Comparison shopping for lab equipment can be a stressful endeavor: needs vary, space might be tight, workflow and maintenance are essential considerations, and budget is probably the primary concern. It’s tempting to make choices based on sticker price alone. But it’s important to play the long game, too—you want a manufacturer who will stand by their products for years to come.

Cheaper Chinese autoclaves (CCAs) generally come with a smaller price tag. They are a common choice for new labs or those shopping on a tight budget. If you go with a CCA, you can often get a Class B vacuum unit delivered quickly for a fraction of the price of a Western-made model. But if you ask around, you’ll quickly learn that you do, in fact, get what you pay for. These less-expensive CCAs often end up costing much more once you factor in maintenance, reliability, costs of operation, resource use, lack of after-sales service, and overall lifespan of the product.

Bottom line: Total costs of ownership grow fast when you buy a cheaper machine.

How Reliable are Low-Cost Lab Autoclaves?

This varies wildly, even when only considering a specific model from a single company. The most common user complaints for CCAs are error codes and faults cropping up early in the machine’s life, with little tech support to explain what’s wrong and parts that are difficult to source. This might not be a big problem if your lab or clinic runs infrequent sterilization cycles, but if your work is “mission-critical” and your lab relies on a single autoclave for daily operation, you need a dependable, reliable machine that will minimize downtime and daily frustration.

What’s the Difference Between Cheap Autoclaves and More Expensive Models?

It’s always worth asking why a price is so low. In this case, the answer is cheaper parts, poor build quality, inconsistent manufacturing, and lack of extensive warranty or customer support.

Quality assurance and quality control (QC) are a big problem with CCAs. QC is expensive, due to staffing needs and time investment. When an autoclave is rushed to market without sufficient testing or quality assurance, durability suffers. CCA manufacturers often cut costs with lower quality and sometimes unproven proprietary components. Door gaskets and heating elements are frequent suspects. In cheaper models these are less robust, and finding replacement parts can be much more difficult because the part is non-standard.

Another frequent area for cost savings in CCAs is steel: a CCA pressure chamber is typically made from 304 stainless steel at best; compare this with the chamber material used in higher quality autoclaves, like Priorclaves. High-quality sterilizers use 316L stainless steel, the industry standard for long-term corrosion resistance. A 304 steel chamber costs less to build, and will meet standards for safe operation under pressure, but is much harder to maintain, requiring treated water to prevent mineral buildup and pitting. Again, inadequate testing (especially for durability over time) lowers costs, but translates to design and materials flaws that drastically reduce the machine’s working lifespan.

What are the Differences in Maintenance Requirements for CCA

Autoclaves vs. a Priorclave Autoclave?

To ensure durability, many CCA manuals emphasize strict daily and weekly cleaning of filters and sensors. Users who neglect these steps report a much shorter lifespan (averaging just 2 to 3 years). Meanwhile, “workhorse” autoclaves like a Priorclave last 10 or more years, and are much more forgiving in terms of maintenance.

Reduced lifespan quickly eliminates the initial purchase price savings: On a per-service-year basis, a $4,500 autoclave you have to replace five or more times costs a fair bit more than a reliable, low-maintenance $18,000 autoclave that runs for decades with a fraction of the effort. There are Priorclave owners with autoclaves built in the late 1980s and early 1990s who report that their units are still running reliably today.

Rather than buy a lower-priced machine with a significantly shorter lifespan, a Priorclave will handle your needs for the long haul.

What Factors Determine the Best Choice for Your Autoclave Needs?

At Priorclave we’ve distinguished ourselves with one of the most comprehensive autoclave support and maintenance programs in the world. All Priorclave installations are supported by a dedicated team of service engineers at our facility, who in turn support a global network of authorized distributors and service agents.

Every Priorclave autoclave comes standard with our advanced fully programmable control system and a low-energy/low-water, easy-maintenance design optimized to minimize lifetime operating costs. Priorclave is proud to offer all autoclave customers free lifetime technical support and an extensive warranty.

Ready to discuss your equipment needs? Reach out to us today.