Jul 01, 2026
ExFAB Liquid Handling: General Use Instructions for Tecan Fluent 780
- Leonardo Sanchez Zamora1,2,
- Alexander Carrillo1,2,
- Zenan Xing1,2,
- Jason Stajich1,2,
- Ian Wheeldon1,2
- 1University of California, Riverside;
- 2ExFAB
External link: https://exfab.engineering.ucsb.edu/Publications
Protocol Citation: Leonardo Sanchez Zamora, Alexander Carrillo, Zenan Xing, Jason Stajich, Ian Wheeldon 2026. ExFAB Liquid Handling: General Use Instructions for Tecan Fluent 780 . protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.5qpvoedmdl4o/v1
License: This is an open access protocol distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Protocol status: Working
We use this protocol and it's working
Created: March 24, 2026
Last Modified: July 01, 2026
Protocol Integer ID: 313864
Keywords: biofoundry, automation, synthetic biology, microbiology, liquid handling, Tecan Fluent 780
Funders Acknowledgements:
NSF
Grant ID: DBI-2400327
Disclaimer
This Tecan Fluent 780 has custom drivers for each of the attached equipment therefore the startup is not fully universal to any Tecan Fluent.
Abstract
The ExFAB biofoundry seeks to develop automated workflows to discover, phenotype, and prototype biology from extreme and exceptional fungi, archaea, and bacteria. Central to many of ExFAB's workflows is robotic liquid handling. This protocol describes the start-up procedure for ExFAB's Tecan Fluent 780 system, equipment that underpins automated workflows ranging from liquid sample preparations to microbial culturing. Covered in this protocol is the start-up procedure for the Fluent system as well as the associated peripheral equipment. Together this system includes: Tecan Fluent 780 Work Station with 8 channel pipetting head, 96 channel head, heating, cooling, shaking, and magnetic blocks; Tecan Spark UV/Vis Plate Reader; Rotanta 460 Robotic Centrifuge; and, Liconic StoreX STX44 Incubator. This protocol can be used in conjunction with other protocols dedicated to automated liquid handling workflows including ExFAB workflows for automated phenotyping, prototyping, and discovery.
Image Attribution
exfab.org
Guidelines
This starting procedure is specific to ExFAB's Tecan Fluent 780 system. This Tecan Fluent 780 integrates four peripheral units including: Rotonta 460 centrifuge, Tecan Spark multimodal plate reader, Liconic StoreX STX44 automated incubator and DFMZ HEPA filter. Other systems may have different peripheral equipment, but the general procedures described here are applicable when modified to meet the specifications of other peripheral equipment.
Materials
70% Histological grade ethanol
10% Germicidal bleach
Troubleshooting
Problem
Failed initialzation
Solution
Ensure all external modules are turned on before turning on main Tecan. Power cycle the Tecan main power for about 20 seconds if the problem persists. Further issues require a Tecan
Safety warnings
This starting procedure is specific to ExFAB's Tecan Fluent 780 system and is not completely universal to all Tecan Fluent 780 systems. Before using any ExFAB protocol ensure the program files accommodate for your Tecan Fluent setup. Crashes will occur if the worktable differs from the physical deck layout.
Equipment
Equipment
Fluent 780
NAME
Automated Liquid Handling Robot
TYPE
Tecan
BRAND
30042011
SKU
LINK
Equipment
Flexible Channel Arm (FCA)
NAME
Robotic arm
TYPE
Tecan
BRAND
30042145
SKU
LINK
Equipment
Multiple Channel Arm 96 (MCA)
NAME
Robotic Multichannel Pipettor
TYPE
Tecan
BRAND
30042300
SKU
LINK
Equipment
Robotic Gripper Arm (RGA)
NAME
Robotic gripping arm
TYPE
Tecan
BRAND
30042401
SKU
LINK
Equipment
SPARK
NAME
Microwell plate reader
TYPE
TECAN
BRAND
SPARK
SKU
LINK
Equipment
StoreX STX44
NAME
Automated incubator
TYPE
Liconic
BRAND
STX-SIDE GATE
SKU
LINK
Equipment
Rotanta 460
NAME
Benchtop centrifuge
TYPE
Hettich
BRAND
5650
SKU
LINK
System Preparation
Pre-protocol preparation
- Prepare fresh 70% ethanol.
