Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

chris beasley — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 23:17:06 GMT

We too have one of these autoclaves. It takes a lot of looking after and usually have to call out a engineer for vacuum failure every three months. Had it for nearly three years now. Its very noisy and I would not recommend it!

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

Kerry Brennand DipAVN (Surgical) RVN A1 MBVNA — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 22:53:00 GMT

Thanks Sal appreciate that.......currently looking into the new vet version of the Milag by Eickemeyer which looks good..........its the same as the one they currently have but making it more affordable for the vet market.......

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

Sal the 1st — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 20:55:40 GMT

have used a melag Euroklav and it was ok but did have regular faults. The one I used appeared to be so temperamental about water quality even if you were draining down and cleaning filters weekly

the Melatronic is fairly idiot proof and does a good job (well the ones I have used have been ok anyway ) These are very sturdy little machines and remind me of the older little sisters, when they do go wrong which wasnt that often from my experience they seemed to be easily and quickly fixed with very little downtime

I would say avoid the newer models of these if you can

http://www.eschmann.co.uk/infection-control/autoclaves/show/little-sister-ses-225b

the ones I have come across have a nasty habit of not letting you in to retrieve your sterilised instruments

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

Kerry Brennand DipAVN (Surgical) RVN A1 MBVNA — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 20:34:13 GMT

Hi guys......please can we go back to the topic of this thread.......autoclaves.......I would really appreciate finding out the ones you have in practice and how you rate the machine and the service offered. Has anyone got a MILAG one? Thanks

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

Nicola Smith — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 14:44:42 GMT

It is an electric one and its just the top that spins round. :(

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

Sal the 1st — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 09:52:20 GMT

thats a difficult one - is it an electric or a manual (foot pump) lift? and when the table top spins is it just the table top or the whole table support post ( have seen it where the table top isnt actually tight enough when it has been fixed to the central support post. I became a dab hand at fixing these over the years and sometimes its as easy as just tightening a few bolts.

The other possibility is that if the table is raised beyond its maximum operating height there isnt enough of the central post still in the base for the base to be able to grip it effectively and it can become unstable, in which case you could do with a longer central post (expensive)unless you can get somebody to fabricate you one, which wont nullify any warranty as you have already said its out on that. I found one of the little engineering places on the docks that did one for us when I worked elsewhere. Worked a treat and was a fraction of the cost

Autoclave wise I think ours is a few years old now and doesnt seem to have too many problems, except getting it serviced which we now get done through Burtons (I have said it now! ) and we use an Enigma 17 which I think was supplied by vet direct

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

Nicola Smith — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 06:56:01 GMT

No it doesnt have one. That is what has confused us as all the others i have seen have :( x x x

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

Sal the 1st — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 04:29:27 GMT

Does your ops table have a twist handle that you unscrew when you raise and lower? if so there is a really easy and cheap fix for this using a bit of fairly rigid wide bore stomach tube or a bit of rubber hose that will act as a washer and allow the handle to tighten and prevent the table top spinning. Will take a few piccies at work and post on Monday

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

Nicola Smith — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 20:26:22 GMT

We have a kronex vacuum autoclave and its great - touch wood!! We do however have a burtons ops table that spins round when you raise the height!! We have reported it many times and noone ever gets back to us and been going on so long now out of warranty!!

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

les punton — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 21:28:58 GMT

We don't have problems with our autoclav (jinx) but a while a go the engineer who came was very a very miserable, cocky man who was no help at all. Since got a new guy and he is lovely

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

Robocop — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 12:04:55 GMT

I could have written this word for word!!!! :(

You are not alone. We have had problems for over a year. I have complained and now we only deal with the supervisor.

But we are still having problems with our vacuum autoclave.

