The Z327-200-A15B is the 4-position 15 mL conical tube insert for the Hermle Z327-200-BUK swing-out bucket on the Z327 / Z327-K chassis 4-place rotor — sold as a 2-pack. Each insert holds 4 × 15 mL conical tubes; the 4-bucket rotor configuration takes 2 packs (4 inserts) for full symmetric loading, delivering 16 × 15 mL conical tubes per cycle in swing-out geometry. The A15B is non-lid-compatible (per the brochure footnote "* only without bucket lid") — the higher-throughput sister to the lid-compatible Z327-200-A15 (3 × 15 mL conical, 12/cycle, biosafety-capable).
Key Specifications
| SKU | Z327-200-A15B |
| Type | Tube insert — 4 × 15 mL conical |
| Pack quantity | 2 inserts per SKU (full 4-bucket configuration takes 2 units = 4 inserts) |
| Per-insert capacity | 4 × 15 mL conical tubes |
| Per-cycle throughput (full configuration) | 16 × 15 mL conical per cycle |
| Tube format | 15 mL conical Falcon-style (17 mm OD) |
| Bucket lid compatibility | Non-lid-compatible — used only without Z327-200-LID |
| Compatible bucket | Z327-200-BUK |
| Compatible rotor | Z327-200 (or Z327-200-AC rotor body without buckets) |
| Compatible chassis | Z327, Z327-K (refrigerated), and -E voltage variants |
| Max. operating speed (with insert + tubes) | Per Z327-200 spec — 5,000 rpm at 4,136 × g maximum |
| Max. radius | 14.8 cm |
| Geometry | Swing-out (0–90°) — flat sediment surface |
| List price | $288 (2-pack) |
Compatibility & When to Order This SKU
Insert pairing — Z327-200-BUK swing-out bucket only. Order this SKU when:
- Adding higher-throughput 15 mL conical workflow to an existing Z327 / Z327-K + Z327-200 install — order 2 units for full 4-bucket symmetric loading (16 tubes/cycle vs the lid-compatible A15's 12 tubes/cycle).
- Non-biosafety 15 mL conical workflows — when the workflow doesn't require hermetic containment and the higher per-cycle throughput matters more than biosafety capability.
- Cold-chain 15 mL conical clinical-research prep at higher throughput on the Z327-K refrigerated chassis (cold-chain integrity preserved without the lid).
- Replacement inserts if a current set is damaged or worn.
A15B vs A15 — Throughput vs Biosafety Trade-Off
The Z327-200 rotor system offers two 15 mL conical insert paths:
| Insert | Per cycle | Lid compatible | Pick when |
| Z327-200-A15B (this SKU) | 16 × 15 mL conical | No — * not lid compatible | Higher throughput matters; biosafety not required |
| Z327-200-A15 | 12 × 15 mL conical | Yes — sealable for BSL-2 + | Biosafety containment matters; throughput is secondary |
The A15B's 33% higher per-cycle throughput (16 vs 12 tubes) is meaningful for institutional clinical-research and biobank workflows where the biosafety driver isn't present. When the workflow handles potentially infectious patient samples, switch to the lid-compatible A15.
Application Profile
4-bucket symmetric loading. All 4 buckets must use matching A15B inserts for symmetric balance.
Non-sealed mode only. Per the brochure footnote, the A15B is used only without the bucket lid — the Z327-200-LID is removed for runs with this insert. Cold-chain integrity (Z327-K refrigeration at chamber temperature) is preserved without the lid; biosafety containment is not.
Design Architecture
Higher-throughput cold-chain 15 mL clinical-research prep — patient sample fractionation, aliquot prep, freeze-storage workflows at 16 tubes per cycle on the cold-chain swing-out chassis (vs the 12-tube throughput of the lid-compatible A15).
Cell-culture pellet recovery in 15 mL at higher throughput — pelleting non-adherent cells from 16 parallel suspension batches per cycle.
Density-gradient prep in 15 mL at higher throughput — Ficoll, Percoll, sucrose-gradient prep at 16 parallel preps.
Bench-scale protein prep at cold-chain — TCA, ammonium-sulfate, organic-precipitation in 15 mL conical at higher parallel throughput on the refrigerated chassis.
Mid-throughput institutional clinical-research workflows — when the 12-tube lid-compatible A15 configuration becomes a throughput bottleneck and biosafety containment is not the workflow driver, the A15B adds 33% per-cycle throughput.
Cross-format Z327-K core facilities — labs that handle both biosafety and non-biosafety 15 mL conical workflows can stock both A15 (lid-compatible) and A15B (higher-throughput non-sealed) for workflow-specific configuration.
Ordering & Configuration
4-bucket symmetric loading. All 4 buckets must use matching A15B inserts. Mixed-bucket configurations produce mass asymmetry.
Bucket lid removal. Confirm the Z327-200-LID is removed from all 4 buckets before running with the A15B insert — the insert is not compatible with the installed lid.
Per-insert symmetric loading. Within each insert, the 4 conical tubes should be balanced — pair tubes by mass.
Tube cap confirmation. All conical tubes must be securely capped before spinning at 5,000 rpm.
Z327-200-A15B ships as 2 inserts. 15 mL conical tubes are operator-supplied (commodity Falcon / Corning / equivalent formats). The Z327-200-BUK bucket is sold separately.
Confirm at quote: bucket pairing (Z327-200-BUK in inventory), chassis pairing (Z327 or Z327-K), tube format (15 mL conical Falcon-style), workflow biosafety driver (A15B is non-sealable; biosafety workflows should use A15 instead), pack count (2 packs for full 4-bucket configuration), and lead time.
Warranty: 5-Year Hermle warranty (3 years full + 2 years drivetrain) on the inserts.
Z327-200 15 mL insert pair (Z327 / Z327-K chassis):
- Z327-200-A15B (this product) — 4 × 15 mL conical, * not lid compatible (16/cycle, higher throughput)
- Z327-200-A15 — 3 × 15 mL conical, lid-compatible (12/cycle, BSL-2 +)
Pick A15B when throughput matters more than containment; pick A15 for biosafety workflows.
