Running Hot and Cold

Have you ever used one of those low-temperature sample storage blocks that you remove temporarily from the freezer? Ever feel uncomfortable about how well that block maintains its temperature while on the benchtop, despite what the manufacturer claims? Have you silently cursed the puddle that forms under it as that block's frosty coating melts? Torrey Pines Scientific Inc. of Solana Beach, Calif., has redefined laboratory sample temperature control with the recent introduction of its ECHOtherm Model IC20 Digital Electronic Chilling/Heating Plate. Taking up only 6.5 x 8.75 in. of valuable space, this compact benchtop unit employs Peltier electronics to heat and chill biological samples across a temperature range of -10°C-90°C with an accuracy of ±1°C, even when operating at ambient temperatures.

ECHOtherm IC20 Incubator/Chiller

Tony Cassiano, president of Torrey Pines Scientific, characterizes the IC20 succinctly. "It's one versatile little tool," he says. Certainly, the IC20's versatility begins with an ability...