Maintaining Your Statim Steriliser

Keeping the STATIM cassette clean is good clinical practice and assists in the proper functioning of the unit. It is recommended that the interior surface be cleaned at least twice a week.

Cleaning the inside of your cassette is very important if you regularly sterilise lubricated instruments. Use dishwashing soap or a mild detergent that does not contain chlorine. Scrub the inside of the cassette with a cleaning pad designed for use with Teflon™ coated surfaces. Rinse thoroughly with water to remove all traces of the detergent.

Coating the entire inside surface of the cassette with STAT-DRI drying agent induces water to form an even coat on the inside surface, without beading. The water in contact with the hot cassette surfaces also evaporates much more efficiently.

Spotting is minimized and instruments dry much better.

STAT-DRI should be applied every 10 cycles and after every cassette cleaning. Some offices use it as often as every morning. Spray it on the inside surfaces of the cassette and use a paper towel or gloved hand to spread it around, so that you have covered the inside of the cassette - top and bottom. STAT-DRI Plus with sprayer is available from Henry Schein.

To ensure optimum performance of your STATIM cassette steriliser, change the cassette seal every 500 cycles or every six months, whichever comes first. Do not wait until there is steam pouring out of the cassette before replacing the seal. Item codes for replacement seals are STATIM 2000 and STATIM 5000.

During the first cycle after changing the seal, steam may appear between the lid and the tray as the seal seats. If this persists, remove the cassette and check that the seal is correctly installed.

For both the 2000 & 5000 models, make sure that the port inside the cassette back left corner, does not have any debris.

The bubble on the front right corner of the STATIM should be in the 4 to 5 o’clock position, NOT in the centre of the circle. This allows any water to flow to the back left corner of the cassette where it is vented out. This will allow the water to flow to the exhaust port much easier. Use the STATIM’s three adjustable feet to change the level, with the front right leg extended fully.

Check that there are not any kinks in the exhaust tubing running from the back of the STATIM to the waste bottle. Kinks in this tubing will significantly reduce the STATIM’s ability to dry instruments. If there is a kink that cannot be straightened out, replace the tubing with SCI-01100204S.

It is very important to change the microbiological air filter on the back of the STATIM 2000S & 5000S every 6 months, or at least every time you change the cassette seal. Some older STATIM units do not have this filter.

To verify whether your STATIM 2000 or 5000 has this filter, look at the back of the machine. If there is a rectangular clear plastic filter with 2 grey hoses coming off it, your machine has the filter. The microbiological air filter is an extremely fine filter.

It is fine enough that it may be significantly plugged up but may not look dirty. Oftentimes, offices have never changed these filters, which results in poor drying capabilities.

To order a replacement STATIM Biological Filter use item code SCI-01102119S.

On the STATIM 2000 there is also an air filter on the air compressor. This is a doughnut-shaped filter that should be replaced every six months. Part # SCI-01100207S. It is located at the rear of the machine, under the round silver cap with a screw in the middle of it. Simply remove the screw to access the filter.

The key to optimal drying in any steriliser is to load it according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Through a series of tests, maximum load weights are determined at manufacture, and the values are included in the operator’s manual. To complete a successful cycle with dry loads, special care must be taken when loading your instruments. It’s important to note that drying cycles have a pre-set time that is determined before the cycle begins. If there are instances when water droplets are present at the end of the cycle, then the operator should increase the pre-set drying time.

For proper loading of your STATIM, place instruments that are in pouches, paper side down. This allows water to “wick” out through the paper and improves drying. Pouched instruments in the STATIM 5000 should be placed on the STAT-DRI Plates (SCI-01103935) to ensure the heat from the plates helps evaporate any moisture in the pouches.

Lay the pouches’ paper side towards the plate.

The STATIM needs airflow through the cassette to dry the instruments, therefore you must use the flat wire rack inside of the STATIM cassette.

For optimum drying, make sure that the feet on the rack are facing down to give the maximum amount of airflow under the instruments.

Do not overstuff the cassette.