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What This Guide Helps With
Troubleshooting Atellica wash, cuvette handling, waste, or fluidics pressure faults using external checks before service escalation.
Step-by-Step Troubleshooting
Ensure Patient Safety First
Confirm the analyzer is not actively processing urgent patient samples before troubleshooting.
If testing is in progress, coordinate with the laboratory supervisor before stopping, pausing, or removing the analyzer from service.
Expected outcome: Patient testing is protected, and the lab has a safe alternate testing plan if needed.
Confirm the Exact Fault Message or Area
Review the analyzer message, event log, or user report.
Identify whether the issue appears related to:
- Wash station
- Cuvette supply or cuvette movement
- Waste container or waste drain
- Liquid waste line
- Probe wash or rinse function
- Fluidics pressure, vacuum, or aspiration/dispense pressure
- Repeated pressure recovery or priming failure
Expected outcome: The fault is narrowed to wash, cuvette, waste, or pressure-fluidics before parts are suspected.
Check for Active Leaks, Odor, or Overflow
Inspect the area around the analyzer for visible liquid, chemical odor, pooling, dripping, or waste overflow.
Do not continue operation if there is a leak, overflow, or unknown fluid under the analyzer.
Expected outcome: Any immediate safety or contamination issue is identified before further troubleshooting.
If leaking, overflowing, or chemical exposure risk is present, stop and remove the analyzer from service.
Verify Waste Container or Drain Status
Check whether the liquid waste container is full, improperly seated, capped incorrectly, or not connected.
If the analyzer is connected to a facility drain, verify the waste line is not kinked, blocked, pinched, lifted too high, or disconnected.
Expected outcome: Waste can flow freely away from the analyzer.
If correcting the waste container or drain line clears the fault, run the required system check and stop.
Inspect External Fluid Lines
Look for kinked, pinched, pulled, loose, or disconnected external fluid tubing.
Pay close attention to lines near the analyzer rear, side panels, waste routing, wash fluid supply, and any tubing recently moved during cleaning or reagent/waste replacement.
Expected outcome: Fluid paths are physically connected and not restricted.
If a line was kinked or disconnected and the fault clears after correction, document the finding and stop.
Check Wash Fluid, System Fluid, and Required Consumables
Confirm required system liquids, wash solutions, water supply, and related consumables are present, not empty, and properly seated.
Verify caps, pickup tubes, and container positions are correct.
Expected outcome: The analyzer has adequate fluid supply and is not drawing air due to an empty or mispositioned container.
Check for Air in Fluid Lines
Observe accessible fluid lines, if visible, for excessive bubbles or signs that the analyzer may have drawn air.
Air can cause pressure, aspiration, dispense, or wash faults even when the container has been replaced.
Expected outcome: Fluid lines appear filled and stable after supply containers are corrected.
If the analyzer provides an operator-level prime, wash, or fluidics recovery routine, run only the approved routine.
Verify Cuvette Supply and Cuvette Path
Check that cuvettes are loaded correctly and that the cuvette supply area is not empty, jammed, misaligned, or contaminated.
Look for cracked, loose, upside-down, or improperly seated cuvettes in accessible areas.
Expected outcome: Cuvettes are available and moving correctly through the expected path.
If a visible cuvette obstruction is safely removable without disassembly, remove it according to site procedure and retest.
Inspect Wash Station Area for Obvious Obstruction
With the analyzer in a safe stopped or service-access state, inspect the wash area for visible obstruction, residue buildup, stray cuvettes, liquid pooling, or dried material.
Do not force wash probes, arms, cuvette paths, or internal mechanisms.
Expected outcome: No obvious external obstruction is preventing wash movement or fluid flow.
Check Analyzer Covers, Doors, and Interlocks
Verify all doors, covers, drawers, and access panels used during routine operation are fully closed and latched.
A partially open cover or drawer can interrupt fluidics, wash, or cuvette movement sequences.
Expected outcome: The analyzer is in a normal ready condition with all user-accessible closures secured.
