replacing argon laser with diode on a FV1000 system

[Owens, Peter]

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Dear all,

The Argon laser on our old Fv1000 system has finally given up life in this world and now I am wondering how to replace it . Does anyone know if it would be possible to replace with a 488 diode laser if the laser combiner was retrofitted to house the diode laser. Anyone done this?
Alternatively , as a long shot , anyone got a spare?

Best Regards,

Peter


Centre for Microscopy and Imaging,
National University of Ireland Galway.
P: [phone] m: [phone]
W: www.imaging.nuigalway.ie e: [hidden email]

[Petro]

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Hi Peter.
I do not know how it is in FV1000. If it is the same as in FV1200, there
shall be no big trouble to do so. You just have to make some base to hold
the laser on the same level and provide some heatsinking. Some metal
workshop will do it, maybe you can even put it together from Thorlabs
components. The only hard to come part will be the laser.
Best.
Petro.



On Wed, Sep 16, 2020 at 4:39 PM Owens, Peter <[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.
> *****
>
> Dear all,
>
> The Argon laser on our old Fv1000 system has finally given up life in this
> world and now I am wondering how to replace it . Does anyone know if it
> would be possible to replace with a 488 diode laser if the laser combiner
> was retrofitted to house the diode laser. Anyone done this?
> Alternatively , as a long shot , anyone got a spare?
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Peter
>
>
> Centre for Microscopy and Imaging,
> National University of Ireland Galway.
> P: [phone] m: [phone]
> W: www.imaging.nuigalway.ie e: [hidden email]
>
>
>
>

--
______________________________
Petro Khoroshyy

[Hongtao Chen]

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Hello,

You probably can do a 3rd party retubing to get it back to work. I did this
with a 3rd party company in salt lake city (there are many). The company
was trying to sell me a new one.
Yes, you can use diode lasers but the wavelength will not be exactly 488nm,
therefore the AOM needs to be adjusted a little bit.
I did this for 405nm before but it does not work well.
FYI.

Best Regards,
Hongtao Chen

On Wed, Sep 16, 2020 at 9:39 AM Owens, Peter <[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.
> *****
>
> Dear all,
>
> The Argon laser on our old Fv1000 system has finally given up life in this
> world and now I am wondering how to replace it . Does anyone know if it
> would be possible to replace with a 488 diode laser if the laser combiner
> was retrofitted to house the diode laser. Anyone done this?
> Alternatively , as a long shot , anyone got a spare?
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Peter
>
>
> Centre for Microscopy and Imaging,
> National University of Ireland Galway.
> P: [phone] m: [phone]
> W: www.imaging.nuigalway.ie e: [hidden email]
>
>
>
>

--
Best Regards,
Hongtao Chen

[Craig Brideau]

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If you are using only one laser line from your Argon laser, i.e. ONLY
488nm, then it is worth it to replace with a diode laser, assuming you can
get your AOM recalibrated or you have a "cherry picked" laser diode with a
precise wavelength. If you are using more than one line from your Argon
such as 457, 514nm etc. then it is worth it to have the laser re-tubed as
buying multiple diode lasers at those wavelengths will be much more
expensive than repairing the Argon.
I have had both situations in our lab here: Retubed an Argon on one system
and replaced it with a diode laser on the other, and both cases worked for
me. In the case of the diode laser I had the diode specified to be exactly
488nm, so I paid a bit extra to have them provide the precise wavelength of
the laser by part binning the diodes the company had on hand.

Craig

On Wed, Sep 16, 2020 at 8:39 AM Owens, Peter <[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.
> *****
>
> Dear all,
>
> The Argon laser on our old Fv1000 system has finally given up life in this
> world and now I am wondering how to replace it . Does anyone know if it
> would be possible to replace with a 488 diode laser if the laser combiner
> was retrofitted to house the diode laser. Anyone done this?
> Alternatively , as a long shot , anyone got a spare?
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Peter
>
>
> Centre for Microscopy and Imaging,
> National University of Ireland Galway.
> P: [phone] m: [phone]
> W: www.imaging.nuigalway.ie e: [hidden email]
>
>
>
>

[Stanislav Vitha-2]

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On our FV1000 (1995 vintage) I have used Dynamic Lasers (Salt Lake City) several times over the years - about every 5000 hours of use - to get the Melles Griot Ar laser refurbished/re-tubed.  We use all three wavelengths (488, 515, 458 nm), and also I did not want to invest in re-programming the AOTF for different lasers  (the older generation AOTF that we have requires special programming tool, does not have a normal  USB or serial connection).
   
No commercial interest, just a satisfied customer.

Stan Vitha
Microscopy and Imaging Center
Texas A&M University