Used and refurbished cell culture incubators available from American Instrument Exchange. Click HERE for more details.
At any given time we have dozens of cell culture incubators in stock from a variety of manufacturers. Stacked units, large capacity reach-in units, air-jacketed models and water-jacketed models, active humidity control models, anti-microbial copper lined units, models with decontamination cycles. Our technicians test incubators using calibrated digital chart recorders to verify the accuracy of temperature controls and readouts and test CO2 levels using a calibrated Fyrite gas analyzer. And given that we’re only 20 miles north of the biotech cluster in Boston and Cambridge we can typically have cell culture incubators tested, cleaned, and delivered to many customers within two weeks.
CO2 incubators are mainstays in biology and biotechnology laboratories engaging in cell or tissue culture work. These chambers provide stable environments that mimic a cells natural environment – a pH level of about 7.4, temperature of around 37°C, CO2 concentration of around 5%, and relative humidity of around 95%. Cell culture incubators are used wherever cells must be maintained, expanded, or cultured over periods ranging from a few hours to many weeks. With exciting advances in biological therapeutics and stem cell research there is growing demand for affordable, reliable refurbished CO2 cell culture incubators, and we have the supply to meet at least a small part of that demand for labs looking to save money but still receive quality used lab equipment.
So given all the experience we’ve accumulated over the years we figured we’d share some opinions on our favorite models. These are short summaries. We’ve reviewed several of these models on this blog so feel free to check out those if you’d like more details, or you can always call or email us with questions.
Thermo Forma 3110
The original Forma 3110 incubator was ubiquitous and for years dominated the market. These water-jacketed models have 6.5 cubic feet of storage space and HEPA filter to provide Class 100 quality air to the interior chamber. These machines are so durable and reliable that we still have customers purchasing them on a regular basis. The Thermo Forma Series II 3110 units are essentially the same as the original version, with some incremental improvements. You can also find Thermo Forma 3130s and Thermo Forma 3140s, with O2 capability in addition to CO2.
Thermo recently introduced the Thermo Forma Series 3 4110 CO2 incubator. Only time will tell if this model has the longevity of its predecessors, but this far we are fans of the updates, including the iCAN touch screen.
For larger chamber, reach-in options, the Thermo Forma 3950 is our go-to. These are 29 cubic foot models and can be equipped with either triple-pane glass or stainless steel doors. Two through-wall access ports can be used to run sensors, probes, or power cords for small instruments into the chamber, or sealed. With sealed ports, this model holds surprisingly tight temperature uniformity for such a large chamber.
Panasonic MCO-19AIC
We’ve written a longer, more in-depth review about these newer units from Panasonic which you can read here. In short, the control and information center mounted prominently on the exterior door a significant improvement over the digital displays of older models. But it’s the decontamination cycles available on these models that have us really excited. The automatic decontamination process begins with a vaporized H2O2 application followed by UV exposure. The H2O2 application ensures complete decontamination of all interior components and CO2 sampling loop. The UV exposure adds redundant decontamination and reduces the H2O2 to water vapor and oxygen eliminating any user health hazards from the vapor application. This process provides complete sterilization in less than three hours and eliminates the need for autoclaving, minimizing downtime between product cycles.
Other models we recommend
VWR Symphony air-jacketed units are well-designed and aesthetically pleasing models. Thermo SteriCult are good choices if you’re looking for slightly larger chambers and active humidity control (as opposed to passive, water pan humidity). Shel-Lab, also known as Sheldon manufacturing, also puts out some quality products, including some large reach in units like the model 2440. Binder is also a good option, with the only drawback to these units is a proprietary CO2 port connection that must be ordered directly from Binder in order to operate the incubators.
So that’s it, a summary of our favorite used and refurbished cell culture incubators. This list is not meant to be comprehensive and we don’t want to offend any manufacturers by implying that we intended to neglect them. We’ll be sure to update and revise this list, so if there are any models you think should be included in the future please let us know.
As always, we’re here to answer any questions regarding used and refurbished incubators, or any other used lab equipment. Thanks!
American Instrument Exchange has been a reliable source for used laboratory and scientific equipment for over 50 years, buying and selling equipment since 1969. Our surplus lab equipment is reconditioned for many types of laboratories, including biotech, biomedical, medical research, chemical, pharmaceutical, and university and hospital research laboratories. All lab equipment listed on our website is in stock and ships from our 30,000 square foot warehouse in Massachusetts. Our facilities include a fully equipped shop with highly trained technicians who thoroughly test each instrument before it reaches your laboratory. Please visit our website at https://www.americaninstrument.com/.