Oil inside lenses.
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To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy ***** We are relatively routinely seeing oil inside of our Zeiss 63x oil immersion lenses. You end up with a bead of oil inside that acts as a lens itself and the lens is unusable. As far as we can tell, it usually happens after prolonged use over many years. We are at a point now where our lenses are "old" and Zeiss cannot repair them because the parts are no longer available. It costs us $6-8,000 to replace them. With 13 microscopes we have one lens failing every 6-12 months or so. I can't afford to keep replacing these lenses and with this becoming a "routine" occurrence I want to seek out advice about why this might be happening. Our users are well trained and I don't think it is neglect by them. I think this is due to routine use. I have two questions: 1) "Is there a defect in how these lenses are made?" For example, perhaps the seals on the front lenses degrade over time - we inspect our lenses regularly and many that have had oil inside have no obvious damage by visual inspection. Maybe they need to be resealed every year or two, maybe an internal seal degrades over time? Preventative maintenance of these lenses or a change in how they are manufactured would certainly cost less than $8,000 I would think. 2) "Do people have a similar problem with oil immersion lenses from the other major manufacturers?" I look forward to some input here. Sincerely, Claire ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CANADIAN CYTOMETRY AND MICROSCOPY SYMPOSIUM - MONTREAL JUNE 13-15 - http://www.regonline.com/ccma-accm2013 Claire M. Brown, PhD - McGill University - Assistant Professor, Physiology - Life Sciences Complex Imaging Facility Director 3649 Promenade Sir William Osler - Bellini Building - Rm 137A - Montreal - Quebec - H3G 0B1 514-398-4400 ext 00795 (Phone) - 514-677-7493 (Cell) - 514-398-7452 (FAX) [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]> - http://www.mcgill.ca/lifesciencescomplex/core/imaging |
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To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy ***** If the optics themselves are not damaged, I'm surprised Zeiss can't simply take the lens apart, clean out the oil, then reseal it. I have had some luck getting liquids out of lenses by putting the lens in a vacuum bell for a while. If you are seeing oil inside the lens, either the front seal is going/gone, or the oil is dripping down the lens to the spring-loaded part (if your lens is spring loaded) and getting in there. Craig On Mon, May 27, 2013 at 5:37 PM, Claire Brown, Dr. <[hidden email]>wrote: > ***** > To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: > http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy > ***** > > We are relatively routinely seeing oil inside of our Zeiss 63x oil > immersion lenses. You end up with a bead of oil inside that acts as a lens > itself and the lens is unusable. > > As far as we can tell, it usually happens after prolonged use over many > years. We are at a point now where our lenses are "old" and Zeiss cannot > repair them because the parts are no longer available. It costs us $6-8,000 > to replace them. With 13 microscopes we have one lens failing every 6-12 > months or so. I can't afford to keep replacing these lenses and with this > becoming a "routine" occurrence I want to seek out advice about why this > might be happening. Our users are well trained and I don't think it is > neglect by them. I think this is due to routine use. > > I have two questions: > > > 1) "Is there a defect in how these lenses are made?" > > For example, perhaps the seals on the front lenses degrade over time - we > inspect our lenses regularly and many that have had oil inside have no > obvious damage by visual inspection. Maybe they need to be resealed every > year or two, maybe an internal seal degrades over time? Preventative > maintenance of these lenses or a change in how they are manufactured would > certainly cost less than $8,000 I would think. > > > > 2) "Do people have a similar problem with oil immersion lenses from > the other major manufacturers?" > > I look forward to some input here. > > Sincerely, > > Claire > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > CANADIAN CYTOMETRY AND MICROSCOPY SYMPOSIUM - MONTREAL JUNE 13-15 - > http://www.regonline.com/ccma-accm2013 > > Claire M. Brown, PhD - McGill University - Assistant Professor, Physiology > - Life Sciences Complex Imaging Facility Director > 3649 Promenade Sir William Osler - Bellini Building - Rm 137A - Montreal - > Quebec - H3G 0B1 > 514-398-4400 ext 00795 (Phone) - 514-677-7493 (Cell) - 514-398-7452 (FAX) > [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]> - > http://www.mcgill.ca/lifesciencescomplex/core/imaging > |
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In reply to this post by Claire Brown
