Lab Armor® Beads

It's time to make the switch.

Beads can do what water and ice do. And then some.

Lab Armor® Beads are small, dry, metallic thermal beads designed to replace the water in laboratory water baths and ice in ice buckets. The Beads, by their design, provide a concurrent thermal and antimicrobial activity that efficiently shields the lab and personnel from invading organisms while thermally heating or cooling like water in any standard water bath, heat block, or ice bucket. Lab Armor Beads keep lab water baths dry and protected from water-borne microbial contaminants. Don't contaminate your lab's bath with water.


When you compare the cost of a lost set of experiments or even a few contaminated tubes of reagents and factor in the additional time spent on refilling the water bath, cleaning the water bath, and other expenses such as racks and bottleneck weights that you have to buy to go along with it, the difference in price between owning a Bead-filled water bath and a traditional water-filled bath clearly favor the Beads. And Lab Armor Beads are fully compatible with nearly all non-circulating, non-shallow, standard depth (>5" deep) water baths. Lab Armor has evaluated the most popular, recent model water baths.

Any Type Vessel

Vessels can be used at any angle with a water bath filled with Beads and you’re not limited to water-tight containers. So you can safely incubate multi-well plates and petri dishes or thaw precious samples, without fear of water wicking under their lids.

All the Essentials

Always on. A water bath with Beads always stays on, so you don’t have to plan around warmup times. No need to worry about burnout either because there is no water to evaporate.

Stays clean and filled. A water bath with Beads doesn’t need much attention, a monthly spritz of 70% ethanol for disinfection is usually sufficient.

Stays organized. Unlike water baths that require racks, floats, and bottleneck weights, a Bead-filled water bath naturally holds things in place without accessories. So no more floating accidents. Really.

Harmful biocides eliminated. Lab Armor has worked hard to eliminate the need for germicides for lab bath maintenance.

Highly recyclable. Beads are formed from solid recyclable metal.

More energy efficient. A bead bath uses over 4X less energy when set to 65ºC and over 2X less energy at 37ºC .

Keep the Environment in Mind.

Recycleable. Beads are formed from solid recyclable metal. The material is very desirable to recyclers, which means the raw material used in Lab Armor® Beads can be reused in other products.

More Energy Efficient. Beads can transform a water bath into a smarter instrument that uses less electricity. For instance, water constantly evaporates during water bath operation. As water evaporates it cools. Due to this evaporative-cooling effect, the bath must heat more frequently, which increases energy consumption. A bead bath uses over 4X less energy when set to 65 ºC and over 2X less energy at 37 ºC. Plus, a bead bath provides more constant temperature and fewer temperature fluctuations during operation than a water bath.

No Gray Water. Lab Armor has worked hard to eliminate the need for many of the germicides that are a common part of water bath maintenance. Take, for example, liquid disinfectants used in water baths. Most contain antibiotic, algaecide, and fungicide compounds. These environmentally harmful germicides can accumulate in the water table from disposal during regular maintenance. Bead Baths are dry and periodic decontamination with a biodegradable, earth-friendly disinfectant, such as 70% EtOH is usually all that is required to keep most unwanted microbes away.

Beads Thermal Uniformity:

  • From 37-42ºC +/- 1-3ºC
  • From 55-65ºC +/- 3-8ºC 
  • Beads generally produce a temperature gradient of +/- 0.25  -0.75ºC per inch in all directions from the middle of the bath.
  • Working Temperature Range:

  • -80ºC to 350ºC
  • The Perfect Choice for Your Lab: Lab Armor Beads

  • 0.75 L: 42370-750
  • 2L: 42370-002
  • 4L: 42370-004
  • 8L: 42370-008
  • Why Choose Lab Armor Beads and Water Baths?

    While laboratory water baths haven’t changed in decades, Lab Armor has recognized a need for lower maintenance and more precise control of contamination in the lab. Below is a list of benefits that compares the Lab Armor Bead Bath with other types of laboratory water baths.

