Rectangular Microplate Bucket for Z446-750-AC (2/pk)

The Z446-MP-BUK is the rectangular microplate bucket for the Hermle Z446 family swing-out rotor — sold as a 2-pack. The complete Z446 swing-out rotor takes 4 buckets, so a full microplate-bucket set requires 2 units of Z446-MP-BUK (4 buckets total). Where the standard Z446-750-BUK round buckets accept tubes and bottles via the Z446 adapter library, the rectangular profile of the Z446-MP-BUK is engineered specifically to accept microplates directly — no microplate adapter required, no wasted capacity from fitting a rectangular plate into a round bucket. This is the right bucket spec when the Z446 chassis is being used for batch-format microplate centrifugation alongside (or instead of) bottle and tube workflows.

Key Specifications

Compatibility & When to Order This SKU

This SKU is the rectangular bucket only. Order Z446-MP-BUK when at least one of the following applies:

1. You're commissioning a Z446-750-AC (rotor body without buckets) and want microplate-direct loading capability — order 2 units of this SKU for a complete 4-bucket microplate configuration.
2. You're adding microplate capability to an existing Z446 install that currently uses standard Z446-750 round buckets — running microplate-format work on the Z446 chassis previously required microplate adapters in round buckets, which is less efficient than direct loading. Ordering Z446-MP-BUK adds a dedicated microplate bucket set without retiring the round buckets.
3. Replacement microplate buckets if a current set is damaged or has reached service life.
4. Spare bucket inventory for facilities running mixed-product or biosafety workflows that benefit from rotating bucket sets through cleaning cycles.

Bucket-Profile Selection: Round vs Rectangular

The Z446 family supports two bucket profiles. The selection depends on the dominant workflow:

Round buckets (Z446-750-BUK) — included as the standard configuration in Z446-750. Accept tubes and bottles via the deep Z446 adapter library (28 × 50 mL, 68 × 15 mL, 4 × 750 mL bottle, blood bags via inserts, microtubes via adapters). The flexible all-purpose bucket for tube and bottle workflows.

Rectangular buckets (Z446-MP-BUK, this SKU) — microplate-direct loading without adapters. The right pick when microplate-format work is part of the workflow and the per-cycle efficiency of direct loading matters. Some facilities own both bucket profiles and swap between them based on workflow.

Mixing bucket profiles is not supported — all 4 positions on the rotor must use the same bucket type for symmetric balance. If your workflow needs both microplate and tube/bottle workflows, plan to swap full bucket sets between protocols rather than mixing.

Workflow Notes

Microplate-direct loading. Standard SBS-footprint microplates (96-well, 384-well, deep-well) load directly into the rectangular bucket without an adapter. This is the per-cycle efficiency advantage over round-bucket-with-microplate-adapter configurations — no adapter to install, no wasted bucket capacity from adapter geometry.

Loading-envelope verification. The 80 mm max loading height accommodates standard plates plus stacking up to 2 plates if both fit within the 80 mm envelope. The 640 g max loading weight per bucket is sufficient for deep-well plates with substantial sample volumes (typical deep-well plate ~150 g loaded; 4 plates per bucket × 4 buckets = 16 plates per cycle if stacking is supported).

Bucket-pair balancing. When loading microplates, balance opposite buckets by total mass — sample-loaded plates of similar mass in positions 1+3 and 2+4. Microplate mass varies meaningfully with sample volume (a fully loaded deep-well plate vs an empty 96-well plate differs by 100+ g), so per-spin pre-balance is operator responsibility.

Ordering & Configuration

Z446-MP-BUK ships as 2 rectangular buckets — no rotor body, no microplate adapters (none required for direct loading), no plate sealers.

Required for operation:

• Z446-750-AC rotor body (sold separately) — or rotor body already in inventory
• For full 4-bucket configuration: order 2 units of this SKU
• For workflows that also need tube/bottle compatibility: separately, the Z446-750-BUK round buckets

Confirm at quote: rotor-body pairing (Z446-750-AC inventory or new rotor body order), bucket count needed (2 or 4), and lead time. The Hermle / Benchmark distributor can advise on combined-line pricing if the order includes the rotor body + buckets together.

Warranty: 5-Year Hermle warranty (3 years full + 2 years drivetrain) on the buckets. Manufacturing-defect coverage; bucket service-life inspection is part of the standard Hermle service interval recommendation.

Z446 bucket-procurement options:

- Z446-750 ($3,820) — bundled rotor + 4 round buckets — single-line procurement for tube and bottle workflows

- Z446-750-AC ($3,038) + 2 × Z446-MP-BUK ($4,276 for 4 microplate buckets) = $7,314 — when the workflow is microplate-direct

- Z446-MP-BUK alone ($2,138, 2 buckets) — replacement or adding microplate capability to an existing rotor body