The Z366-250 is the standard 4-position swing-out rotor for the Hermle Z366 / Z366-K family — 4 × 250 mL bottle capacity at swing-out geometry, 4,500 rpm / 3,780 × g max. The Z366 chassis was engineered around this rotor as its primary mid-range bottle-format workflow tool: 250 mL × 4 covers vaccine pre-concentration, recombinant-protein lysate clarification at mid-volume, and bottle-format separations that exceed the 200 mL capacity of the Z327-200 swing-out but don't warrant the 4 × 750 mL or 4 × 1,000 mL capacity of the Z446 / Z496-K rotors. The deep adapter library extends the rotor down to micro-tube formats when the workflow needs format flexibility on the same chassis.
Key Specifications
| SKU | Z366-250 |
| Type | Swing-out rotor — 4 position |
| Bucket capacity | 250 mL each |
| Bucket count | 4 |
| Compatible chassis | Z366 (120 V), Z366-K (120 V refrigerated) |
| Swing range | 0–90° (horizontal at full speed) |
| Max. operating speed | 4,500 rpm |
| Max. RCF at operating speed | 3,780 × g |
| Max. radius | 16.7 cm |
| Acceleration | 34 / 309 sec (standard / extended profile) |
| Deceleration | 36 / 458 sec (standard / extended-unbraked) |
| Temperature at max. speed (refrigerated chassis) | −2 °C |
Compatibility & Configuration
Chassis compatibility — Z366 family only. The Z366-250 fits the Z366 / Z366-K. Not interchangeable with Z327, Z446, Z496-K, or smaller universal centrifuge chassis. The chassis's RFID rotor-identification system reads the rotor's tag at insertion and applies the rotor-rated 4,500 rpm cap automatically.
Deep adapter library (sold separately, all in the Z366-250-A* SKU family per brochure):
- A150 — 1 × 150 mL conical, 56 mm tube ø
- A100 — 1 × 100 mL RB Glass, 41 mm
- A85 — 1 × 85 mL RB/OR, 38 mm
- A50R — 1 × 50 mL round-bottom, 29 mm
- A50 — 1 × 50 mL conical, 29 mm
- A50SS — 1 × 50 mL skirted, 29 mm
- A30 — 1 × 30 mL, 25 mm
- A50R-EX — extended-length 50 mL round-bottom
The brochure tube-rack table shows tube count per bucket per adapter — for example, with the A50 adapter, the rotor handles 4 × 50 mL = 16 conical tubes per cycle.
Application Profile
4 × 250 mL bottle workflows — the rotor's primary use case. Vaccine pre-concentration, recombinant-protein lysate clarification at mid-volume, environmental sample particulate clarification in 250 mL bottles.
4 × 50 mL conical workflows via A50 adapters — when the workflow needs swing-out geometry for 50 mL conical samples (clean phase boundary, density-gradient preservation) at mid-RCF; the Z366-250 with adapters is competitive with dedicated 50 mL clinical centrifuges at higher per-cycle throughput.
Density-gradient and step-gradient work. The unbraked deceleration option (458 sec extended profile per brochure) preserves continuous gradients during slow-down; useful for sucrose-gradient virus prep, Percoll-gradient cell separation, and similar gradient-preservation workflows in 250 mL or smaller-format bottles.
Cold-chain bottle workflows on Z366-K — combines the rotor's 250 mL capacity with the chassis's −20 °C to +40 °C temperature control. The rotor's −2 °C "temperature at max speed" spec is the brochure-documented chamber temperature when running the Z366-K at maximum speed with this rotor — appropriate for 4 °C cold-chain protein work.
Multi-format flexibility — the deep adapter library means a single Z366-250 rotor handles bottle-format and tube-format workflows on the same chassis without rotor-swap.
Loading & Balance
4-bucket symmetric loading. Pair opposite buckets by weight (positions 1+3, 2+4); pre-balance to within the rotor's per-position tolerance.
Adapter consistency required across all 4 positions when using adapters — mixed adapters produce asymmetric mass distribution.
Selectable accel/decel. The chassis's 10 acceleration / 10 deceleration profiles apply. The unbraked decel (458 sec extended profile per brochure) preserves loose pellets and continuous gradients.
Ordering & Configuration
Z366-250 ships as the rotor body with 4 buckets. Adapters and specialty inserts are sold separately.
Confirm at quote: chassis pairing (Z366 / Z366-K), adapter inventory needed per intended tube formats, and whether sister rotors (Z366-250-HC for 16 × 50 mL conical, Z366-06250 for 6 × 250 mL angle) are part of the order.
Warranty: 5-Year Hermle warranty (3 years full + 2 years drivetrain) on the rotor body and buckets. Balance validation through the Hermle service network.
Z366 rotor selection: the Z366-250 (this product, 4 × 250 mL swing-out) is the standard mid-volume swing-out for the Z366 chassis. The Z366-250-HC (high capacity) handles 16 × 50 mL conical per cycle in the same chassis at swing-out geometry — better throughput for 50 mL workflows. The Z366-06250 (6 × 250 mL angle) trades swing-out geometry for higher RCF and one more position per cycle.
