Blackstone DGT-18B

Dental practices with a steady flow of pouched kits and handpieces keep the record where it matters: at the steriliser, as the load comes out. The decontamination lead runs the morning Bowie-Dick or Helix test, loads the 18-litre chamber through the day, and files each printout in the log beside the machine while USB keeps the archive. Because the printout sits with the load, a nurse can match each batch of pouches to its cycle before they go into storage.

Minor surgery rooms and GP surgeries sterilise wrapped packs for suturing, skin surgery and dressings, and a printed cycle record makes it simple to show that a given pack went through a complete cycle. Podiatry clinics reprocess nippers, burrs and scalpel handles in pouches between appointments, with the hold and drying times set to suit wrapped or unwrapped loads. Practice managers who audit decontamination get paper and USB records from the same machine.

Tattoo and piercing studios reprocess stainless grips, tubes and forceps between clients. Tubes are hollow, so they rely on the triple pulsed vacuum, and a printout for each cycle gives the studio a running record of its sterilisation. Studio owners working alone can run the whole routine, from morning test to final printout, without leaving the bench. The same pattern fits aesthetic clinics, veterinary surgeries and small laboratories that sterilise heat-stable steel instruments or empty glassware.

Because water comes from a hand-filled tank, the unit can work in a room with no plumbing, and altitude calibration suits clinics at elevation. It is not built for a central sterile department, and heat-sensitive devices that cannot withstand steam at 116 °C require a low-temperature process that it does not offer.

Printed proof at the point of unloading

Each cycle record prints from the steriliser's built-in printer. Whoever unloads the chamber can attach it to the log straight away, so the record and the instruments stay together.

A digital copy alongside the paper

The USB function stores cycle records as files. A practice gains a second archive that survives a lost or damaged printout and can be backed up with its other records.

Class B coverage in an 18-litre chamber

Wrapped and unwrapped, solid, hollow and porous loads all fall within the EN 13060 Class B cycle type. The chamber, 250 mm across and 360 mm deep, takes pouched sets and small textile packs in one load.

Air out before steam in

Three pre-vacuum pulses draw the chamber to −0.8 bar or deeper ahead of each hold. Steam then reaches narrow channels and the inside of pouches, the surfaces that trapped air would otherwise shield.

Daily tests on board

The nine presets share the panel with Bowie-Dick, Helix and vacuum test programmes. The morning test needs nothing extra beyond the indicator itself.

No water connection to install

The open double tank is filled by hand and feeds the built-in generator. Installation comes down to a level bench and a suitable socket, which keeps building work out of the plan.

Door and vessel protection

Two locks, one electronic and one mechanical, hold the door until chamber pressure is near zero. The vessel and generator sit behind a safety valve and guards against over-temperature, over-pressure, low water and running dry.

Calibrated for altitude

Automatic atmospheric pressure calibration lets the unit work at elevation without a manual offset. Cycles at a clinic high above sea level start from a corrected pressure reading.

The running needs, stated plainly

The DGT-18 B uses feed water of suitable quality, printer paper, and daily test indicators. An automatic routine cleans its pipework and generator, and the optional water quality test tells staff whether the feed water meets the unit's requirements.

Built-in cycle printer

A printer inside the cabinet prints a record of each sterilisation cycle. The paper comes out at the unit, so no separate logger or computer is involved.

USB record storage

The USB function saves cycle records digitally for traceability. Files move from the unit to the practice's records on a drive.

18-litre stainless steel chamber

A stainless steel cylinder 250 mm across and 360 mm deep forms the chamber, closed by a sealed cover. The 18-litre figure describes gross volume.

Triple pulsed pre-vacuum

Before each hold, three pulses evacuate the chamber in stages down to −0.8 bar or deeper. That staged evacuation draws air from narrow channels, sealed pouches and textile packs.

Independent steam generator

Its built-in generator, separate from the chamber, produces saturated steam quickly and under stable conditions. Nothing outside the cabinet supplies steam.

Rated 134 °C at 0.22 MPa

The rating for high-temperature work is 134 °C at 0.22 MPa, inside a vessel whose design range spans −0.1 to 0.25 MPa up to 139 °C.

Adjustable temperature from 116 to 134 °C

Sterilising temperature settings range from 116 to 134 °C, and standard cycles run at 121 °C or 134 °C. Temperature control accuracy is within ±1 °C.

Holds from 4 to 120 minutes

Short holds at 134 °C serve unwrapped instruments. The upper end of the range gives lower-temperature programmes the longer exposure they need.

Drying up to 240 minutes

Drying is adjustable from 0 to 240 minutes and runs under vacuum after the hold. A zero setting skips it for instruments needed immediately, and longer settings serve wrapped and porous loads.

Nine preset programmes

Nine stored programmes each have their own temperature, hold, and drying settings. Each routine load starts with one selection and runs the same way, no matter who presses start.

Three test programmes

Bowie-Dick and Helix programmes test air removal and steam penetration against an indicator. The vacuum test measures whether the chamber holds vacuum.

Standard test interface

A standard test interface lets an engineer connect external measuring equipment during periodic testing. Those readings come straight from the chamber, alongside the built-in programmes.

LCD and touch-button control

Microcomputer control runs each programme from an LCD with touch buttons that show temperature, pressure and time live. A buzzer marks the end of the cycle, and the programme stops itself.

Two-stage door locking

An electronic safety interlock and a mechanical lock both hold the door. It stays shut until chamber pressure is near zero.

Safety valve and protections

A safety valve vents the vessel in an emergency. Dedicated protections respond to over-temperature, over-pressure, a low water level or dry heating, and cold air and spent steam leave the chamber automatically.

Self-test and automatic cleaning

Fault self-testing covers 28 error messages shown on the display. An automatic routine cleans the internal pipework and steam generator.

Open double water tank with optional water test.

Pour water for the generator into an open double tank. The water quality test, an optional add-on outside the standard configuration, checks whether the water meets the unit's requirements.

The DGT-18B suits dental, surgical, podiatry, or studio settings that sterilise wrapped and hollow instruments and want each cycle's proof printed at the steriliser. The built-in printer and USB copy make record-keeping part of unloading, and the 18-litre Class B chamber covers every load type the standard describes. Three limits matter most. No CE or UKCA position is evidenced for this model. The chamber, 250 mm across and 360 mm deep, caps instrument length and batch size, so high-volume departments sit outside its range. Daily running also depends on feed water of suitable quality and on printer paper, since the steam and the record both draw on them.