[lm-announce] Problem with 2nd floor spectris

[Sam Swift]

Dear All,

I'm sorry to have to tell you that the excitation shutter has failed  
on the 2nd floor spectris.  A replacement has already been ordered  
which I will fit the moment it arrives.  In the meantime, please  
remember that the Mfloor spectris is available for live cell work and  
that there are 2 DV3s and the LMF spectris available for fixed work.   
The Mfloor spectris now has a functioning 488 laser for FRAP, but I  
would ask that you get me, Calum or Laura to do the alignment for  
you, rather than doing it yourself, in order to avoid it getting  
damaged again.

We have just had the ImSol engineer in to do the Preventive  
Maintenance on the spectrises and to discuss a few general issues.   
The 2nd floor's objective turret had a rather nasty fault of the  
sheared-plastic-wedged-in-the-mechanism nature due to some over  
enthusiastic lens cap tightening, presumably by a bunch of microscope  
fancying weightlifters.  This could have been much worse (i.e. more  
expensive) than it was, so please remember to never ever swap  
objective lenses between microscopes.  A very small number of you  
have been told you can do this in the past - can you please contact  
me before you next use the microscope so that I can explain the  
problem in more detail.  I find it hard to believe that whoever had  
the physical strength and mental determination to do this didn't  
notice that something might be sticking a bit.  Do come and tell us  
if you break something - accidents happen, we won't go totally nuts,  
and it's so much easier to fix things before they get properly lost  
in the machinery.

The recurring problem we have is that the 100x oil immersion lenses  
are taking a real beating.  A quick note on those: please do not put  
too much oil on these objectives; we found one of them to be  
literally full of oil, which was dribbling onto the dichroic  
mirrors.  I cannot emphasise strongly enough what a really really  
really bad thing that is to have happen.  We do recognise that live  
cell experiments tend to require the use of a bit of oil, but please  
do think about how much you're putting on and don't be afraid to give  
the lens a wipe between applications (both on the top lens and on any  
other surfaces that have been greased up by mistake).  If you use a  
microscope and the lens is dirtier than you can clean with a piece of  
lens tissue please come and ask and we will sort it out instantly.   
Don't just persevere and don't use liquid cleaners.  Also, if you're  
out of lens tissue, we have a big box of the stuff so just ask Calum  
for some.  Please don't just use whatever's lying around.  I have  
caught people using Kimwipes, Blue roll and Kleenex in the past 4  
years, which I would have found funny if I wasn't the facility  
manager.  I'm just glad there aren't any brillo pads in the  
microscope room.

Other than that we're in pretty good shape - keep doing what you're  
doing (apart from the stuff I just mentioned, obviously) and come and  
find us if you want to try something new, want to have a thrilling  
discussion about microscopy or need something fixed, aligned, or  
wiped.  We're just in the process of swapping out the hi-res cameras  
for repair and should have a working CH350 back with us in the next  
couple of weeks.  The BioRad has been giving some great results,  
particularly on DAPI and Rhodamine.  If you're going above 30 um it's  
worth a look and, brilliantly enough, is not heavily booked, looks  
like a B52 bomber and has an environmental chamber on it too.  What  
more could you possibly want?

Cheers,
Sam

PS  For those of you who missed it, my extension number is 86412 and  
Calum is still on 88751.  We're involved in a custody battle over the  
hex keys, but please don't feel you have to take sides.