Mega Racks® Tube Rack for 13-16mm Tubes

Mega Racks® Polypropylene Tube Rack for 13–16mm Tubes

The Mega Racks® 13-16mm Tube Rack from Heathrow Scientific is purpose-built for the most common blood collection and clinical specimen tube diameters in use today. Accommodating tubes with outer diameters between 13mm and 16mm — including standard 10mL and 15mL Vacutainer-style tubes, gel separator tubes, and primary specimen tubes from major collection systems — these fully assembled polypropylene racks require no setup before use. The 120-well single format and 240-well double format provide scalable capacity for laboratories ranging from moderate-volume outpatient draw stations to high-throughput centralized processing labs.

Specifications

Features & Benefits

• 120-well or 240-well capacity: The single rack (33.7 x 26.7 x 9.1 cm, 120 wells) provides organized capacity for a standard processing batch. The double rack (67.3 x 26.7 x 9.0 cm, 240 wells) doubles throughput in the same workflow step, reducing the number of rack changes that interrupt high-volume centrifugation and analyzer loading sequences.
• 13-16mm well diameter range: The widened well geometry accommodates the outer diameter variation across major tube manufacturers — tubes nominally specified at 13mm, 14mm, 15mm, or 16mm outer diameter all seat correctly, reducing the procurement complexity of maintaining separate racks for each tube brand.
• Alphanumeric identification grid: Molded row and column coordinates allow precise tube position logging for LIS (laboratory information system) integration, batch record documentation, and chain-of-custody tracking in regulated clinical environments.
• Autoclavable polypropylene: Withstands standard moist heat sterilization for rack decontamination between patient cohorts, infectious specimen batches, or study groups.
• Sturdy transport design: The robust polypropylene base and well structure support secure tube transport between the blood draw station, centrifuge, and analyzer without tube ejection from the rack during movement.
• Color choice for workflow organization: Blue and White options enable immediate visual separation of sample batch types, priority status, or processing stages in busy multi-technician environments.

Applications

Mega Racks® 13-16mm racks are among the highest-use tube racks in clinical laboratory environments because 13-16mm is the most common outer diameter range for blood collection tubes. Hospital core labs and reference laboratory receiving departments use them to stage incoming primary specimens from centrifugation through aliquoting to analyzer loading in a single rack without tube transfers. Outpatient blood draw centers with high morning volume use the double format to batch a full shift's collection into a single organized structure before centrifuge loading. Coagulation and immunology labs process 13mm citrate tubes and 15mm serum separator tubes simultaneously in the same rack when using the wide 13-16mm well range. Research phlebotomy studies involving serial time-point collections in standardized 16mm OD tubes rely on Mega Racks® alphanumeric grids to maintain strict time-point-to-position traceability across large participant cohorts. The fully assembled format also reduces prep time in high-volume settings where technician time is constrained.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will standard BD Vacutainer® 10mL tubes fit in the Mega Racks® 13-16mm?

Yes. BD Vacutainer® 10mL tubes have a standard 16mm outer diameter, which seats securely in the 16mm well of the Mega Racks® 13-16mm format. Greiner Bio-One, Sarstedt, and Greiner Vacuette tubes in the 9-10mL range also typically measure 16mm OD and are compatible. For 13mm OD tubes in the same rack, the wider well provides slightly less lateral retention — these tubes seat successfully but with marginally less grip than in the dedicated 10-13mm format rack.

How do I choose between the 120-well single and 240-well double Mega Rack® format?

Choose the single 120-well format when your typical batch size is under 100 tubes or when bench space is limited to the 33.7 cm single-rack footprint. Choose the double 240-well format when you routinely process 150+ tubes per batch, when two separate racks would shift relative to each other during centrifuge loading, or when your workflow requires a single continuous alphanumeric grid spanning a large collection for LIS tracking. The double format costs less per position than two single racks purchased separately.

Can Mega Racks® hold tubes during centrifugation?

Mega Racks® are designed for tube organization, transport, and bench staging — not for use inside centrifuge rotors. Tubes should be removed from the rack and placed in appropriate centrifuge buckets or adapters for centrifugation, then returned to the rack for post-centrifuge processing. The rack's open-side design makes tube removal and reinsertion fast without disrupting adjacent positions.

Academic and Institutional Pricing

LabSupplies.com offers tiered quantity pricing for academic and research institutions. As an authorized dealer, we ship directly from USA inventory.