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Before you set up the hardware, you'll need to understand the names of the components and where each component is located.
To begin, the two major components of the NT8 are the head and deck. Both are located at the front of the NT8. The head primarily contains tools to aspirate and dispense liquids, and the deck contains plates, tip caddies, the protein source, and the wash and waste stations.
The NT8 Hardware - Front View
Located at the front of the instrument, the NT8 deck contains everything needed for your dispenses including the plates, protein source, and tips.
The NT8 deck is divided into the following stations:
Note: Please refer to the NT8 hardware picture above for each of the station positions.
Waste StationThe waste station is where the NT8 disposes of LV tips.
Protein Source StationA protein source station is a place for the protein source that is included in the NT8 accessory kit.
The NT8 supports both low volume and high volume protein blocks. The protein source has three columns of eight drops each (24 total), each well capable of holding 3 μL (LV protein block) or 13 μL (HV protein block). The protein source is required for the protein tray calibration. Use wells #1 through #8 in the first column (on the left) of the protein source as the reference tuning points (see the picture below).
Protein Source
Wash StationThe Wash Station is a location on the NT8 for washing low volume pipette tips.
Low Volume (LV) Tip Caddy StationThe low volume (LV) tip caddy station is a repository that holds up to 384 replacement LV tips.
Microplate StationsOn the deck of the NT8 there are designated areas for three SBS footprint microplates. Three microplates can be placed on the deck to transfer reagents from one plate to another. A hanging drop cover sheet can be placed on station #1 for setting hanging drops.
Use the reference plate that is included in the NT8 accessory kit. The reference plate has cross hairs in every corner for reference points (see the picture below, indicated by orange circles). Use the top-left, top-right, and bottom-left cross hairs as the tuning points.
Reference Plate
High Volume (HV) Tip Caddy StationThe HV tip caddy station holds up to 96 replacement HV tips for the system.
Deep Well StationThe deep-well station is compatible with 96 deep-well plates, which are used in daughter plates creation.
What you can find on the NT8 head:
Low Volume (LV) Tip Attachments
Located at the bottom-left of the NT8's head, each LV tip attachment is equipped with a sensor that indicates when a tip touches a surface. Indicator lights are placed on the board that holds the LV tip attachments. If the tip is touching, the sensor will be off. Otherwise, the sensor will be bright blue, as seen the picture below.
The NT8 head
Note: When you see a tip number referenced in the text, 1 is the tip closest to the back of the instrument and 8 is the one closest to the front.
Optional: High Volume (HV) Tip Attachments
HV tips are located at the bottom-right of the NT8's head. Each HV tip attachment is equipped with a sensor that detects any existing liquid in a deep well plate. The HV tip attachment uses 200 μL pipette tips (eight at a time) to aspirate liquid from a deep well block and transfer it to a crystallization plate.
High Volume Tip Attachments
Optional: Lipidic Cubic Phase (LCP) Lever
Adjusts the LCP syringe mount.
LCP lever
Note: You can adjust the lever speed and height to fit the LCP syringe by clicking 
on the toolbar and moving the lever button on the NT8's head up and down as necessary.
Optional: Lipidic Cubic Phase (LCP) Syringe Mount
Compatible with Hamilton LCP syringe.
LCP syringe mount
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NTC-V28R016
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