Mega Racks® Tube Rack for 16-20mm Tubes

Mega Racks® Polypropylene Tube Rack for 16–20mm Tubes

The Mega Racks® 16-20mm Tube Rack extends Heathrow Scientific's high-capacity rack platform to accommodate the larger-diameter tubes common in microbiology, environmental testing, and cell culture workflows. With a 120-well capacity in a 14.9 x 11.9 inch footprint, this rack organizes tubes with outer diameters between 16mm and 20mm — including standard 16mm culture tubes, 18mm round-bottom tubes, and 20mm specimen collection vessels — in a fully assembled polypropylene structure that requires no setup before use.

Specifications

Features & Benefits

• 120-well high-capacity format: Organizes up to 120 larger-diameter tubes in a structured 14.9 x 11.9 inch footprint — significantly more capacity than traditional wire-frame racks of similar size, enabling a full microbiology processing batch to be staged in a single rack.
• 16-20mm well diameter range: Accommodates the diameter variation across standard culture tubes, round-bottom test tubes, and specimen tubes from 16mm to 20mm OD, covering the principal sizes used in clinical microbiology, food testing, and environmental monitoring.
• Alphanumeric coordinate grid: Row and column positions molded into the rack structure allow precise tube location recording for batch record documentation and chain-of-custody tracking in regulated testing environments.
• Autoclavable polypropylene: The fully assembled rack withstands standard autoclave sterilization cycles for decontamination between specimen cohorts or test batches.
• Flat stable base: Flush polypropylene base prevents rack rocking on bench surfaces during inoculation, reading, and pipetting operations where tube stability is critical for accurate results.
• Color-coded Blue and White options: Enables visual project separation and workflow-stage identification in multi-user microbiology and environmental testing labs.

Applications

Clinical microbiology departments use the 16-20mm Mega Rack® to stage broth microdilution susceptibility testing tubes, blood culture sub-culture tubes, and BCYE medium tubes through incubation and reading workflows. The 120-well capacity is well-matched to the batch sizes of a standard working shift in busy microbiology labs, where 80–120 culture tubes may be in active incubation at any time. Environmental monitoring programs processing water samples in standard 18mm culture tubes use these racks to organize samples by collection site, sample date, and dilution factor across a full day's processing run. Pharmaceutical QC labs performing environmental monitoring of manufacturing areas use 16mm environmental sampling tubes staged in these racks during the transfer from sampling to incubation. Cell culture laboratories preparing 15-18mL round-bottom tubes for suspension culture experiments stage tubes in the 16-20mm Mega Rack® during medium addition and cell inoculation before moving them to roller culture or incubator systems. The wider footprint of this format compared to the 13-16mm rack reflects the additional spacing required between larger tubes to allow cap access during inoculation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will 15mL conical tubes fit in the Mega Racks® 16-20mm?

Standard 15mL conical centrifuge tubes typically have an outer body diameter of approximately 17mm, which falls within the 16-20mm well range and will seat in this rack. However, the conical taper at the bottom means the tube base does not contact the rack floor — the tube is supported at the rim by the well opening rather than resting flat. This is acceptable for bench staging and incubation but should be verified for your specific tube brand before use in vibration-sensitive workflows.

Is there a double-format version of the 16-20mm Mega Rack®?

The double-format rack is currently available for the 10-13mm and 13-16mm well sizes. The 16-20mm format is offered in the single 120-well format only. For labs requiring more than 120-well capacity in the 16-20mm range, two single racks can be positioned end-to-end on the bench, though they will remain as separate units rather than the integrated double-rack structure available for the smaller sizes.

What is the height clearance between the rack base and the top of the well opening?

The 16-20mm Mega Rack® has a height of 9.1 cm (3.6 inches), with the well opening at the top of the rack height. Standard 16mm culture tubes (100mm and 125mm length) and 18mm round-bottom tubes (150mm length) extend above the well opening, providing accessible caps for pipetting and inoculation without removing tubes from the rack. Very short tubes (under 75mm length) may sit below the well opening level depending on their geometry.

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.