Clean and in excellent condition. This unit was pulled from a premiere state facility and was obviously gently used.
Fully tested in our facility. We put this unit through the paces. It was well behaved at all speed, with no undue noise or vibration.
Timer and variable speed control worked exactly as designed.
These machines are workhorses even when they aren't treated as well as this was. This one will be disrupting cell walls in your lab for years to come.
Inspected onsite:
- Timer: ✔
- Variable Speed Control: ✔
- Power/Mode Switch: ✔
- Tube Holder Clamp: ✔
- Bearings: ✔
- Shaker Connection Joints: ✔
- Motor: ✔
- Power Supply: ✔
Maintenance Conducted:
- Replaced Tube Holder O-ring
- Lubricated Connection Joints
Manufacturer Description
The BioSpec Mini-BeadBeater-8 (Model 693) is a high-energy, high-efficiency cell disrupter designed for the rapid mechanical lysis of biological samples. Utilizing an aggressive, multi-directional shaking motion, this benchtop system forcefully agitates disposable microcentrifuge vials filled with small ceramic, glass, or steel beads. The Model 693 easily achieves 100% cell wall disruption of the most resilient matrices—including spores, yeast, fungi, and tough animal or plant tissues—typically in less than three minutes. Featuring a heavy, vibration-dampening cast metal base and a clear, high-impact safety hood, this unit delivers exceptional mechanical reliability and operator safety for daily nucleic acid and protein extraction workflows.
Technical Specifications
- Model Number: Mini-BeadBeater-8 (Model 693)
- Capacity: Processes 1 to 8 standard 1.5 mL or 2.0 mL microcentrifuge tubes simultaneously
- Speed Control: Variable speed adjustment dial ranging up to 3,200 RPM
- Timer Control: Integrated 0 to 5-minute manual dial timer with automatic shut-off
- Chassis Design: Heavy cast-alloy housing with a transparent, high-impact polycarbonate protective safety cover
- Drive Mechanism: Robust direct-drive motor assembly engineered for continuous laboratory service life
- Electrical Requirements: 115 VAC, 60 Hz (Standard US Outlet)
- Value-Add: Features an advanced variable-speed controller that enables fine-tuned adjustments, allowing operators to run lower speeds for gentle cell dispersion or maximum velocity for total disruption of tough plant cellulose or bone fragments.
System Compatibility
The Mini-BeadBeater-8 utilizes standard laboratory consumables, eliminating proprietary locking costs:
- Vial Formats: Fully compatible with standard 1.5 mL and 2.0 mL interlocking or screw-cap polypropylene microcentrifuge tubes.
- Lysis Media: Optimally accepts standard BioSpec glass (0.1–0.5 mm for bacteria), zirconia-silica (0.5 mm for yeast/spores), or chrome-steel beads (2.5 mm for fibrous tissue).
- Removable Stacker: The internal tube-holding rotor matrix can be completely removed for swift sample loading and post-lysis cleaning.
Applications
The premier choice for rapid sample preparation across academic and industrial laboratories:
- DNA/RNA Extraction: High-yield isolation of delicate nucleic acids from plant seeds, leaves, or animal biopsies without thermal degradation.
- Microbiology & Mycology: Absolute disruption of stubborn Gram-positive bacterial cell walls and thick chitinous fungal structures.
- Environmental Testing: Rapid processing of soil, sediment, and wastewater samples for metagenomic community profiling.
- Proteomics: Rapid release of active internal enzymes and proteins into extraction buffers for downstream Western Blot or LC-MS analysis.