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

Kerry Brennand DipAVN (Surgical) RVN A1 MBVNA — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 09:36:35 GMT

Hi all,

We are currently having lots of problems with our "BRAND NEW" instaclave vacuum autoclave MODEL 2545 -5 53 DWA from Burtons. Purchased two new machines in January 2012 and had nothing but problems with vacuum failure errors. Had so many engineer visits I have lost count. Had a loan machine whilst ours went back for repair, despite being away for weeks it still had vacuum failure errors when returned to us. Finally, after my constant complaints and having to write a letter we were sent a new one in November 2013, by January 2014 we were having vacuum failure issues yet again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It really is a nightmare and the service with Burtons is not helpful at all. So now I have to write a further compliant letter in the hope we can get these autoclaves returned with a full refund!!!!

So now looking into sourcing a good reliable autoclave with good service!!!! What do you use in practice? Would appreciate all your suggestions many thanks.

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

chris beasley — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:09:56 GMT

do you know what model you have? Also how old is it? Thanks

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

nin86 — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 11:36:46 GMT

Heya, dont know if this applies still, but our Burtons Instaclave has been failing regularaly since we got it. Following frequent visits from various engineers we have just been told that they have discovered a fault with the machines which is something to do with not having enough voltage power to push the steam through the autoclave...hence failure. We have been told we need an additional part added to it in order to prevent it...so its not us using it wrong at all, but a manufacturer problem.

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

jules007 — Tue, 29 May 2012 11:25:27 GMT

Thanks for that info, it all sounds very familiar!! The engineer that Burtons sent out to us was constantly blaming us for not using it properly and I got so fed up I complained to the company and they sent out a different engineer. He was here for a few hours, pinpointed the problem immediately (the circuit) and we haven't had a problem with it since, so fingers crossed it appears to be fixed. The first engineer mucked around with it so much though I am concerned he did more harm than good.

Jules

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

Laura James — Sat, 05 May 2012 19:41:45 GMT

We had two Burton's autoclaves last year - one small and one extra large one. Both of them are extremely tempremental, the large one will fail if the clean tank is not totally full and the other one we've given up with, it continually comes up with vacuum fails. The engineer has been out innumerable times and each time he can't find anything wrong with it, blames us and occasionally strips them down, runs them and puts them all back together. When he leaves they break down again immediately. The one thing he did say was that you have to leave 20 mins between cycles as they aren't designed for continual usage!

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

Sarah Cahill — Sat, 05 May 2012 19:06:27 GMT

When we got a new Prestige Autoclave it kept showing up error messages, burning out and basically blowing up! After many engineer visits (who gave us different reasons for it's failing each time) and lengthy phonecalls they finally replaced it for us and ever since it has been perfect! Sounds like your machine is maybe a Friday afternoon job!

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

chris beasley — Sat, 05 May 2012 18:43:18 GMT

We too constantly have a vacuum failure with our burtons machine. Recently we also had brown staining of the swabs, it was due to the water filter becoming rusty! Apparently they were designed for coffee machines!

On the subject of the vacuum - 8 out of 10 times all they have done is replace the gasket on the door. It works. So keep a supply in stock

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

dinkyd — Sat, 05 May 2012 13:56:13 GMT

We have had a nitemare with our vacuum autoclave to so much so that after replacing 9 circuit boards in the space of a few weeks they have taken it away to completey dismantle and find the problem!!!Funnily enough the loan one they have given us is a dream to work but is an older version of our one!!

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

nin86 — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:07:00 GMT

We have had a continual problem with our vaccuum failing on our burtons autoclave. Have had numerous visits from various engineers, but it is still very very tempremental. They just generally seem to be a bit dodgy!

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

jules007 — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:11:16 GMT

Yes, thanks Juliet. I have contacted them and after a looooooong conversation they're sending a new chap out - who I'm hoping doesn't spend the entire time blaming us for the failure of the machine!!

Re: Burtons vacuum autoclave- any suggestions??

Juliet Drummond DAVN (med) RVN D32/33 — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:45:21 GMT

i would ask for a second opinion, and even consider complaining to burtons regarding his manner. our vacuum autoclave has been reliaible, i have seen problems in older models, but if your's is only 2 years old, i would not think it normal to have problems. we don't have a burtons unit, ours is a europa b. the company we use to service ours is on this link http://www.auderemedical.co.uk/ i'm not sure if they can help your model, i'd definiately get on to burtons though. good luck