Pipette Calibration ISO 8655-6 on Your Lab Balance ⚖ UP↑SCALE

Two modes for two jobs

1💧 Pipette check PRO

An intermediate check between calibrations (ISO/IEC 17025, 6.4.10): one volume, a few deliveries, the systematic and the random error against the limits of the pipette - PASS or FAIL in a few minutes. It is no calibration and gives no uncertainty; it keeps confidence in a pipette until its next calibration. A multichannel pipette: channel 1, every channel or a rotating group - e.g. 3 channels per check, and the next check takes the next 3. Also with the virtual scale (APP ONLY) and a balance on a USB cable.

2⚗ Pipette calibration ENTERPRISE

A calibration along the gravimetric reference procedure of ISO 8655-6:2022: nominal, 50 % and the lower volume, 10 deliveries each, every channel, the evaporation, the environment at the start and the end, the expanded uncertainty of every volume, as found and as left - and the sealed calibration report with the signatures of the tester and a reviewer.

Step by step - your hands stay on the pipette

1Scan the pipette

Its own asset label (QR, Code 128, Code 39), a maker's code (GS1: GTIN + serial) or our sticker - with the camera or a USB hand scanner. The register brings the volume, the channels and the limits: the ISO 8655-2 table, the maker specification or your own.

2The UP↑SCALE guides every step

Set the volume, new tip, pre-wet - OK (a foot pedal works as OK; the weight is ignored meanwhile). Then aspirate and dispense: the UP↑SCALE takes every delivery itself when the balance is stable, reads the line of the balance digit by digit (also 0.001 mg), measures the evaporation and asks KEEP or REDO when a delivery is far from the expected mass. On a multichannel pipette the next channel starts by itself - no tap between the channels.

3Result, record, sticker

Mean volume, systematic and random error, PASS or FAIL - saved at once in the register with every single value. A sticker for the pipette, a status tag for a failed one, and with ENTERPRISE the sealed PDF report with your own title and accreditation text.

Not sure what an option does? Every option of the setup, every button of the run and every field of the register and the lab settings has a small ℹ️ that explains it.

The setup of a pipette calibration: pipette PIP-0114 of 20 to 200 µL with its next check and calibration, the run as found, the test volumes 200, 100 and 20 µL with 10 deliveries each, and the water and air temperature, air pressure and humidity - every option with an info button — Set up in a minute: volumes, deliveries, room

The calibration of a pipette running: volume 2 of 3, 100 µL, delivery 7 of 10, the instruction to dispense against the wall of the vessel, the live reading 99.940 mg = 100.25 µL, and the values so far - 200 µL done with a mean of 200.19 µL, PASS — Your hands stay on the pipette: every value taken by itself

Manual: pipette check, pipette calibration, which balance

Uncertainty and your CMC ENTERPRISE

The budget of every volume along ISO 8655-6:2022 / ISO/TR 20461:2023: repeatability, balance (calibration, linearity, resolution), evaporation, water and air temperature, pressure, humidity, the densities and the handling of the instrument (EURAMET cg-19) - each with its contribution on the report; U with k = 2.
U in use for a single delivery, with the operator, laboratory and process effects from your own studies.
Your CMC table as a CSV: the reported U is never below your CMC (raised and marked); a volume outside your scope is marked, and your accreditation text is left off that line. Every upload is a version with its SHA-256.
Decision rule of your choice: simple acceptance or a guard band with U (PASS, FAIL, INCONCLUSIVE) - named on the report.
Deviations named, never hidden: ISO 8655-6:2022 may be claimed only when every requirement is met. The app checks the balance, your instruments, the room and the water at the start and the end, the test volumes and the 10 deliveries; before START it lists what is missing, and the report of such a run says "based on ISO 8655-6:2022 with deviations", lists them and claims no conformity.
Validated maths: the water density (Tanaka 2001), the air density (OIML R 111), the Z factor against the published tables, the volumes, the budget and the decision rules are reference cases of the validation of the calculations - computed by the UP↑SCALE firmware. The validation pack (ENTERPRISE) has a chapter of its own for the pipettes: requirements, risks, IQ of your instruments and balance, OQ test scripts and the PQ against an external calibration (E_n ≤ 1) - see the sample pack (PDF, demo values).

The result of the calibration of a pipette as found: PASS at 200, 100 and 20 µL, each with the mean volume, the systematic and the random error, the limits, the expanded uncertainty U and the uncertainty in use — As found: PASS, with U at every volume

Manual: uncertainty, CMC table

Register, import and labels

Every pipette with its history: who changed what, when and why; the next check and calibration due; quarantine and out of service.
Your codes and ours side by side: keep your own labels, print ours (QR sticker, Code 128 asset label, status tag) on your label printer, or both.
Import of your old list: CSV or JSON from your previous system, the columns guessed from the header, the last calibration and the due date taken along, a preview before anything changes - and an import record with the SHA-256 of the file as the evidence of the transfer.
Shared between your devices: live while they are connected to the same UP↑SCALE, otherwise by the register file - nothing of it is kept on the scale.

