Posted by
Kate Luby-Phelps on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/any-ideas-how-lens-broke-tp7582371p7582380.html
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Motorized stages on inverted stands plus high $$ objectives = bad karma. We have notched
up 3 or 4 in the past ten years including a Nikon 60x TIRF. Painful but difficult to prevent in
a heavily used core facility.
That said, we have once or twice had retractable barrels that got stuck down due to oil build
up. If it's not too bad, we can sometimes get them unstuck by dribbling ethanol down
around the base where the two parts meet. Other times we have had to send them back to
Zeiss. Can't tell if this is your problem from the description.
A new problem we have encountered recently is people stripping the correction collars on
two expensive objectives from Zeiss. We assume a user grabbed the wrong part of the lens
when removing it from the nosepiece or perhaps the set screw somehow came loose.
Anyway, once this happens there is no getting it aligned correctly without having to send it
back to the vendor. The result in one case was a two fold loss in fluorescence intensity,
especially in the far red.
The preventative measure for all these problems is user education. We are considering
implementation of annual re-certification test for all users, including questions about proper
care of objectives.
Kate