Spare photomultiplier tube for LSM5?

[Ben Melchior]

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Hi listers,

One of our PMT is down on our LSM5 Pascal confocal.  I am looking for a spare
13mm size tube, R6357 or equivalent (powered by a C4900 power supply).
Unfortunately, Hamamatsu only makes parts on demand and requires weeks
before delivery.  
Would anyone know of another distributor who stocks PMTs or would anyone
mind salvaging a spare part from their old scope?

Thanks for your help

Ben

[Mark Cannell]

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What are the symptoms of this failure? PMTs usually have a long life.

Regards Mark
On 3/06/2011, at 4:52 AM, Ben Melchior wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> *****
>
> Hi listers,
>
> One of our PMT is down on our LSM5 Pascal confocal.  I am looking for a spare
> 13mm size tube, R6357 or equivalent (powered by a C4900 power supply).
> Unfortunately, Hamamatsu only makes parts on demand and requires weeks
> before delivery.  
> Would anyone know of another distributor who stocks PMTs or would anyone
> mind salvaging a spare part from their old scope?
>
> Thanks for your help
>
> Ben

[Ben Melchior]

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Hi Mark,

This is what I heard, PMT tubes are supposed to have extended life.

Symptoms are:  
Channel 2 went down while acquiring live images.  A user might have
accidentally pumped up the Argon laser power way above its baseline for some
time.
Nothing could be detected even when switching lines from 488 to 543nm. A
faint signal in 488 was seen when the detector gain, amplifier and transmission
% were set up to the max.
All signals could be detected normally when light was diverted to channel 1.
Nothing wrong with the lasers, no burnt filters. We tested the voltage on the
corresponding motherboard and all measurements are according the spec
sheet. Nothing wrong with the power supply.
Any idea what else it could be?  Zeiss wants to change the whole module, but
I am trying to find a cheaper alternative.

Thank you for any input.

Regards,
Ben