BTX High Throughput Plate Handlers are designed for rapid electroporation of multiple samples when coupled with a BTX pulse generator. The HT-100 Plate Handler is a manual switching unit that allows for individual column selection for pulsing column by column, while the HT-200 offers an auto-switching feature for automatic pulsing of the entire plate. The Plate Handlers are compact, simple to operate and easy to connect to our pulse generators. The HT systems can also be used to vary the voltage, pulse durations or biological conditions across the columns. This allows for rapid optimization of both the electrical and biological conditions and results in increased viability and higher electroporation efficiency.

Not for use with the ECM2001 family of products. 

General Recommendations
• IMPORTANT NOTE: All 8 wells of column being electroporated must be filled with either samples or buffer at the same volume, to ensure even electrical field passing through all the wells. If you have less than 8 wells worth of samples, simply fill the remaining empty wells with media/buffer to the same volume as the sample wells. If the wells within a column are not all filled, this can alter the applied electric field and cause of poor efficiency.
• We recommend to load and seal the plates in a tissue culture hood to prevent contamination.
• The 25 and 96 HT well plates include a plastic seal, designed to prevent sample contamination and to reduce the chances of arcing. Always apply plate seals after loading cells/transfectant the plates, prior to electroporation. It is important to make sure the seal is flush onto the plate to separate the wells/no wrinkles/bubbles.
• Always wipe the top of the plate and seal prior to electroporation to remove any moisture. This helps to prevent arcing.
• If not using all the columns at a time, one may purchase additional plate seals to reseal the area they have not used yet, until needed. (Item 45-00012 for one extra 25-Well Plate seal; Item 45-00015 for one extra 96-Well Plate seal. Adhesive plate seals such as the type used for PCR plates may also be used.
• Please also note that the well plates are disposable and intended for one time use. Should you wish to attempt to re-use the wells it very important that they are cleaned per the instructions on the BTX website (below). Cleaning and reuse is only recommended for non-coated well plates. 

Specific Q & A
Q: My assumption is that for the 25 and 96 plates, arcing is isolated to an individual well and not the whole plate. Could you ask your tech support about this?
A: The HT plate handlers electroporate a single column of 8 wells at a time. Arcing is isolated to an individual column (8 wells) being electroporated at the time/not the whole plate. If an arc occurs, the 8 wells in that column being electroporated at that time may be affected, however the other 11 columns on the plate will not be affected. If you do experience an arc, you may clear the error, reprogram the instrument settings for the correct number of remaining rows, and restart the electroporation protocol.

Q: I also wanted to verify that the 96 well plate can be used on a column by column basis and that the recovery occurs in the plate.
A: Yes, the 96 well plate may be used on a column by column basis.  Typically customers will add recovery media to the wells, then either immediately transfer to culture vessel, or let sit a few minutes prior to transferring to culture vessel. We don’t advise to grow cells for extended periods in 24- or 96-well electroporation plates because of the small surface area/cells would be clumped on top of each other, and this is not optimal for viability.