Before turning on the instrument:

For luminescence reading only: Skip steps 1 through 10 if using fluorescence.

1.  Check if the indicator for setting of Analyst HT luminescence is 96 or 384.
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2. If it does NOT need to be changed, turn on the power and skip steps 3-10. If it needs to be changed, unplug the power and continue. 
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3. Take off the metal side panel by pulling bottom ridge.
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4. Turn counter-clock wise to unscrew the two metal screws.
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5.  Take off the black seal panel and put on benchtop, so the inside chamber is revealed.
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6. Follow the instruction to push the button in for 96 wells, or pull out for 384 wells.
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7.  Put the black panel back and tighten the two screws.
8. Put metal side panel back.
9. Change the 96 or 384 indicator into the correct position.
10.  Put power cord back and turn on instrument. Go to Step 26. Before turning on the instrument: For fluorescence reading only. For Luminescence, go to step 26 for reading after step 10. 
11. Check the indicator about which Dichroic Mirror is inside the plate reader. Your application is ___________
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12.  If it does not need to be changed, turn on the power. If it needs to be changed, unplug the power and continue. 
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13.  Take off the metal side panel by pulling bottom ridge.
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14. Turn counter-clock wise to unscrew the two metal screws.
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15. Take off the black seal panel and put on benchtop, so the inside chamber is revealed.
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16. Open drawer below the instrument marked with “Analyst HT”. Open the empty box, matching the wavelength to the one inside the plate reader.
17. Wear a pair of new gloves to keep clean. Always avoid touching the mirror surface.
18. Pull the Dichroic Mirror out as shown.
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19.  Put the Dichroic Mirror back to the correct box. Make sure to secure the ring in the slot.
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20.  Open the box with the Dichroic Mirror your application need _____________ nM.
21. Face the round side of the Dichroic Mirror up right and flat side bottom left, slide it inside the slot.
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22. Put the black panel back and tighten the two screws. 
23. Put metal side panel back.
24. Change the Dichroic Mirror indicator into the correct position.
25. Put power cord back and turn on instrument. 
26. After instrument turn on:  Wait for the plate reader finish self-calibration. The instrument screen will show “LJL Biosystems” and the drawer should come out.
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27.  Log in and open the control software “CriterionHost”. 
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28. Check the status bar at the bottom right corner. Everything is ok if it is green. If it is black, it indicates the software not communicating with the instrument, close the software and reopen it after plate reader self-calibration is completely done.  If it is still black, restart the computer. If it is red, there is error with the instrument, turn the plate reader off and back on. If it is still red, contact staff.
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29. Select your reading protocol type and name.  My protocol type___________ Name_____________
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30. Go the “method”>>”edit”, or click the pencil icon.
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31. Click “Select wells”.
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32. Use “clear all” to clear previous selected wells and drag to select wells to be measured, then click “OK”.
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33. If kinetics need to be measured, Click “Advanced”.  If not, go to step 35.
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34.  Input “number of reads” (maximum 100) and “delay between reads” (minimal interval limited by how long it takes to read all selected wells once). Then click “OK”.
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35. Click “OK” on method edit interface.
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36. Go to “File”>> “Save as” to save the file before reading. 
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37.  Open the drawer cover, the drawer should be out for loading the plate. Go to step 40 if looks fine.
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38.  If the drawer is not out, check if the stacker is in use. If the icon is embedded, click it and wait for the instrument to adjust to manual feeding mode and the drawer to come out.
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39. If the drawer still does not come out, restart the instrument. If the problem persists, contact staff.  
40. Take off the cover of the drawer and put plate inside (A1 is face the top left indicator).
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41. Double check the direction of plate to make sure A1 is facing the correct position, and the plate is located within the rims. It is alright if the plate can wiggle around a little; it will be secured after the plate is taken inside for reading.
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42. Put the cover back on the drawer.
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43. Click “read”.
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44. If more than one plate need to be read, replace the plate and click read again. The data will be automatically saved to the same file.  
45. After done, close software and log out.
46. Take plate out of the instrument and power off the plate reader. 
47. The saved file can be opened with excel.