Click here to see used and refurbished Thermo Forma 3110 from American Instrument Exchange.

Have you ever worked in a cell culture lab? If so, you’re probably familiar with the Forma 3110 and Thermo Forma 3110 incubators. There’s perhaps no other piece of cell culture lab equipment quite as ubiquitous as these incubators. American Instrument Exchange has been selling these units for over three decades and we always have an ample supply on hand for our customers.

For those of you who haven’t worked with these units in the past here are the basic stats. Each chamber offers about 6.5 cubic feet of storage space, with a double-stack providing 13 feet. The temperature range is 5⁰C over ambient to 55⁰C with set point changeable in 0.1⁰C increments. An interior HEPA filters means that the chamber air is Class 100 quality to prevent contamination, and the CO2 range can be set anywhere from 0% to 20%. The Forma 3110 is pretty darned ideal for cell culture, which partially explains their ubiquity.

Another factor is the ease of use. We have customers who report receiving these units, setting the temperature and CO2 inputs, and then running them continuously for years at a time. (That being said, we’d recommend shutting the unit down and cleaning periodically, as per the guidelines laid out in the operator’s manual. Contamination can occur if the interiors aren’t cleaned often enough.)

One problem that customers report on occasion is a door error, which is often caused by the failure of the magnetic door sensor either failing or falling out of place. Our technicians have developed some good techniques for fixing this error and have become adept at this repair.

Thermo Scientific has recently introduced the Thermo 4110 incubator, a follow up to the 3110. We like the 4110 and we’ve previously reviewed it on this blog, and it certainly has some neat features that the 3110 lacks. It remains to be seen whether the 4110 will match it’s predecessor in terms of durability and reliability.

Another benefit of the Thermo Forma 3110 is that it’s a cost-effective option that allows your lab to grow. Order one incubator to start, then another as your culturing storage needs expand, then a second stack after that. No need to write up new SOPs because you’re getting identical units.

So if you’re looking for a Forma 3110 or a Thermo Forma 3110 series II incubator for your cell culture lab, please give us a call or email. 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/.

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  • Quality refurbished laboratory equipment since 1969.
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