Print

---

_______________________________

Original question:

Hi,

I believe this subject has been touched briefly before, but does anyone have any strong feelings before or against using an Akta FPLC/purifier versus a Biorad Duo Flow?  The Biorad Duo instruments are significantly cheaper; are they however also 'as good' as GE Healthcare? I'm especially interested in comments from people who have used both instruments before.

Cheers

Filip

Hi Filip,

I use both Biologic Duo Flow and Akta Explorer extensively. In my opinion the Biorad equipment is as good and realiable as the Akta for most routine uses. I generally prefer the Akta Explorer over the Biorad system but its mostly a personal preference. In my opinion, the following are the relative advantages of one system over the other.

Advantages of Biorad:
1. It is easy to use and maintain/clean.
2. The software interface is straight forward and user firendly. The Akta software appears to deter new users!
3. The Biorad system is highly modular. So, upgrading the equipment or adding more capabilities is easy and cheap.
4. The system pressure is far lower than Akta at a particular flow rate.

Advantages of Akta:
1. The Akta software is far superior in terms of capability (display/data analysis), although not as user friendly in terms of creating a program.
2. The fraction collectors are more robust and reliable, although the Biorad fraction collector seems to have improved.
3. The Akta system is less sensitive to air in the buffer and runs perfectly fine without degassing buffers. It is fairly easy to get air-trapped in the Biorad pump.

I would not hesitate to chose the Duo Flow over the basic Akta FPLC if cost is a major concern. Hope this helps,

-Anirban
-------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Filip,

I would recommend getting a demo from the manufacturer. It's hard to decide based on other people's recommendations.  Having said this I also must add that I am an avid fan of the AKTA systems, although their prices are high. Still, a Purifier can be obtained for around 30K, which is comparable with the 20K we have heard for the DuoFlow system with similar capacity.

The DuoFlow is overall cheaper, however it also has the distinctly 80-ies feeling of a box-modular system. The fancy names of the components don't help either – for example, why does there have to be a special valve kit to double the performance of the standard 10 and 40 ml/min pumps? Everything has to be configured piece-by-piece and the software is somewhat clumsy, as compared to the sleek Unicow (Unicorn) that runs the AKTA systems.

The advantages of the system are essentially the same as its disadvantages – namely that you can configure DuoFlow to be as simple or as complicated as you wish, and more importantly if money is tight – theoretically, additional pieces can be bought later as the money situation improves. The slight problem with this is that you get a system where individual components are ageing at different rates.

So, as I said – ask the rep to bring you a system for a few days – they're pretty small so it shouldn't be a serious problem for them, especially if you can hint on trying to decide on it versus AKTA, or on the potential to buy more than one J

Good luck,

Artem

Actually I have to take back the price comment. I cannot find a way to build something for less than 33-35K that'd be comparable to the 34K for AKTA Purifier. Perhaps they quote you different prices, though.

Artem

  -------------------------------------------------------------

The support for the Akta machines since they have been bought by GE has been absolutely terrible in our experience.  Their engineers know less about the machines than we do and that was not the case before they became part of the giant GE corporation.  The Akta that we purchased had defective pumps and it took 6 months for them to acknowledge the problem and they agreed to replace them only when the Howard Hughes purchasing office threatened to take action against the company.

So, the bottom line is the machines are well engineered thanks to the great design of the old Amersham engineers, but GE does not care about this market (chump change compared to the other stuff they sell). So as a result the price is high and the service has been terrible in our experience.  Just my two cents.

Good luck.

Antonina

Hi Flip,

I've used both systems before and would go for an Akta over the Duo
Flow.  I find the system to be a more "complete" package.  The Duo Flow
is less pricey, true, by I've had issues with the software and at times
I felt that it was more a collection of parts rather than a complete
system.

We're in the process of tendering for 2 such systems (myself and a
colleague) here at York U. - both crystallographers.  I'll be interested
in seeing what BioRad comes up with for a comparative tender bid versus
the Purifier.