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To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy ***** The major microscope companies offer to 'refresh' (either refurbish or replace -- their choice) lenses for 50% of purchase price. Check with your local sales rep. Suggestions: * (that I never did): for inverted microscope lenses, consider storing them at nights and weekends front element down (i.e. in their storage container). * if the lenses and microscopes are heavily used, consider the lenses as consumables (that happen to be 'refreshable' at half of list price). * consider making some (or all?) of the microscopes very specialized. For example, at my previous position (UMiami) we had one inverted microscope that had only 'dry' objective lenses (and no bottles of oil in the room). The confocal microscope in the adjacent room had almost entirely oil immersion lenses (20x/0.7 oil, 40x/1.3 oil, 63x/1.4 oil, plus 10x and 5x dry). * $8,000 lenses (refreshable for $4K) is not bad ... $11,000 to $18,000 lenses start failing. best wishes, George p.s. Specializing microscopes for low mag histology is a waste of time: with respect to low magnification lenses for histology and immunohistochemistry, my best investments in both the core's I managed (L.A. and Miami) was the ~$2,300 Pathscan Enabler slide scanner. Equivalent in resolution to a typical 5x objective lens, but entire slide (up to 36x24 mm) in two clicks, with perfectly flat illumination. See http://works.bepress.com/gmcnamara/1/ or http://home.earthlink.net/~tiki_goddess/ On 5/27/2013 6:37 PM, Claire Brown, Dr. wrote: > ***** > To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: > http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy > ***** > > We are relatively routinely seeing oil inside of our Zeiss 63x oil immersion lenses. You end up with a bead of oil inside that acts as a lens itself and the lens is unusable. > > As far as we can tell, it usually happens after prolonged use over many years. We are at a point now where our lenses are "old" and Zeiss cannot repair them because the parts are no longer available. It costs us $6-8,000 to replace them. With 13 microscopes we have one lens failing every 6-12 months or so. I can't afford to keep replacing these lenses and with this becoming a "routine" occurrence I want to seek out advice about why this might be happening. Our users are well trained and I don't think it is neglect by them. I think this is due to routine use. > > I have two questions: > > > 1) "Is there a defect in how these lenses are made?" > > For example, perhaps the seals on the front lenses degrade over time - we inspect our lenses regularly and many that have had oil inside have no obvious damage by visual inspection. Maybe they need to be resealed every year or two, maybe an internal seal degrades over time? Preventative maintenance of these lenses or a change in how they are manufactured would certainly cost less than $8,000 I would think. > > > > 2) "Do people have a similar problem with oil immersion lenses from the other major manufacturers?" > > I look forward to some input here. > > Sincerely, > > Claire > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > CANADIAN CYTOMETRY AND MICROSCOPY SYMPOSIUM - MONTREAL JUNE 13-15 - http://www.regonline.com/ccma-accm2013 > > Claire M. Brown, PhD - McGill University - Assistant Professor, Physiology - Life Sciences Complex Imaging Facility Director > 3649 Promenade Sir William Osler - Bellini Building - Rm 137A - Montreal - Quebec - H3G 0B1 > 514-398-4400 ext 00795 (Phone) - 514-677-7493 (Cell) - 514-398-7452 (FAX) > [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]> - http://www.mcgill.ca/lifesciencescomplex/core/imaging > > -- George McNamara, Ph.D. Single Cells Analyst L.J.N. Cooper Lab University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX 77054 |
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To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy ***** Clair- What are you using to clean the lenses? It may be eroding the seals. Carol Heckman On 5/27/13 8:04 PM, "George McNamara" <[hidden email]> wrote: >***** >To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: >http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy >***** > >The major microscope companies offer to 'refresh' (either refurbish or >replace -- their choice) lenses for 50% of purchase price. Check with >your local sales rep. > >Suggestions: > >* (that I never did): for inverted microscope lenses, consider storing >them at nights and weekends front element down (i.e. in their storage >container). >* if the lenses and microscopes are heavily used, consider the lenses as >consumables (that happen to be 'refreshable' at half of list price). >* consider making some (or all?) of the microscopes very specialized. >For example, at my previous position (UMiami) we had one inverted >microscope that had only 'dry' objective lenses (and