before putting this incubator on market.