Gel Electrophoresis power supply

[eztech]

Hello,
I wondered if I could make a power supply for a very basic Gel Electrophoresis experiment ?

What voltage and current charecteristics does it have typically and how precise would it have to be ?

Thankyou

 

[nbucska]

You could if you had electronic experience. Current is low,
desigh shouldn't be too difficult. Find data on the WEB.

<nbucska@pcperipherals.com>

 

[eztech]

Re: &quot;You could if you had electrical experience.&quot;
answer: yes
I notice nbuckska that you reply to a great number of forums.

Thankyou in this particular post I am looking for someone with experience in Gel Electrophresis, I am aware of what the web has and what manufacturers can offer but the subject requires real experience.

If someone with experience with this type supply and can share some pointers on what electrical charecteristics that they have found useful in this discussion on this specific subject.

 

[nbucska]

You can find a lot of sources and articles at <

http://www.dogpile.com>

I made one EF power supply about 35yrs ago -- it was
a regulated supply -- that is all I remember.



<nbucska@pcperipherals.com>

 

[IRstuff]

Perhaps you simply need to do some actual looking. Following nbucksa's suggestion, you would have found:

http://www.sci-bay.com/listpages/electrophoresis.html

which would have given you more than enough information

TTFN

 

[eztech]

What I have found so far has been by historical approach.

Possibly as gels improved higher voltages have yielded higher definitions in separation bands and higher voltages have been employed using the isoelectric focusing technique.

Using a single gel using comb 100V and 75mA ((This is a rough guestimat)). While running three gels may require 350V 175mA. There is much variation according gel type and selected pH gradient and the proteins undergoing separation.

The three factors are voltage, current and temperature.
A nice basic unit may have 10 voltage fixed settings
ranging from 50 to 500 Volts. Voltage drift less than 1% For current an adjustable advised with stabiity maintaining plus or minus 1 mA. A safety issue of high voltage deals with having live bannana plugs requires failsafe safety sensor to reduce liability.

Given some basic criterea what sort of advise do you have regarding such a supply ?

 

[nbucska]

The stability shoudn't be difficult. Use FET as
controlling element.

For safety: enclose it into a plexiglas box with interlock.
You can select either constant VTG or current.

A little more fancy: use DAC as reference with display
Input from HEX/Decade switches or from your PC using
either parallel or serial interface.



<nbucska@pcperipherals.com>

 

[unclejoe]

You can buy a 100-500V low current supply from the surplus test equipment houses for probably less than the power transformer would cost.

 

[zenos]

Have you tried asking "Helena Laboratories" in Beaumont Texas? (Electrophoresis Co.)