Arichard:Protocols/Microscope bulb change
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Changing and aligning the mercury bulb on the IX-81.[edit]
- Notes from August 14, 2013, with Craig Rappaport (craig.rappaport@olympus.com) from Olympus.
Changing bulb[edit]
- Two people would be ideal for this job. One person uses the wrench and the other holds the housing.
- The only tool you need is the Allen wrench that came with the microscope (white T-handle).
- Some of the screws are NOT locked in, so take care not to lose them.
- There is no need to fully remove the screws. Just loosening them should be sufficient.
- Make sure that the power is off and disconnected, and that the bulb is not hot (leave off for maybe 30 min. or so).
Protocol[edit]
- Power off and disconnect power cable from the power supply box.
- Loosen two screws BEHIND the collector lens, on each side of the housing.
- Look for these two screws inside slots in the housing.
- All the steps after this will be easier if you take the bulb housing out of the plexiglass housing and place it on the bench.
- Loosen screw on top of vent.
- Pull up on the vent to remove the bulb fixture. Lay the fixture on its side. Make sure the bulb is not hot.
- Loosen the thumb screws on either side of the bulb.
- Be careful not to apply torque to the bulb itself as it breaks easily. Hold the fixture while turning the screws.
- Remove the old bulb and insert the new one. Note that one end is fat and one end is skinny. The skinny end fits into the heat exchanger (fins).
- DO NOT TOUCH THE BULB ITSELF. Use gloves and hold it near the electrodes, not the bulb. A cloth is included with the bulb to wipe off any smudges.
- Smudges on the bulb will create imaging artifacts.
- Reverse these steps to reassemble.
- Only finger-tight on the bulb screws.
Alignment[edit]
- Find a sample that will fluoresce evenly.
- Cardstock works well (cellulose is autofluorescent).
- The sample illumination comes from two sources:
- The bulb.
- The mirror image from the back of the bulb.
- Alignment involves putting these two sources (bright dots) on top of each other as much as possible.
- They cannot align perfectly, but you can get close.
- There are three knobs used for alignment:
- The collector focus knob, located on the cylindrical housing.
- The horizontal alignment knob, located on the bulb housing, parallel to the bench.
- The vertical alignment knob, located on the bulb housing, diagonal to the bench.
- Alignment should be checked periodically.
Protocol[edit]
- Power up, select 4X objective and GFP. Position sample under illumination.
- Adjust the collector focus until the two illumination sources are resolved as much as possible.
- Adjust vertical and horizontal alignment knobs until the two sources are on top of each other as much as possible.
- Back off on the collector focus to spread the illumination over the whole sample.
- The sample should fluoresce evenly if alignment was done properly.
- Remember to burn in the bulb, 2-4 hours. Overnight is also OK.