405 laser replacement costs

[daj1u06]

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Hi all,
the 405 laser in our SP5 has unexpectedly died and we have been quoted some £22.5K plus 20% VAT for a replacement laser (includes 10% discount). This seems a staggering amount, especially given that the last time we had it replaced (2009) it was quoted at £14.5K. I know there has been inflation and exchange rate changes since but still seems a massive sum, especially to find unexpectedly. I would be interested in other folk's experiences and whether anyone has sourced their own replacements independently to then get Leica to install.

Thanks in advance and season's greetings.

DAve Johnston, Biomedical Imaging, Southampton.

[Straatman, Kees (Dr.)]

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Dear Dave,

In 2013 we had to change our 405 nm laser on the SP5 and due to a change in hardware, I cannot remember what exactly, we had to install some kind of converter besides the new 405 nm laser. This converter was more expensive than the 405 nm laser itself. I cannot remember the exact costs but without installation the hardware was already over £ 21K. Sounds like you might need the same upgrade.

Best wishes

Kees


Dr Ir K.R. Straatman
Senior Experimental Officer
Advanced Imaging Facility
Centre for Core Biotechnology Services
University of Leicester
www.le.ac.uk/advanced-imaging-facility


-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Dave Johnston
Sent: 20 December 2017 08:25
To: [hidden email]
Subject: 405 laser replacement costs

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Hi all,
the 405 laser in our SP5 has unexpectedly died and we have been quoted some £22.5K plus 20% VAT for a replacement laser (includes 10% discount). This seems a staggering amount, especially given that the last time we had it replaced (2009) it was quoted at £14.5K. I know there has been inflation and exchange rate changes since but still seems a massive sum, especially to find unexpectedly. I would be interested in other folk's experiences and whether anyone has sourced their own replacements independently to then get Leica to install.

Thanks in advance and season's greetings.

DAve Johnston, Biomedical Imaging, Southampton.

[Aryeh Weiss]

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The 405nm laser in our sp5  is a Coherent Cube, and we were able to
purchase it a few years ago from the local distributor (including a
control box, which we did not need but came with the package)  for about
$7500 (if memory serves me -- I do not have the paperwork). Works fine,
but after you replace that laser your UV AOTF needs to be realigned
because these laser have some spread in their wavelength. This is done
in the service software, so it  should not be expensive.

--aryeh

On 20/12/2017 10:25, Dave Johnston wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> Hi all,
> the 405 laser in our SP5 has unexpectedly died and we have been quoted some £22.5K plus 20% VAT for a replacement laser (includes 10% discount). This seems a staggering amount, especially given that the last time we had it replaced (2009) it was quoted at £14.5K. I know there has been inflation and exchange rate changes since but still seems a massive sum, especially to find unexpectedly. I would be interested in other folk's experiences and whether anyone has sourced their own replacements independently to then get Leica to install.
>
> Thanks in advance and season's greetings.
>
> DAve Johnston, Biomedical Imaging, Southampton.
> .
>

--
Aryeh Weiss
Faculty of Engineering
Bar Ilan University
Ramat Gan 52900 Israel

Ph:  972-3-5317638
FAX: [phone]

[Craig Brideau]

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The tricky part with laser swapping is the aperture location. Microscope
vendors will usually buy up the stock of a specific laser, or get a promise
from the manufacturer to provide long term support for a particular model.
This lets the laser combiner box standardize on a specific beam height and
location out of the laser. This is part of the reason for the inflated
cost. If you swap for a different brand or model the beam will probably
exit the laser at a different location. This can lead to hassles as the
installer tries to find a way to mount the laser and divert the beam to the
entry path. I have had to install several 'alternative form factor' lasers
into old combiner units in the past and typically have to spend up to
$400-700 USD on optics to adjust the beam height and path out of the new
laser unit to match the original. In summary, even if you find a decent 3rd
party laser and can convince Leica to install it, you will need to find
something with the aperture and collimation similar to the original.

Craig

On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 1:25 AM, Dave Johnston <[hidden email]> wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> Hi all,
> the 405 laser in our SP5 has unexpectedly died and we have been quoted
> some £22.5K plus 20% VAT for a replacement laser (includes 10% discount).
> This seems a staggering amount, especially given that the last time we had
> it replaced (2009) it was quoted at £14.5K. I know there has been inflation
> and exchange rate changes since but still seems a massive sum, especially
> to find unexpectedly. I would be interested in other folk's experiences and
> whether anyone has sourced their own replacements independently to then get
> Leica to install.
>
> Thanks in advance and season's greetings.
>
> DAve Johnston, Biomedical Imaging, Southampton.
>