Re: Small lab incubator-purchasing advice?

[Guest guest]

Dear Dr T, I ran a bacterial culturing system in my veterinary practice 1979 to 1982. It worked great but I was trained in it in veterinary school. Blood agar plates out date pretty quickly and are expensive; you have to buy a bunch (was it 50?) at a time and wasted a lot, so I ended up making them so I could keep it down to a dozen functional plates in the fridge. Used the blood donor dog for the blood. The sensitivity discs are real expensive and also out date; they only come in 25 disc tubes and you have to buy the whole panel at hundreds of dollars. The incubator I used was made from an old refrigerator...was able to do that in my vet practice. I think it cost the price of the temperature controlled system, and was heated with a light bulb which turned off and on in response to the

sensor. We also used a secondhand premature infant incubator to culture auto-immunization milk cultures for sows in late pregnancy to prevent piglet diarrhea. It took up a lot of space to do all that, what with the Bunsen burner and the propane, the hood, and the culture bottles, plates and the two refrigerator units (one for cold storage of culture material and one for incubation.) I would do it again in a large animal practice if there were 7 to 8 dairy practitioners, but it would not be time and cost effective for any human IMP in my opinion. Oh, and you would not be reimbursed unless you hired a licensed lab guy. Joanne Holland DVM/MD Drain, OregonFrom: Dr. T

Subject: Small lab incubator-purchasing advice?To: Date: Thursday, February 4, 2010, 3:13 PM

I am looking for a small, ~ 1 cu foot, gravity convection incubator, with warranty, solid door (with or without window), one or two shelves, digital microprocessor or analog control, with a hole for a vertical thermometer on its tops for under $500 including shipping. Instead of brand new retaiil, isn't there a way to get a "new" refurbished unit or returned unit (because of dent, scrape, scratch, blemish, etc) that would be otherwise fully functional and be under warranty?

All ideas and leads would be appreciated?

The incubator is basically for throat cultures and urine cultures and needs to keep a reliable and steady 37 degrees C.

Thanks,

Marc Tanenabum, MD

Atlanta