The register: a piston burette, a bottle-top dispenser and four pipettes with their status, next check and next calibration - one in quarantine, one overdue - with search, scan, NEW PIPETTE, IMPORT LIST and LABELS — The register: every pipette, dispenser and burette, every due date

Manual: pipette register, import a pipette list

Dispensers and piston burettes too

One register, one procedure: bottle-top and repeating dispensers (ISO 8655-5) and piston burettes (ISO 8655-3, manual or the motor-driven dosing unit of a titrator) are checked and calibrated with the same gravimetric procedure of ISO 8655-6:2022 - in the same modes, with the same records, CMC table and labels.
The vessel may leave the balance: dispense into the vessel held under the outlet, put it back - the UP↑SCALE waits for it and takes the difference by itself.
The limits of the instrument: motor-driven burettes from ISO 8655-3:2022 table 1, manual burettes and bottle-top dispensers from maker procedures (secondary sources, editable), repeating dispensers with the maker's or your own limits - the report names the source.
Never mixed up with the balance: every title and button names the instrument - Calibration of the piston burette as found - not the calibration of your balance.

The check of a bottle-top dispenser: 10 mL, delivery 2 of 4, the vessel is off the balance for the delivery - the UP↑SCALE waits until it is back and takes the difference; the first value 10009.3 µL — Dispensers and burettes: the vessel may leave the balance

Manual: dispensers and burettes

The limits - for your validation

Your balance decides the volumes: ISO 8655-6 asks for d 0.001 mg below 20 µL, 0.01 mg from 20 µL and 0.1 mg from 200 µL. The UP↑SCALE 420 and 710 are far too coarse: the modes run on the RS-232 adapter (DIY on the ESP32-C3 RS232 Adapter) with your lab balance, or in the app with the virtual scale (check only).
Traceable and accredited are yours: traceability comes from your calibrated balance, thermometer, barometer and hygrometer; an accredited calibration from your ISO/IEC 17025 scope. The app calls nothing accredited or certified.
The values of the standards: the balance and instrument requirements and the room conditions are taken from ISO 8655-6:2022 itself. The limits of ISO 8655-2 come from public secondary sources (multichannel: 2 × single, the rule of the 2002 edition) and can be changed in the lab settings - check them against the official text.
Your uncertainty inputs: the standard uncertainties of your instruments and the operator / laboratory effects come from your certificates and studies; the defaults are examples.
The register lives in your browsers, not on the scale: keep the register file as a backup.

UP↑SCALE gives you the procedure, the maths and the records - it makes no claim that you comply with a standard or that an assessor accepts them. All details: manual: pipettes.

Pipette check and calibration: questions and answers

What is the difference between a pipette check and a pipette calibration?

A calibration relates the delivered volume to its reference with an uncertainty, along a defined procedure (ISO 8655-6 for the gravimetric method). An intermediate check between calibrations (ISO/IEC 17025, 6.4.10) is shorter - one volume, a few deliveries - and only shows that the pipette still meets its limits; it gives no uncertainty and replaces no calibration.

Which balance do I need to calibrate pipettes?

ISO 8655-6:2022 sets the resolution by the volume: 0.001 mg for pipettes below 20 µL, 0.01 mg from 20 µL to below 200 µL, 0.1 mg from 200 µL to 10 mL. The app shows for every test volume whether your balance is fine enough; a calibration does not start with a balance that is too coarse.

How many measurements does ISO 8655-6 require?

Ten deliveries per test volume, at the nominal volume, 50 % of it and the lower limit of the range (10 % of the nominal volume or the lowest settable volume), for every channel of a multichannel pipette.

Can we calibrate a multichannel pipette on a normal single-channel balance?

Yes: one channel after the other - aspirate with all channels, dispense one channel into the vessel. ISO 8655-6:2022 allows a single-channel balance for multichannel pipettes (with relaxed repeatability values for the balance); a multichannel balance may only be used for multichannel pipettes. Each channel counts as a pipette of its own, so a 12-channel pipette means 12 × 10 deliveries per volume; the UP↑SCALE starts the next channel by itself.

What if our room or our instruments do not meet ISO 8655-6?

You can still calibrate. The app lists every deviation it can see before the start and on the result, and the report then says "based on ISO 8655-6:2022 with deviations" and claims no conformity - as the standard asks in its clause 4.

Can US labs use it - CLIA, CAP, A2LA, NIST?

Yes: ASTM E1154 was withdrawn in 2023, and US labs and their accreditation bodies work with ISO 8655 and ISO/IEC 17025. The check and the calibration give you the records CLIA, CAP and FDA GLP / GMP ask for; the NIST traceability comes from your calibrated instruments listed on the report. For US labs.

What is the Z factor?

It turns the mass of the water into its volume: Z = 1 / (density of water − density of air) × (1 − density of air / density of the weights). At 20 °C and 1013 hPa it is about 1.0029 µL/mg. The UP↑SCALE calculates it from the water and air temperature, the pressure and the humidity of each run.

Does the reported uncertainty respect our CMC?

Yes. Upload your CMC table as CSV: the reported expanded uncertainty is never smaller than the CMC of the volume, and a volume without a CMC row is marked outside the scope of your accreditation.

Can we calibrate bottle-top dispensers and piston burettes too?

Yes. The register knows the instrument of every entry: pipette, bottle-top or repeating dispenser, or piston burette (manual or motor-driven). Check and calibration use the same gravimetric procedure of ISO 8655-6:2022; the limits come from ISO 8655-3 (burettes) or ISO 8655-5 (dispensers), the vessel may leave the balance for a delivery, and the report names the instrument and the source of its limits.

Can we import the pipettes of our old calibration software?

Yes: export the list as CSV or JSON, map the columns once (the app guesses them from the header), check the preview and import. The last calibration and the due dates come along, and the import record with the SHA-256 of the file documents the transfer.

Do the pipette modes work with pipettes of any maker?

Yes. The register takes every maker and model; the limits come from the ISO 8655-2 table, from the maker specification you enter or from your own limits.