no bottles of oil >in the room). The confocal microscope in the adjacent room had almost >entirely oil immersion lenses (20x/0.7 oil, 40x/1.3 oil, 63x/1.4 oil, >plus 10x and 5x dry). >* $8,000 lenses (refreshable for $4K) is not bad ... $11,000 to $18,000 >lenses start failing. > >best wishes, > >George >p.s. Specializing microscopes for low mag histology is a waste of time: >with respect to low magnification lenses for histology and >immunohistochemistry, my best investments in both the core's I managed >(L.A. and Miami) was the ~$2,300 Pathscan Enabler slide scanner. >Equivalent in resolution to a typical 5x objective lens, but entire >slide (up to 36x24 mm) in two clicks, with perfectly flat illumination. >See >http://works.bepress.com/gmcnamara/1/ >or >http://home.earthlink.net/~tiki_goddess/ > > > >On 5/27/2013 6:37 PM, Claire Brown, Dr. wrote: >> ***** >> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: >> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy >> ***** >> >> We are relatively routinely seeing oil inside of our Zeiss 63x oil >>immersion lenses. You end up with a bead of oil inside that acts as a >>lens itself and the lens is unusable. >> >> As far as we can tell, it usually happens after prolonged use over many >>years. We are at a point now where our lenses are "old" and Zeiss cannot >>repair them because the parts are no longer available. It costs us >>$6-8,000 to replace them. With 13 microscopes we have one lens failing >>every 6-12 months or so. I can't afford to keep replacing these lenses >>and with this becoming a "routine" occurrence I want to seek out advice >>about why this might be happening. Our users are well trained and I >>don't think it is neglect by them. I think this is due to routine use. >> >> I have two questions: >> >> >> 1) "Is there a defect in how these lenses are made?" >> >> For example, perhaps the seals on the front lenses degrade over time - >>we inspect our lenses regularly and many that have had oil inside have >>no obvious damage by visual inspection. Maybe they need to be resealed >>every year or two, maybe an internal seal degrades over time? >>Preventative maintenance of these lenses or a change in how they are >>manufactured would certainly cost less than $8,000 I would think. >> >> >> >> 2) "Do people have a similar problem with oil immersion lenses >>from the other major manufacturers?" >> >> I look forward to some input here. >> >> Sincerely, >> >> Claire >> >> >>------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>------------------ >> CANADIAN CYTOMETRY AND MICROSCOPY SYMPOSIUM - MONTREAL JUNE 13-15 - >>http://www.regonline.com/ccma-accm2013 >> >> Claire M. Brown, PhD - McGill University - Assistant Professor, >>Physiology - Life Sciences Complex Imaging Facility Director >> 3649 Promenade Sir William Osler - Bellini Building - Rm 137A - >>Montreal - Quebec - H3G 0B1 >> 514-398-4400 ext 00795 (Phone) - 514-677-7493 (Cell) - 514-398-7452 >>(FAX) >> [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]> - >>http://www.mcgill.ca/lifesciencescomplex/core/imaging >> >> > > >-- > > > >George McNamara, Ph.D. >Single Cells Analyst >L.J.N. Cooper Lab >University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center >Houston, TX 77054 > |
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In reply to this post by Claire Brown
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To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy ***** We only use Glass Plus diluted 1:5 with dH2O. So I don't think it is that. |
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In reply to this post by Claire Brown
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To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy ***** Hi Claire, Are these on inverted stands? At least up to the Axio line, Zeiss lenses telescoped with the nosepiece retracting into the barrel. Oil can seep down through the seal where the nose retract into the barrel. A "scrunchie" hair retainer wrapped around the nosepiece will retard the drips and provide time to check lenses periodically. My problem is motorized stages, not oil. In a collision, the stage always wins. My current quote from Zeiss to repair a 100X oil is about US$3300. Glen MacDonald Core for Communication Research Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center Cellular Morphology Core Center on Human Development and Disability Box 357923 University of Washington Seattle, WA 98195-7923 USA (206) 616-4156 [hidden email] On May 27, 2013, at 4:37 PM, "Claire Brown, Dr." <[hidden email]> wrote: > ***** > To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: > http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy > ***** > > We are relatively routinely seeing oil inside of our Zeiss 63x oil immersion lenses. You end up with a bead of oil inside that acts as a lens itself and the lens is unusable. > > As far as we can tell, it usually happens after prolonged