Posted by
Craig Brideau on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/CO2-enrichment-accessories-tp7589882p7589904.html
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To add to the general trend, I agree your big limitation is software
compatibility and the computer hardware running it. I've provided help to
listers before getting their old Nikon C1 computers repaired or upgraded
and sourcing compatible hardware was the biggest hurdle. You can image the
operating system drive to have some insurance against viruses or drive
failure, but you still need to find a motherboard, memory, etc. that will
function with XP and win7. I'd recommend picking up spare computer
components while you can and storing them. When the electronics fail you
can just swap out the parts from your inventory.
Regarding the microscope hardware itself, as others have mentioned galvos
wear out eventually (you can consider picking up spare sets of these as
well as they can go out of production) and of course the lasers eventually
fail. The lasers are not as great a problem as it is relatively
straightforward to jury-rig a modern laser into an obsolete system; the
newer ones tend to be smaller that the older ones, giving you plenty of
room for adapters.
Also consider that photomultiplier tubes have limited lifespan. I've coaxed
10 years out of conventional PMTs, but have had GaAsP detectors wear out in
two years. You will notice an increase in background signal as they start
to go.
Craig
On Mon, Sep 23, 2019 at 12:05 PM Stanislav Vitha <
[hidden email]> wrote:
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>
> One of our confocals (Olympus FV1000) that is now 15 years old. It is not
> as heavily used as yours, but over the years I have not noticed a
> significant degradation in performance. We never had a service contract,
> and in our case it paid off, since it was mostly trouble free. I moved it
> twice (once to a different room, second time to a different building) and
> it just kept going. We only had one major repair (galvos) about 6 years
> ago. About 4 years ago we upgraded the computer/OS, and got additional
> (GaAsP) detectors. Otherwise it is just the matter of dealing with the
> "consumables" - replacing and realigning the Argon laser - they last about
> 5000 hours, we are on a fourth laser (I have a spare that I get re-built
> when the one on the microscope starts failing), I also replaced the 543 nm
> HeNe laser few years back.
> I do agree that the availability of parts and service is going to be an
> issue on these older systems. The 405nm laser power has been going down
> lately, both due to the laser itself and the fiber optic cable for that
> laser. These parts are no longer available from the manufacturer, but
> luckily for a fraction of the cost I got a well functioning replacement off
> Ebay.
>
> When Windows 7 support ends, we will choose a similar strategy as on our
> TEM computers (some of which still run WIndows XP) - disable USB ports on
> the control computer, dump data to a support PC connected via intranet.
> Users then copy data from the support PC.
>
>
> Best Regards,
> Stan Vitha
> Microscopy and Imaging Center
> Texas A&M University
>
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