The default maximum time that the lab2lab transport system will allow for a vial to get from one place to another is 30 seconds. If, after this, the destination device has not detected its arrival, the system will go into error. A red error message will be displayed in the log window at the bottom of the screen. This will state which transport pipe the vial is in.
This type of error should be a rare event. Possible causes are; sensor failure, loss of air supply,
mechanical misalignment, the cap having come off the vial, or, most serious of all, a damaged transport pipe. Below is a list of possible vial transportation error messages and their
respective explanations. See the following sections for details of how to resolve fault conditions.
- “Vial 0123456789 failed to arrive at Receiver.4”
The vial was being blown from the Router to Receiver .4, but the cap sensor on the Receiver didn’t go from low to high, as it normally would when a vial arrives. - “Timeout while preparing to send Vial 0123456789 to Receiver.4”
The vial needs to have an analysis performed on it. The instrument to which Receiver.4 is attached was able and ready to do the analysis. The system got the vial in to the Router and aligned the Router to the transport pipe leading to Receiver .4. The system then re-checked that the Receiver and its associated analyzer were still ready, but they were not. The system then waited for them to become ready again, but they did not and they system timed out. - “Vial UNKNOWN failed to arrive at Router from Sender.3”
A vial with an as yet unknown barcode was being sent from Sender.3, but it never arrived at the Router. - “Vial 0123456789 failed to leave Receiver.4”
The system was attempting to blow a vial from Receiver.4 back to the Router but it timed out with the vial still at the Receiver. - “Timeout while preparing to get Vial 0123456789 from Buffer “
Like 2, the Router was moving to the appropriate transport pipe at the same time that the Buffer was locating the vial, prior to sending it. But the Buffer never became ready to send the vial.
The general steps to follow when attempting to recover from a vial transport error are these:
- Click on the shutdown button on the System overview page.
- From the Router page, manually move the Router to the port through which the vial was
supposed to be travelling (it may well still be aligned to that port). - Using the Suck and Blow valves on the Router, and the blow valve on the destination (Sender, Receiver, Collection Point or Buffer) attempt to get the vial to the Router.
- If the Vial Arrived input on the Router becomes active, close any blowing and sucking valves, then click on the Check Catcher Contents button on the Router control. This will cause the Router to move to the barcode reader to confirm that it has the expected vial.
Then, on the Vial Management page Edit the vial in question and change its Location value to Router. - Then click on the shutdown button again to restart lab2lab, and it will then re-attempt to move the vial. Only do this if you are sure you’ve resolved what caused the initial failure.
If you manually relocate a vial, it is essential to update the location of the vial on the Samples page; otherwise, the system will not be aware of what you have done.