use over many years. We are at a point now where our lenses are "old" and Zeiss cannot repair them because the parts are no longer available. It costs us $6-8,000 to replace them. With 13 microscopes we have one lens failing every 6-12 months or so. I can't afford to keep replacing these lenses and with this becoming a "routine" occurrence I want to seek out advice about why this might be happening. Our users are well trained and I don't think it is neglect by them. I think this is due to routine use. > > I have two questions: > > > 1) "Is there a defect in how these lenses are made?" > > For example, perhaps the seals on the front lenses degrade over time - we inspect our lenses regularly and many that have had oil inside have no obvious damage by visual inspection. Maybe they need to be resealed every year or two, maybe an internal seal degrades over time? Preventative maintenance of these lenses or a change in how they are manufactured would certainly cost less than $8,000 I would think. > > > > 2) "Do people have a similar problem with oil immersion lenses from the other major manufacturers?" > > I look forward to some input here. > > Sincerely, > > Claire > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > CANADIAN CYTOMETRY AND MICROSCOPY SYMPOSIUM - MONTREAL JUNE 13-15 - http://www.regonline.com/ccma-accm2013 > > Claire M. Brown, PhD - McGill University - Assistant Professor, Physiology - Life Sciences Complex Imaging Facility Director > 3649 Promenade Sir William Osler - Bellini Building - Rm 137A - Montreal - Quebec - H3G 0B1 > 514-398-4400 ext 00795 (Phone) - 514-677-7493 (Cell) - 514-398-7452 (FAX) > [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]> - http://www.mcgill.ca/lifesciencescomplex/core/imaging |
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To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy ***** I feel your pain regarding the stage collisions. We had a 60x water crush by a stage not once but twice. Cost $2k to fix each time. Finally between better user training and monitoring, and implementing a position limiter on the stage we managed to avoid any further incidents. Craig On Mon, May 27, 2013 at 9:40 PM, Glen MacDonald <[hidden email]>wrote: > ***** > To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: > http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy > ***** > > Hi Claire, > Are these on inverted stands? At least up to the Axio line, Zeiss lenses > telescoped with the nosepiece retracting into the barrel. Oil can seep > down through the seal where the nose retract into the barrel. A "scrunchie" > hair retainer wrapped around the nosepiece will retard the drips and > provide time to check lenses periodically. > > My problem is motorized stages, not oil. In a collision, the stage always > wins. My current quote from Zeiss to repair a 100X oil is about US$3300. > > > Glen MacDonald > Core for Communication Research > Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center > Cellular Morphology Core > Center on Human Development and Disability > Box 357923 > University of Washington > Seattle, WA 98195-7923 USA > (206) 616-4156 > [hidden email] > > > > > > > > On May 27, 2013, at 4:37 PM, "Claire Brown, Dr." <[hidden email]> > wrote: > > > ***** > > To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: > > http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy > > ***** > > > > We are relatively routinely seeing oil inside of our Zeiss 63x oil > immersion lenses. You end up with a bead of oil inside that acts as a lens > itself and the lens is unusable. > > > > As far as we can tell, it usually happens after prolonged use over many > years. We are at a point now where our lenses are "old" and Zeiss cannot > repair them because the parts are no longer available. It costs us $6-8,000 > to replace them. With 13 microscopes we have one lens failing every 6-12 > months or so. I can't afford to keep replacing these lenses and with this > becoming a "routine" occurrence I want to seek out advice about why this > might be happening. Our users are well trained and I don't think it is > neglect by them. I think this is due to routine use. > > > > I have two questions: > > > > > > 1) "Is there a defect in how these lenses are made?" > > > > For example, perhaps the seals on the front lenses degrade over time - > we inspect our lenses regularly and many that have had oil inside have no > obvious damage by visual inspection. Maybe they need to be resealed every > year or two, maybe an internal seal degrades over time? Preventative > maintenance of these lenses or a change in how they are manufactured would > certainly cost less than $8,000 I would think. > > > > > > > > 2) "Do people have a similar problem with oil immersion lenses from > the other major manufacturers?" > > > > I look forward to some input here. > > > > Sincerely, > > > > Claire > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > CANADIAN CYTOMETRY AND MICROSCOPY SYMPOSIUM - MONTREAL JUNE 13-15 - > http://www.regonline.com/ccma-accm2013 > > > > Claire M. Brown, PhD - McGill University - Assistant Professor, > Physiology - Life Sciences Complex Imaging Facility Director > > 3649 Promenade Sir William Osler - Bellini Building - Rm 137A - Montreal > - Quebec - H3G 0B1 > > 514-398-4400 ext 00795 (Phone) - 514-677-7493 (Cell) - 514-398-7452 (FAX) > > [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]> - > http://www.mcgill.ca/lifesciencescomplex/core/imaging > |
