[lm-announce] lamp problems on DeltaVisions

[Samuel Swift]

Dear All,

Over the past few months, some of you will have experienced problems on the DeltaVision microscopes fitted with Xenon lamps (these are the ones you switch on via softworx, not the ones you turn on by hand with the green switch).  The symptoms variously include excessive lamp flickering, which makes consecutive images in a time lapse or z stack get brighter and darker, the lamp turning itself off and back on again, and problems with either the ICMIC crashing or the joystick freezing.  This is particularly problematic during long time lapse experiments.

I apologise for the lack of information regarding this; it has taken us some time to make the vendor acknowledge that there is a fault and provide an acceptable solution.

Our current plan is to replace the entire lamp housing on all of these microscopes.  In the past week, we have replaced the units on the 2nd floor spectris and LMF spectris.  We expect to have 3 more lamp housings with us within 10 days and, the moment they arrive, we will replace the units on the Mfloor spectris, Mfloor DV3 and 3rd floor PDV.

We hope that this will rectify the problem.  However... we need your help.  If you are using the 2nd floor or LMF spectris scopes now, please be especially vigilant and let us know if you experience any of the issues described above.  Once the remaining microscopes are refitted, I will let you know and, again, ask that you tell us immediately of any problems.

Obviously, we would expect you to let us know of any microscope problems anyway, but I appreciate that some of you have just learned to live with this particular fault recently and hence may not be reporting its occurrence.

Many thanks,
Sam

The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096
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