Australia's Science Forum

Hi All, Im looking to purchase an autoclave, one off the ones that looks like a pressure cooker but plugs into power. Does anyone have any experience?? Likes/ dislikes, stainless steel versus aluminium?? Thanks for any info. MariaQ

Hi Maria
We have an All American steriliser. They are really good, easy to use and seem pretty reliable. I currently have one that is a plug in - you still have to adjust the power level based on the pressure, it is not automatic. In a previous school, I had the same brand but it needed to sit on a hotplate. We had one of the single, domestic hotplates (cost about $60) for it. The IEC lab hotplates are too tall. This worked just as well, and as a bonus, I felt there was less to go wrong with the unpowered one.
Regardless of the one you go with, all valves, seals etc on these sterilisers are replaceable.

Hi Maria,
We have the All American one that is unpowered. I just sit it on my IEC hotplate (not too tall for our lab setup) and I now know exactly what temperature setting to use to get it up to the correct temperature & pressure and keep it there for 15 mins. As Merilyn said, there is much less that can go wrong with an unpowered one.
Highly recommended!!

Hi Guys, I currently have a pressure cooker that I use, but I like the idea of the powered one as I assume you can set to turn off? Or at least have a timer, sometimes I forget I have left the pressure cooker on.

Thanks for your replies!

MariaQ

Hi Guys,

I have just found in the back of a cupboard that I have an non electric All american 15L sterilizer/ autoclave so now I would like recommendations and pics or item codes if possible of the type of hot plate you use Thanks for your replies! MariaQ

We had something similar to the single hotplate from Haines ($63). I just thought that sitting it on the IEC plate that is tall and not very big, put the steriliser in a precarious position, so preferred the lower, larger, single hotplate.
Before you use the steriliser you have, check all the seals around the valves are in good shape - look for rubber that looks perished. After that, maybe put a perspex screen around it when you run it for the first time.