LimsPulse
Microbiology & sterility

Incubator / BOD incubator

A temperature-controlled chamber that holds culture plates and tubes at a fixed temperature so microorganisms can grow. BOD incubators can heat and cool, so they also hold temperatures below room temperature, such as 20–25 °C for fungi.

  • Pharmaceutical
  • Biotech
  • Food & beverage
  • Water testing
  • Environmental
  • Research laboratories
Photo of a Incubator / BOD incubator
Photo: Sinalkar Kanchan, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
TROUBLESHOOTING

Common problems, causes and fixes

Temperature above set point
Likely causes
  • • Faulty sensor or controller
  • • Room too hot for a heating-only unit
  • • Refrigeration failure (BOD)
  • • Heater relay stuck on
What to do
  • • Check the reading with a calibrated thermometer
  • • Move the unit or use a BOD incubator
  • • Call service for the compressor or relay
  • • Assess plates incubated during the excursion
Temperature below set point
Likely causes
  • • Door left open or poor gasket seal
  • • Heater failure
  • • Ice build-up on the evaporator (BOD)
What to do
  • • Close the door and replace a damaged gasket
  • • Call service for the heater
  • • Defrost and check the defrost cycle
Poor uniformity between shelves
Likely causes
  • • Overloading or blocked air paths
  • • Fan failure
  • • Plates against the walls or fan
What to do
  • • Reduce load and leave space between stacks
  • • Check fan operation
  • • Use only mapped positions
Display differs from reference thermometer
Likely causes
  • • Sensor drift
  • • Wrong calibration offset
What to do
  • • Recalibrate and apply the correct offset
  • • Replace the sensor if drift continues
Condensation inside plates or chamber
Likely causes
  • • Plates not inverted
  • • Large temperature difference between media and chamber
  • • Water spills or humid samples
What to do
  • • Incubate plates inverted
  • • Pre-warm or dry plates before use
  • • Clean and dry the chamber
Frequent alarms
Likely causes
  • • Alarm limits set too tight
  • • Frequent door opening
  • • Monitoring probe in an unrepresentative position
What to do
  • • Review alarm limits against the requirement
  • • Plan access to reduce door openings
  • • Relocate the probe to a mapped representative position
In LimsPulse · Calibration Management

Keep every Incubator in control: usage logs, calibration and maintenance schedules, and automatic blocking of overdue instruments.

See how