I have to second what Susan Meloan has to say about the alarms on tissue 
processors. We all know there isn't a much worse way to start a day in the 
histo lab than coming in to find that the processor has had a problem and 
the tissues are not processed.
This happened to me so many times with the old dip n' dunker processors and 
our old, old Ultratechnicon so I was grateful to have the alarm and the 
phone dialer on a new processor when we finally bought one.
The cause of most of the alarms was a result of human error (or power 
surges - fixed that one too!) but taking care of the problem when it 
happened eliminated much stress for all concerned.
Andi
.....................................................................
: Andrea Grantham, HT(ASCP)     Dept. of Cell Biology & Anatomy     :
: Sr. Research Specialist       University of Arizona               :
: (office:  AHSC 4212)          P.O. Box 245044                     :
: (voice:  520-626-4415)        Tucson, AZ  85724-5044    USA       :
: (FAX:  520-626-2097)          (email:  algranth@u.arizona.edu)       :
:...................................................................:
           http://www.cba.arizona.edu/histology-lab.html