Owner manual
QX100 Droplet Generator Instruction Manual | 7
Chapter 2 Droplet Generation
QX100 Droplet Generator Instruction Manual
Air bubbles can cover the bottom of the well and result in 2,500–7,000 fewer droplets and poor 
data quality. They are difficult to see. To avoid creating air bubbles, use the following pipetting 
techniques, which also ensure samples wet the bottoms of the wells so they are wicked into the 
microchannels (necessary for proper droplet generation).
Use only 20 μl aerosol-barrier (filtered) Rainin pipet tips; do not use 200 μl pipet tips (see Table 1.2) 
Gently slide the pipet tip down the side of the well at a ~15° angle until it passes over the ridge near 
the bottom. Holding the angle, ground the pipet tip against the bottom edge of the sample well while 
slowly dispensing a small portion of the sample; do not pipet directly onto the side (wall) of the well
After dispensing about half the sample, slowly draw the tip up the wall while dispensing the rest of the 
sample; do not push the pipet plunger past the first stop
4.  Dispense the droplet generator (DG) oil in the reagent trough. Use 700 μl DG oil per 8 samples (one DG oil 
bottle contains enough oil for a 96-well PCR plate).
3.  Transfer 20 μl of each prepared sample to the sample wells (middle row) of the DG8 cartridge. 
DG8 cartridge
Reagent trough and droplet generator oil.
Transferring sample to the sample wells (middle row) of the DG8 cartridge. Hold the pipet tip at a 15° angle and at the bottom of 
the well (middle and right panels); do not dispense sample onto the wall or side of the well.
15° angle
Tip
Ridge in well










