We had a problem with our VIP 5 the other night, and our service rep can't find anything wrong with it.  There is no error code showing to indicate what might have happened.  I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar problem.

When the pathologist put the blocks on the processor on Sunday, she said the retort was very hot - hotter than usual.  When our tech went in Monday morning, he said the formalin smell was overbearing when he opened the retort.  The blocks had been in paraffin, but they looked dry and they were not processed well at all (we had to reprocess everything).  We add eosin to the 95% alcohol so that the tissue will be colored, but the tissue was not colored at all on this day, so we're pretty sure they didn't go into the 95% alcohol - and probably not into any of the alcohols.  We also discovered a little bit of formalin in the last paraffin.

I've heard of condensation forming on the lid of the retort and dripping down into the solutions, and this may have happened, but something else also happened.  Does anyone have any ideas??

Laurie Colbert
Huntington Hospital

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