A micropipette has two stops on its plunger, and nearly every mistake comes from mixing them up. Learn which stop does what and the rest follows.
Use the pipette whose maximum is closest to the volume you need. A 1000 µL pipette set to 20 µL is less accurate than a 20 µL pipette.
Turning the volume down, stop exactly on the number. Turning it up, go about a third of a turn past the number, then come back down to it.
Read the display with the pipette held level with your eye, so the number lines up with the marker.
Push the pipette straight down into a tip in its rack with a slight twist. It should sit snug and straight.
Pounding the pipette into the tips can damage it, and a seal that needs force usually means the wrong tip.
This is forward pipetting, the standard method for water-based liquids.
Glycerol, detergent and other slightly viscous liquids cling to the tip. Press to the second stop before you draw up, so you take in a little extra.
Dispense to the first stop only. The extra stays in the tip and makes up for what clings to it.
Store the pipette upright on a stand. When you finish, set it to its maximum volume to take tension off the spring.
Check it for liquid inside the nose cone before each session. Liquid in the body means something was drawn up too fast.
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Single-channel adjustable pipette for 100 to 1000 µL, supplied with a calibration certificate. The tip cone comes off for autoclaving.
Touch-start vortex mixer for test tubes, centrifuge tubes and containers up to 50 mL, with a brushless DC motor.