    An insufficient volume can cause inaccurate thermostat readings, which can result in continuous heating of the bath. Most water baths operate properly when filled to 3/4 full.

    Beads perform all the essentials, including warming, thawing, incubating, chilling, and do it while maintaining a constant temperature just like a water bath or an ice bucket. But Beads perform a few additional things too. 


    Information provided by Lab Armor

    Lab Armor® Beads are small, dry, metallic thermal beads designed to replace the water in laboratory water baths and ice in ice buckets. The Beads, by their design, provide a concurrent thermal and antimicrobial activity that efficiently shields the lab and personnel from invading organisms while thermally heating or cooling like water in any standard water bath, heat block, or ice bucket. Lab Armor Beads keep lab water baths dry and protected from water-borne microbial contaminants. Don't contaminate your lab's bath with water.

    dry beads in bath

    Beads can do what water and ice do. And then some.

    When you compare the cost of a lost set of experiments or even a few contaminated tubes of reagents and factor in the additional time spent on refilling the water bath, cleaning the water bath, and other expenses such as racks and bottleneck weights that you have to buy to go along with it, the difference in price between owning a Bead-filled water bath and a traditional water-filled bath clearly favor the Beads. And Lab Armor Beads are fully compatible with nearly all non-circulating, non-shallow, standard depth (>5" deep) water baths. Lab Armor has evaluated the most popular, recent model water baths.

    Any Type Vessel

    Vessels can be used at any angle with a water bath filled with Beads and you’re not limited to water-tight containers. So you can safely incubate multi-well plates and petri dishes or thaw precious samples, without fear of water wicking under their lids.

    All the essentials

    Always on.

    A water bath with Beads always stays on, so you don’t have to plan around warmup times. No need to worry about burnout either because there is no water to evaporate.

    Stays clean and filled.

    A water bath with Beads doesn’t need much attention, a monthly spritz of 70% ethanol for disinfection is usually sufficient.

    Stays organized.

    Unlike water baths that require racks, floats, and bottleneck weights, a Bead-filled water bath naturally holds things in place without accessories. So no more floating accidents. Really.

    Keep the Environment in Mind.

    Recycleable.

    Beads are formed from solid recyclable metal. The material is very desirable to recyclers, which means the raw material used in Lab Armor® Beads can be reused in other products.

    More Energy Efficient.

    Beads can transform a water bath into a smarter instrument that uses less electricity. For instance, water constantly evaporates during water bath operation. As water evaporates it cools. Due to this evaporative-cooling effect, the bath must heat more frequently, which increases energy consumption. A bead bath uses over 4X less energy when set to 65 ºC and over 2X less energy at 37 ºC. Plus, a bead bath provides more constant temperature and fewer temperature fluctuations during operation than a water bath.

    No Gray Water.

    Lab Armor has worked hard to eliminate the need for many of the germicides that are a common part of water bath maintenance. Take, for example, liquid disinfectants used in water baths. Most contain antibiotic, algaecide, and fungicide compounds. These environmentally harmful germicides can accumulate in the water table from disposal during regular maintenance. Bead Baths are dry and periodic decontamination with a biodegradable, earth-friendly disinfectant, such as 70% EtOH is usually all that is required to keep most unwanted microbes away.

    Why Choose Lab Armor Beads and Water Baths?

    While laboratory water baths haven’t changed in decades, Lab Armor has recognized a need for lower maintenance and more precise control of contamination in the lab. Below is a list of benefits that compares the Lab Armor Bead Bath with other types of laboratory water baths.

    An insufficient volume can cause inaccurate thermostat readings, which can result in continuous heating of the bath. Most water baths operate properly when filled to 3/4 full.

    Beads perform all the essentials, including warming, thawing, incubating, chilling, and do it while maintaining a constant temperature just like a water bath or an ice bucket. But Beads perform a few additional things too.

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