- Prepare 10% bleach, if needed for deep sterilization.
Sterilization
- Wipe down all surfaces with 70% ethanol. Do not spray directly on the deck, instead use an ethanol soaked paper towel to wipe down the surfaces.
- Turn on HEPA air filter (see Figure 1).
Note
For deep sterilization, first wipe the the deck with 10% bleach solution before moving on to the procedure listed above.
Powering on the Fluent 780 and peripheral equipment
Tecan Fluent 780
- The Tecan Fluent 780 described in this protocol is connected to four peripheral units including a HEPA filter, UV/Vis spectrometer, a centrifuge, and a shaker incubator. Other Fluent system may have different peripherals. The peripheral equipment must be turned before the main system to avoid initialization issues. The order of activating the peripheral equipment is not important, only that they are turned on prior to the main Fluent system.
Figure 1. Front view of the Tecan Fluent 780 with peripheral equipment: Red - Fluent 780 main power box; Purple - Rotanta 460 centrifuge; Brown - Fluent 780 touchscreen interface; Green - Tecan Spark multimodal plate reader; and, Blue - Liconic StoreX STX44
Tecan Spark
- Power on the Tecan Spark UV/Vis plate reader using the switch located on the back panel of the machine, shown in Figure 2.
- Once on, make sure the the light on the front of the spark glows purple indicating that the Spark is connected to the Fluent system.
- Ensure that the plate tray is ejected and protruding before starting any protocol that uses the Spark plate reader.
Figure 2. Tecan Spark multimodal plate reader with the power switch outlined in red.
Liconic StoreX STX44
- The Liconic shaker incubator has two power switches, a main power switch and a display power switch. First turn on the the main power switch show in Figure 3, then use the switch in the front of the machine to power on the display shown in Figure 4.
- The Liconic will emit an audible high pitched beeping noise until the machine is initialized. The alarm begins once the main power is on and continues until initialization is complete.
- To initialize, hold down the initialize switch located at the top right of the display panel for 30 seconds. The alarm stops once initialization is complete.
Figure 3. Liconic StoreX STX44 back panel with the main power switch outlined in red.
Figure 4. Linconic StoreX STX44 front panel with the power switch outlined in red, the initialization button outlined in green and the display in blue.
Rotonta 460 Robotics Centrifuge
- Power on the Rotonta centifuge using the switch shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5. Rotonta 460 Robotics Centrifuge with the power switch outlined in red.
DFMZ flowhood
- This Tecan Fluent 780 system is equipped with a DFMZ flowhood with hepa filter. Turn on the flowhood by pressing the button labeled '2' to turn on the air circulation (Figure 6). If installed, the button labeled '1' controls the light.
Note
This peripheral unit can be switched on/off at any point of the startup procedure. This unit will not hinder the initialization of the machine if it is not ON when the FluentControl program starts.
Figure 6. HEPA filtered hood remote where button 1 highlighted in white controls the light and button 2 highlighted in red controls circulation.
- Once the flowhood is powered on the gauges at the top will indicate the flow rate of air going through the left and the right fan. When off the gauge will read a flow rate of 0 and will climb once the unit is switched ON. Figure 7. shows the gauge in the off state.
Figure 7. HEPA filter above the Tecan Fluent with the air circulation gauges highlighted in red.
Tecan Fluent 780 - Main Power
- Activate the main power unit of the Tecan Fluent 780 system by using the switch in the back of the power block (Figure 8).
Figure 8. Main power supply of the Tecan Fluent 780 system. Power switch outlined in red.
Turning on FluentControl Software
Note
Ensure that all peripheral equipment and the main Fluent system are powered on prior to starting the FluentControl software
- Open the FluentControl app by clicking the app icon (see Figure 9)
- Once the app has loaded, all use of the software will be on the systems touchscreen (See Figure 10)
Figure 9. FluentControl software application icon
Figure 10. Touchscreen display with preloaded methods ready to be used.
Downloading Tecan protocol files
This github repository holds the latest version of all associated protocols, viewable PDF versions and attached files:
Protocol references
Tecan Group Ltd. Tecan Liquid Handling Knowledge Portal [Online resource]. Available at: https://www.tecan.com/knowledge-portal/liquid-handling. Accessed: May 11, 2026.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement DBI-2400327.