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Right after you buy a laboratory instrument, you must learn all about its maintenance so that you can maintain it at the best condition, reap the most out of it, and also use it through its highest possible life span. Here are the maintenance tips for vacuum glove boxes, which you will have to maintain while abiding by many strict rules and restrictions.

General tips to handle a vacuum gloves box

• Water or air should not enter the box.
• No solvents should be evacuated into the pump.
• The gloves must not be sucked into the box.
• The outer and inner antechamber doors must not be opened together.
• Sharp items must not be used as they can puncture the gloves.
• While locking the antechamber door, the locking device must lock without the exertion of much force. The door must not be made too tight or it will break. The door must not be left loose or the box would leak.
• If you have any doubt about the air or gas pressure in the antechamber, you must pump out before opening the door from inside.
• While handling sharps, solvents and powders, you must use nitrile gloves above the glove box gloves.
• Dispose off all used sharps in the container for sharp disposal.
• You must remove from the box all non-hazardous
• Used lithium must be sent to used lithium container where it’s not deemed hazardous. Once the used lithium box is full you must fill it up with mineral oil and mark it as hazardous and dispose it off.
• For un-used lithium closed containers which ae distinctly labelled must be used.
• Dirtied utensils must be cleaned.
• Solvents like acetonitrile must not be used inside the gloves box. They can react with lithium by destroying the catalyst.
• All assigned bins and samples must be properly labelled. The unlabeled items may get removed from the glove box common area, and may get disposed too.
• You must keep the work area inside the glove box clutter free and clean.

These are some of the general guidelines to be followed by any user of the gloves box in the cleanroom. Maintaining these things helps maintain the vacuum gloves box in its best health and working condition.

Finally

Maintenance is done in two ways. One way is how you maintain it by being particular with following the system, and knowing the general troubleshooting. This caters to the daily and day to day maintenance. Another is the quarterly or annual maintenance done by an expert. You can book such maintenance and check services so that your lab equipments stays in best condition and get checked for any problem at the earliest. For a gloves box also you must get such checking done periodically. And along with this, you must ensure all laboratory staff using the Laboratory Glove Box adheres to the general guidelines.

More tips are to be followed while fitting the gas cylinder to the gloves box, and for vacuum pumps, catalyst bed regeneration etc., which requires expertise in doing these things.

Source: https://cleatech.blogspot.com/2019/05/how-to-maintain-laboratory-vacuum-glove.html