On a side note, the question of the Purifier UPC versus the Purifier 10S
may come up.  The UPC model is less expensive, but it comes with less
capabilities.  Mainly because the UV and conductivity units are put
together in the UPC...so 1 wavelength monitoring (vs 3 for the 10S), and
a few other little things.  If you don't need multiple wavelength
monitoring (We do for a few of our projects), the Purifier UPC might be
a better option for you.

Unless you have CFI $$ for an Explorer, but then go for it! *haha*

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Gerald

Hi Filip,

I have both an Akta Purifier and a BioRad Duo-flow, which I have been using continuously for the last 4 years. I would summarize my feelings as follows,

Akta purifier

-----------------

Excellent machine if properly cared for. The UV lamp last a significantly long time as the software only switches it on when a program is running. The software is also excellent. You can do everything manually or run programs. I had three major costs on my machine since I bought it. I had a variable wavelength monochromator (waste of money in the end) that died on me just as it ran out of warranty but I had to pay $5,000 for a new one. I then had some serious meltdown as people in my group had not replaced the wash buffer (20% ethanol) for the pumps which ultimately cost a lot to have the pumps replaced. The person I was dealing with at GE Healthcare changed from the one who refused to cover the cost of the monochromator to someone who was more understanding. He helped significantly reduce the price of the maintenance. So some bad experience and some good with the people working there. The third cost was simply replacing the UV lamp. This requires an engineer coming our and replacing it, you can't do it yourself. This cost $4,000 or thereabouts. A couple of years ago my mixer stopped working. A simple device but expensive for what it is. We got round this but not using it and we haven't had any problems (except the software occasionally complains that it is not there). In all if you have good funds and continue having them this is an excellent machine but here is no cheap maintenance.

Bio-Rad Duo-flow

------------------------

Great workhorse that is very cost-effective. The software is strangely designed and takes some getting used to, especially if you are used to the Akta software. You are limited in what you can do in the Manual runs (for example you can't run a gradient). The UV lamp is switched on continuously when the machine is on (unless you manually switch it off), a fact that the engineers failed to let us now and took a number of phone calls to find out after ours died prematurely (the machine was left switched on all the time). Bio-Rad replaced our UV-lamp free of charge though. We haven't had any other problems except with the cheaper circular fraction collector. We have had to replace the motor for this two times, although the second time Bio-Rad paid for it. In all I have had a lot of good interactions with Bio-Rad from the very beginning. I have to admit that I have only used GE Healthcare columns but Bio-Rad supply plenty of adaptors so you can run the columns on their machines. In summary it is a good device but the lamp will have to be replaced more frequently than the Akta's. But then again the lamps are cheap and can be replaced by the user so overall it is cheaper.

Hope this helps. Good luck

Colin

Hi Filip,

I recently purchased an Akta FPLC and have been very happy with it.  I've also used BioRad equipment before, and I recommend Akta over BioRad, especially the Akta fraction collectors.  BioRad fractions collectors in my experience are not very well made.  Spend the extra money and invest in an Akta Frac 950 along with an Akta system. They are more expensive, but they work.  

Also, don't get caught up in all the bells and whistles of the higher end Akta units.  In my experience, most of the features of the high end Akta units never get used, and they are more complicated to work with, especially if you plan to have new students learning how to use it.  The basic Akta FPLC is sufficient for probably 90% of what most protein biochemists do!

All the best, 

Brian

-------------------------------------------------------------  

Our AKTA FPLC has been trouble-free for 9 years, and we bought one of
the early models. It has lived in a cold room, withstood periods of
heavy use, periods of inactivity, and ham-handed undergraduates without
incident. I think we have replaced only the injector channels and the
solvent filters in those 9 years. These instruments are built like
tanks, and at a small institution like ours, time is more important than
money.


Roger S. Rowlett

 Calvin