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There's been a lot of discussion lately about starting your own practice so I briefly want to bring up this device as I believe people likely see it online and think - hey good starting price. I've also seen people advocate for it on Iped.
-It sells on Amazon so you could potentially get 5% back on an Amazon Visa.
-I believe I've seen its price fluctuate between $2500-2700. I'm sure there's some website out there that tracks this.
-Its very easy to set-up. You essentially check the water level and go.
-It comes with straight forward picture driven instructions. I've never used an autoclave and I was immediately able to use it without issue. My nurse, not so much. More below.
The big thing to keep in mind though is it is a manual. So a fancier autoclave will move through the sterilize and dry cycles itself. A manual is moved by whoever hears the bell ring. Yeah, its got a timer with a bell.
With this one you - open the valve to load the water, close the valve by moving to the sterilize cycle, and then drain / heat / dry by manually moving to the knob to the next cycle after the timer goes off. So - there has to be someone there to change between the cycles as opposed to the process happening automatically.
Humorous aside. My nurse kept botching this. Essentially when you move from heat to sterilize the machine drains itself, but there is a way to make the machine not drain (and then leak all the water out when you open the door to release steam) and she definitely found it.
Additionally - its a very small autoclave. Its got 3 shelves, but its quite tight. Again - I had never used an autoclave. Technically, you aren't supposed to stack things on top of each other. So if you are simply putting instruments on the trays you'll likely have quite a bit of room. But if you are bagging them - it doesn't take much of a load / you can't fit much.
There is technically another Tuttnaeur manual autoclave that is bigger, but it costs like $1500-2000 more. I haven't spent much time pricing it. When you cross that sort of price threshold you might start thinking - well for another $2K maybe you'd get some sort of automatic Midmark. I dont actually know what Midmark automatics cost but my guess is $7-10K based on some trivial internet searching
Autoclaves definitely don't last forever and I was interested skimming Iped right now and seeing a lot of posts through time about autoclaves breaking down. After leaving my last office my nurse revealed to me that the drying cycle wasn't actually working right on the Midmark at my last office. That was a cringe revelation since an inadequate drying cycle leaves water within the packs and violates sterility. It also likely rusts the instruments. My memory is Feli told me he had an automatic crap out - maybe he'll have something to add.
Anyway - I'll try and load some pictures up when I get a chance next week, but know that you get what you pay for. My guess is - a reliable device with a good price point, but you get what you pay for. Gotta stay on top of your cleaning cycles and gotta run more cycles if you use a lot of equipment. If I could magically snap my fingers I'd have bought the next size up. *Small addition edit after the fact - the Valueklave has a lot of great reviews; the size up, very few. Maybe I should just be grateful.
-It sells on Amazon so you could potentially get 5% back on an Amazon Visa.
-I believe I've seen its price fluctuate between $2500-2700. I'm sure there's some website out there that tracks this.
-Its very easy to set-up. You essentially check the water level and go.
-It comes with straight forward picture driven instructions. I've never used an autoclave and I was immediately able to use it without issue. My nurse, not so much. More below.
The big thing to keep in mind though is it is a manual. So a fancier autoclave will move through the sterilize and dry cycles itself. A manual is moved by whoever hears the bell ring. Yeah, its got a timer with a bell.
With this one you - open the valve to load the water, close the valve by moving to the sterilize cycle, and then drain / heat / dry by manually moving to the knob to the next cycle after the timer goes off. So - there has to be someone there to change between the cycles as opposed to the process happening automatically.
Humorous aside. My nurse kept botching this. Essentially when you move from heat to sterilize the machine drains itself, but there is a way to make the machine not drain (and then leak all the water out when you open the door to release steam) and she definitely found it.
Additionally - its a very small autoclave. Its got 3 shelves, but its quite tight. Again - I had never used an autoclave. Technically, you aren't supposed to stack things on top of each other. So if you are simply putting instruments on the trays you'll likely have quite a bit of room. But if you are bagging them - it doesn't take much of a load / you can't fit much.
There is technically another Tuttnaeur manual autoclave that is bigger, but it costs like $1500-2000 more. I haven't spent much time pricing it. When you cross that sort of price threshold you might start thinking - well for another $2K maybe you'd get some sort of automatic Midmark. I dont actually know what Midmark automatics cost but my guess is $7-10K based on some trivial internet searching
Autoclaves definitely don't last forever and I was interested skimming Iped right now and seeing a lot of posts through time about autoclaves breaking down. After leaving my last office my nurse revealed to me that the drying cycle wasn't actually working right on the Midmark at my last office. That was a cringe revelation since an inadequate drying cycle leaves water within the packs and violates sterility. It also likely rusts the instruments. My memory is Feli told me he had an automatic crap out - maybe he'll have something to add.
Anyway - I'll try and load some pictures up when I get a chance next week, but know that you get what you pay for. My guess is - a reliable device with a good price point, but you get what you pay for. Gotta stay on top of your cleaning cycles and gotta run more cycles if you use a lot of equipment. If I could magically snap my fingers I'd have bought the next size up. *Small addition edit after the fact - the Valueklave has a lot of great reviews; the size up, very few. Maybe I should just be grateful.
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