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In reply to this post by Claire Brown
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To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy ***** Hi Claire et al, On a previous Biorad inverted system, I had a process where all objectives were removed from the microscope immediately after use and stored in the "upright" position in their own containers, awaiting cleaning and inspection. Even then, one of our Nikon oil lenses was sent back to Japan for repair. I suppose, that wasn't not bad for almost 16 years of imaging. Now that I have a microscope where all objectives stay on the microscope, one oil objective has been replaced and another sent for repair in just 3 years. I think it is time to go back to removing all objectives after use. It's a painful process but does save damage and dollars. Another partial solution I am considering is to buy an upright confocal configuration just for fixed, stained slides. That would keep a large percentage of our users happy and might likely reduced objective damage from both oil and motorised stages. Cheers Paul Rigby Assoc. Prof. Paul Rigby Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation & Analysis (M510) The University of Western Australia 35 Stirling Highway Crawley WA 6007 Australia -----Original Message----- From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Claire Brown, Dr. Sent: Tuesday, 28 May 2013 7:38 AM To: [hidden email] Subject: Oil inside lenses. ***** To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy ***** We are relatively routinely seeing oil inside of our Zeiss 63x oil immersion lenses. You end up with a bead of oil inside that acts as a lens itself and the lens is unusable. As far as we can tell, it usually happens after prolonged use over many years. We are at a point now where our lenses are "old" and Zeiss cannot repair them because the parts are no longer available. It costs us $6-8,000 to replace them. With 13 microscopes we have one lens failing every 6-12 months or so. I can't afford to keep replacing these lenses and with this becoming a "routine" occurrence I want to seek out advice about why this might be happening. Our users are well trained and I don't think it is neglect by them. I think this is due to routine use. I have two questions: 1) "Is there a defect in how these lenses are made?" For example, perhaps the seals on the front lenses degrade over time - we inspect our lenses regularly and many that have had oil inside have no obvious damage by visual inspection. Maybe they need to be resealed every year or two, maybe an internal seal degrades over time? Preventative maintenance of these lenses or a change in how they are manufactured would certainly cost less than $8,000 I would think. 2) "Do people have a similar problem with oil immersion lenses from the other major manufacturers?" I look forward to some input here. Sincerely, Claire ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CANADIAN CYTOMETRY AND MICROSCOPY SYMPOSIUM - MONTREAL JUNE 13-15 - http://www.regonline.com/ccma-accm2013 Claire M. Brown, PhD - McGill University - Assistant Professor, Physiology - Life Sciences Complex Imaging Facility Director 3649 Promenade Sir William Osler - Bellini Building - Rm 137A - Montreal - Quebec - H3G 0B1 514-398-4400 ext 00795 (Phone) - 514-677-7493 (Cell) - 514-398-7452 (FAX) [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]> - http://www.mcgill.ca/lifesciencescomplex/core/imaging |
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In reply to this post by Claire Brown
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To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy ***** Saw that with the same Zeiss lens. Oil was clearly getting through the cement seal. That lens was also fairly well cared for, so I have to guess that those models may be more sensitive to minor insults like scraping the stage (which I do not know that it ever did, but with lots of use...) or being overfocused up into a fixed slide. Cheers, TF Timothy Feinstein, Ph.D. Visiting Research Associate Laboratory for GPCR Biology Dept. of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine BST W1301, 200 Lothrop St. Pittsburgh, PA 15261 On May 27, 2013, at 7:37 PM, "Claire Brown, Dr." <[hidden email]> wrote: > ***** > To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: > http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy > ***** > > We are relatively routinely seeing oil inside of our Zeiss 63x oil immersion lenses. You end up with a bead of oil inside that acts as a lens itself and the lens is unusable. > > As far as we can tell, it usually happens after prolonged use over many years. We are at a point now where our lenses are "old" and Zeiss cannot repair them because the parts are no longer available. It costs us $6-8,000 to replace them. With 13 microscopes we have one lens failing every 6-12 months or so. I can't afford to keep replacing these lenses and with this becoming a "routine" occurrence I want to seek out advice about why this might be happening. Our users are well trained and I don't think it is neglect by them. I think this is due to routine use. > > I have two questions: > > > 1) "Is there a defect in how these lenses are made?" > > For example, perhaps the seals on the front lenses degrade over time - we inspect our lenses regularly and many that have had oil inside have no obvious damage by visual inspection. Maybe they need to be resealed every year or two, maybe an internal seal degrades over time? Preventative maintenance of these lenses or a change in how they are manufactured would certainly cost less than $8,000 I would think. > > > > 2) "Do people have a similar problem with oil immersion lenses from the other major manufacturers?" > > I look forward to some input here. > > Sincerely, > > Claire > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > CANADIAN CYTOMETRY AND MICROSCOPY SYMPOSIUM - MONTREAL JUNE 13-15 - http://www.regonline.com/ccma-accm2013 > > Claire M. Brown, PhD - McGill University - Assistant Professor, Physiology - Life Sciences Complex Imaging Facility Director > 3649 Promenade Sir William Osler - Bellini Building - Rm 137A - Montreal - Quebec - H3G 0B1 > 514-398-4400 ext 00795 (Phone) - 514-677-7493 (Cell) - 514-398-7452 (FAX) > [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]> - http://www.mcgill.ca/lifesciencescomplex/core/imaging |
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To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy ***** Dear Claire: There are a few important high lights that I would like to share with you, making a short review of what I have personally observed over the years: 1. Solvents used: Old lenses were cleaned every now and then with acetone or xilol or alcohol or ether or mixtures of those. Nowadays objectives have plastic thin film coverings almost everywhere, so this is something that can stand only ether and/or alcohol, usually in a 2:8 proportion works perfectly fine, all of the others destroy important part of the lenses. 2. Physical force: Installing and deinstalling lenses is now a tricky business. If you never move them, you can get your lenses welded to the frame, I have seen this more frecuently in systems using perfusion while capturing, some drops always fall :D. But when you screw and unscrew if your lens has mobile parts those might be broken or loosen. 3. Brand design: Is very noticeable for me that you can see people talking about this trouble from Zeiss, Leica and Nikon, personally I work with Olympus, and this is not something that happens so often, the only time we have had oil inside one lenses in more than 7 years of continum use it has been because the seals where broken physically not by mistake, price was fair to save a very special objective, but all of the others objectives, even after several hits with the stage have survived well, even putting oil in the 10x (DRY) has no real immediate effect. 4. Mistakes and frustration: Even though we all would love a higher ordered world for everyone, the reality is that work is still on its way to achieve even half of that, so the systems, very often find their way between the student and the PhD degree, which is why we should make a shamanic cleaning every now and then to the site to expell frustration from previous experiments and allow a neutral energy site for next user :D Not easy but a must indeed 5. Business: after all major manufacturers want your money, ¡that is a fact! Best Regards Gabriel OH > Date: Tue, 28 May 2013 07:23:53 -0400 > From: [hidden email] > Subject: Re: Oil inside lenses. > To: [hidden email] > > ***** > To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: > http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy > ***** > > Saw that with the same Zeiss lens. Oil was clearly getting through the cement seal. That lens was also fairly well cared for, so I have to guess that those models may be more sensitive to minor insults like scraping the stage (which I do not know that it ever did, but with lots of use...) or being overfocused up into a fixed slide. > > Cheers, > > TF > > Timothy Feinstein, Ph.D. > Visiting Research Associate > Laboratory for GPCR Biology > Dept. of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology > University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine > BST W1301, 200 Lothrop St. > Pittsburgh, PA 15261 > > On May 27, 2013, at 7:37 PM, "Claire Brown, Dr." <[hidden email]> wrote: > > > ***** > > To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: > > http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy > > ***** > > > > We are relatively routinely seeing oil inside of our Zeiss 63x oil immersion lenses. You end up with a bead of oil inside that acts as a lens itself and the lens is unusable. > > > > As far as we can tell, it usually happens after prolonged use over many years. We are at a point now where our lenses are "old" and Zeiss cannot repair them because the parts are no longer available. It costs us $6-8,000 to replace them. With 13 microscopes we have one lens failing every 6-12 months or so. I can't afford to keep replacing these lenses and with this becoming a "routine" occurrence I want to seek out advice about why this might be happening. Our users are well trained and I don't think it is neglect by them. I think this is due to routine use. > > > > I have two questions: > > > > > > 1) "Is there a defect in how these lenses are made?" > > > > For example, perhaps the seals on the front lenses degrade over time - we inspect our lenses regularly and many that have had oil inside have no obvious damage by visual inspection. Maybe they need to be resealed every year or two, maybe an internal seal degrades over time? Preventative maintenance of these lenses or a change in how they are manufactured would certainly cost less than $8,000 I would think. > > > > > > > > 2) "Do people have a similar problem with oil immersion lenses from the other major manufacturers?" > > > > I look forward to some input here. > > > > Sincerely, > > > > Claire > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > CANADIAN CYTOMETRY AND MICROSCOPY SYMPOSIUM - MONTREAL JUNE 13-15 - http://www.regonline.com/ccma-accm2013 > > > > Claire M. Brown, PhD - McGill University - Assistant Professor, Physiology - Life Sciences Complex Imaging Facility Director > > 3649 Promenade Sir William Osler - Bellini Building - Rm 137A - Montreal - Quebec - H3G 0B1 > > 514-398-4400 ext 00795 (Phone) - 514-677-7493 (Cell) - 514-398-7452 (FAX) > > [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]> - http://www.mcgill.ca/lifesciencescomplex/core/imaging |
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In reply to this post by Claire Brown
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To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy ***** Hi Claire, after 5 years of frequent use we had oil in our Olympus TIRF lens (150x), the repair was free of charge, it was included in the maintainance contract! best wishes Andreas -----Original Message----- From: Claire Brown, Dr. <[hidden email]> To: CONFOCALMICROSCOPY <[hidden email]> Sent: Tue, 28 May 2013 1:39 Subject: Oil inside lenses. ***** To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy ***** We are relatively routinely seeing oil inside of our Zeiss 63x oil immersion lenses. You end up with a bead of oil inside that acts as a lens itself and the lens is unusable. As far as we can tell, it usually happens after prolonged use over many years. We are at a point now where our lenses are "old" and Zeiss cannot repair them because the parts are no longer available. It costs us $6-8,000 to replace them. With 13 microscopes we have one lens failing every 6-12 months or so. I can't afford to keep replacing these lenses and with this becoming a "routine" occurrence I want to seek out advice about why this might be happening. Our users are well trained and I don't think it is neglect by them. I think this is due to routine use. I have two questions: 1) "Is there a defect in how these lenses are made?" For example, perhaps the seals on the front lenses degrade over time - we inspect our lenses regularly and many that have had oil inside have no obvious damage by visual inspection. Maybe they need to be resealed every year or two, maybe an internal seal degrades over time? Preventative maintenance of these lenses or a change in how they are manufactured would certainly cost less than $8,000 I would think. 2) "Do people have a similar problem with oil immersion lenses from the other major manufacturers?" I look forward to some input here. Sincerely, Claire ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CANADIAN CYTOMETRY AND MICROSCOPY SYMPOSIUM - MONTREAL JUNE 13-15 - http://www.regonline.com/ccma-accm2013 Claire M. Brown, PhD - McGill University - Assistant Professor, Physiology - Life Sciences Complex Imaging Facility Director 3649 Promenade Sir William Osler - Bellini Building - Rm 137A - Montreal - Quebec - H3G 0B1 514-398-4400 ext 00795 (Phone) - 514-677-7493 (Cell) - 514-398-7452 (FAX) [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]> - http://www.mcgill.ca/lifesciencescomplex/core/imaging |
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