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Care and Maintenance of Centrifuges

المؤلف:  Wilson, K., Hofmann, A., Walker, J. M., & Clokie, S. (Eds.)

المصدر:  Wilson and Walkers Principles and Techniques of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

الجزء والصفحة:  8th E , P436

2026-06-24

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Corrosion and degradation due to biological buffer systems used within rotors or contamination of the interior or exterior of the centrifuge via spillage may seriously affect the lifetime of this equipment. Another important point is the proper balancing of centrifuge tubes. This is not only important with respect to safety, as outlined below, but might also cause vibration-induced damage to the rotor itself and the drive shaft of the centrifuge. Thus, proper handling and care, as well as regular maintenance of both centrifuges and rotors, is an important part of keeping this biochemical method available in the laboratory. In order to avoid damaging the protective layers of rotors, such as polyurethane paint or aluminium oxide, care should be taken in the cleaning of the rotor exterior. Coarse brushes that may scratch the finish should not be used and only non-corrosive detergents employed. Corrosion may be triggered by long-term exposure of rotors to alkaline solutions, acidic buffers, aggressive detergents or salt. Thus, rotors should be thoroughly washed with distilled or deionised water after every run. For overnight storage, rotors should be first left upside down to drain excess liquid and then positioned in a safe and dry place. To avoid damage to the hinge pins of swinging-bucket rotors, they should be dried with tissue paper following removal of biological buffers and washing with water. Centrifuge rotors are often not properly stored in a clean environment; this can quickly lead to the destruction of the protective rotor coating and should thus be avoided. It is advisable to keep rotors in a special clean room, physically separated from the actual centrifugation facility, with dedicated places for individual types of rotors. Some researchers might prefer to pre-cool their rotors prior to centrifugation by transferring them to a cold room. Although this is an acceptable practice and might keep proteolytic degradation to a minimum, rotors should not undergo long term storage in a wet and cold environment. Regular maintenance of rotors and centrifuges by engineers is important for ensuring the safe operation of a centralised centrifugation facility. In order to judge properly the need for replacement of a rotor or parts of a centrifuge, it is essential that all users of core centrifuge equipment participate in proper book-keeping. Accurate record-keeping of run times and centrifugal speeds is important, since cyclic acceleration and deceleration of rotors may lead to metal fatigue.