Review Recent Operator Actions
Ask whether the fault started after:
- Waste container change
- Wash solution replacement
- Water supply issue
- Cuvette refill
- Routine cleaning
- Reagent or sample spill
- Analyzer restart
- Maintenance procedure
- Facility plumbing work
Expected outcome: The fault is linked to a recent external change when possible.
Run Approved Recovery, Prime, or Maintenance Routine
Use only manufacturer-approved operator or service-accessible recovery routines available at the analyzer interface.
Examples may include fluidics recovery, priming, wash system checks, cuvette handling checks, or waste-related checks depending on site access and analyzer configuration.
Expected outcome: The analyzer completes the recovery routine without repeating the fault.
If the routine passes and testing resumes normally, document the action and stop.
Check for Repeated or Escalating Faults
If the same pressure, wash, waste, or cuvette fault returns after correcting supplies, tubing, waste status, and approved recovery routines, do not continue repeated resets.
Repeated faults may indicate an internal pump, valve, sensor, wash station, vacuum, pressure, drain, or cuvette transport issue.
Expected outcome: The device is not forced back into operation when the underlying fault remains unresolved.
Verify Final Operational Status
If the fault clears, confirm the analyzer returns to ready status and completes the required check, calibration, QC, or lab-approved verification before patient testing resumes.
Expected outcome: The analyzer is not returned to service based only on a cleared alarm.
If the Problem Persists
If the Atellica Solution continues to show wash, cuvette, waste, or fluidics pressure faults after external checks, supplies, waste routing, tubing, cuvette loading, and approved recovery routines have been completed, common external causes have been ruled out.
The analyzer should be:
- Removed from service or placed in a non-patient-testing status
- Labeled Out of Service according to site procedure
- Escalated for Siemens service, internal repair review, or bench/service evaluation
Likely internal causes may include pump failure, valve malfunction, pressure or vacuum sensor fault, wash station malfunction, internal tubing restriction, cuvette transport issue, waste pump issue, or fluidics control failure.
Knowing when to stop is proper troubleshooting. Repeated resets without correcting the cause can risk sample errors, carryover, failed QC, analyzer contamination, or delayed patient results.
Clinical Use Tip
Do not troubleshoot wash, waste, cuvette, or pressure-fluidics issues while the analyzer is actively processing patient samples unless the laboratory supervisor confirms it is safe. If urgent testing is needed, move testing to another analyzer or approved backup workflow first.
Work Order Documentation (CCR Method)
CCR = Complaint, Cause, Resolution
Complaint
What was reported by the clinical staff.
Example:
"Laboratory staff reported an Atellica Solution wash and fluidics pressure fault during routine chemistry testing."
Cause
What was observed during troubleshooting.
Example:
"Found the liquid waste line kinked behind the analyzer, restricting waste flow and causing repeated pressure recovery errors."
Resolution
What action was taken.
Example:
"Repositioned the waste line, verified waste flow path, ran the approved fluidics recovery routine, and confirmed the analyzer returned to ready status pending lab QC verification."
Helpful Details to Include (If Known)
- Exact fault code or message displayed
- Whether the issue involved wash, cuvette, waste, pressure, vacuum, aspiration, or dispense
- Whether patient testing was active at the time
- Waste container level or facility drain status
- External tubing condition
- Wash/system fluid levels
- Cuvette supply status
- Any visible leak, overflow, residue, unusual odor, heat, or sound
- Recovery, prime, or maintenance routine performed
- Whether the fault repeated after reset
- QC, calibration, or verification status after recovery
- Final device status: returned to service, monitored, or removed from service
Final Thought
Wash, cuvette, waste, and pressure-fluidics faults should be approached carefully because they can affect sample integrity, carryover, reagent delivery, and result reliability. Start with visible supplies, tubing, waste routing, cuvette loading, and approved recovery routines before suspecting internal failure. If the fault repeats, remove the analyzer from service and document clearly using the CCR method.
That is successful troubleshooting.