SUBJECT: Buying and repairing microscopes
DATE: 9/96
Dear Biolabbers:
I am writing a grant with hopes to buy microscopes for my genetics
lab. Has anyone purchased any recently? I'm looking for a good
price, a good scope, and a good company with which to deal. I hope to
buy scopes with mechanical stages and oil immersion lens. Any ideas
or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Jim Ingold
LSU-Shreveport, Louisiana
jingold@pilot.lsus.edu
Jim,
The last few years we have been upgrading our microscopes (from
ancient Wild) to Leica Galen III models; this model is comparable to the
Olympus CH-2 model. They have the features you mention (mechanical stage
and 100x oil objective), but we also negotiated for plan objectives (4x,
10x, 40x and 100x) and ocular micrometer disks. The price was about $1500
CDN each (i can look up the exact price if you wish). We looked at about
5
different models (the two mentioned, plus one from Fisher and two others
which i forget the models of) in this price range before choosing Leica
-
only the Olympus (at about $2400) and the Leica were suitable. We have been
well satisfied with these microscopes which are in regular use by students.
The only detriment is that, as compared to the Olympus, they may be slightly
underpowered in terms of the light source, but for student use they can
be
run at full power with no problems. If you need the address of Leica (ours
came from New York) let me know.
Good Luck,
Mike Weber
Carleton University
mweber@ccs.carleton.ca
Michael Weber
Department of Biology
Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1S 5B6
mweber@ccs.carleton.ca
613-520-2600 (4493)
WRT companies and price. We found that the major microscope companies
(e.g. Olympus) expect you to buy from their supplier who covers your
territory, even though the different suppliers throughout the country
have different prices!
Graham Kent
Smith College
Northampton, MA
Jim -
We purchased 12 Nikon, Alpha phot-2, binocular microscopes with 4 objectives
(4x, 10x, 40x, 10x), mechanical stage, abbe condensor, in 1989 from Fryer
Company Inc., Carpentersville, IL. Bid price was $880 each. They have been
used every term since then and are still in fine shape. I feel the tungston
illuminator is underpowered for serious microscopy with denser material
but
for most work and certainly all our student work they have been great.
Al
Al Williams AAWilliams@Manchester.edu
Biology Department Voice 219-982-5308
Manchester College FAX 219-982-5043
N. Manchester, IN 46962
We are looking at some microscopes made by National Optical
and Scientific Instruments, Inc. in San Antonio, Texas. I would
appreciate receiving any input about any experiences with microscopes
made by this company. The SC State contract price is appealing and
the State buyers examined this company before placing them as
bidders under the State contract.
Thanks In Advance,
Frank W. Breazeale
Science Department Head
Tri-County Tec. College
fbreazeale@tricty.tricounty.tec.sc.us
I would give Fryer a try. Their email is: fryerco@ix.netcom.com . Al
Vitous, one of their reps, was very helpful at Bradley.
rrs@bradley.bradley.edu
Robert Rhea Stephens
Biology Department
Bradley University
Peoria, IL 61625
As to microscopes:
I am sorry I saved a lot of money and bought compound scopes from China.
They
have all the right features BUT they are just awful scopes! The lighting
system is bad and the condensers fall out of their holders when you try
to
move the iris diaphragm. They were less than $700 a piece and we use them
for
the non-majors only. About half of the light bulbs burned out within the
first 4 months of use. The sales rep from Fisher told me not to buy Chinese
and I didn't listen to him!!
I also have two expensive (over $1400) compounds from Leica, the ACT
2000....they never worked right and the focusing and lighting are awful
too.
So all I can offer is what NOT to buy!
Emily in Orrville
Sometimes getting a quality microscopoe at a fair price is a problem but
what is a problem for us at Bradley is finding someone who can clean, oil,
adjust and do minor repairs of micrscopes for a competitive price. Does
anyone
know of such an individual for the Illinois region.
Thanks.
Bob
rrs@bradley.bradley.edu
Robert Rhea Stephens
Biology Department
Bradley University
Peoria, IL 61625
We have had very good luck with Leeds Precision Instruments. A few years
back we bought Olympus CH-2 binocular compound scopes with oil immersion
objectives, mechanical stages, and ocular micrometers. Just last summer
we
had all of them serviced (oiled, aligned, cleaned, etc) and they are just
like new. This is remarkable considering 1500 students a semester use the
72 microscopes we have. Their service staff is also very nice and helpful
when I call for parts or assistance.
Of course, all experiences are different, and YMMV.
Chris
V. Christine Minor
Biology Laboratory Coordinator
Iowa State University
154 Bessey Hall
Ames, IA 50011
515-294-8596
http://mac1252.botany.iastate.edu/
Bob -
We have discussed cleaning and microscope maintenance with L.J. Winklemen,
Kokomo, IN (317) 453-6061. The price seemed reasonable and he has a good
reputation. However, the department can get me to do it for free so we did't
actually give him a contract.
Al
Al Williams AAWilliams@Manchester.edu
Biology Department Voice 219-982-5308
Manchester College FAX 219-982-5043
N. Manchester, IN 46962
After I sat down with the microscope company rep, who my
department chairman paid to maintain our microscopes, and watched
what he did, I maintained all my microscopes myself and spent the
money on better things. Later when I had a real full time
helper, I showed him how to do it. My point is, in a time of
tight money, this is a good way to save money. Plus you can fix
the scopes when they need it, and not have to wait for outside
help. In 20 years of teaching, there were only a few times when
outside help was needed. It's been a long time since I purchased
microscopes, but the American Optical scopes we bought with
quartz halogen illuminators, mechanical stages, wide field eye
pieces, 4X, 10X, 43X, oil objectives were very good and reasonably priced.
What did we have to do maintain our microscopes? Mainly, clean
high-dry objectives. Most of the problem materials come off with
water! I'm sure one could train a student to do most of the
work. Of course, cleaning of finger oil and dirt makes them look
good.
I'm sure others must have traveled the same road!
Don Igelsrud
>With respect to microscopes, we have had very luck in our intro courses
with American Optical monocular compounds - most of ours are 20+ years old
and in great shape. We have them cleaned every other year by an outside
service. I wish we had someone in-house who could service them (Time
function, not skill). We have better quality binocular scopes for upper
level courses, most of which are Fisher. Again these have been very
reliable over the years. I just looked and couldn't find a Model #, but
the serial number is a 21,000 series.
>
>Greg
>
Greg Anderson
Department of Biology
44 Campus Ave
Bates College
Lewiston, ME 04240
ganderso@abacus.bates.edu
(207)786-6110
We also have cleaned our own microscopes. However, we have several sets
of AO microscopes which have the moving nosepieces for focus rather than
the moving stage. The problem we have come up against (and which caused
me
to request professional cleaning this summer) is that the grease in the
focus mechanism hardens with age. Our storekeeper has been able to clean
the old grease out but has never been able to identify the proper grease
to
put back in. So, within a short time the new grease has agained hardened,
producing a lag time while focusing and making the microscopes very
frustrating for students to use. Does anybody know of a good, non-drying
grease to use in these mechanisms?
Sincerely,
Roger Christianson 541-488-0223 (home)
Department of Biology 541-552-6747 (office)
Southern Oregon State College 541-552-6415 (fax)
1250 Siskiyou Boulevard
Ashland, OR 97520
The best optical lens cleaner solution I've run across is Labcraft Brand
(item # 143-974) distributed by Curtain Matheson Sci. It seems to take
off
most everything I commonly run into while cleaning lenses. (HINT: if you
unscrew the lens and hold it in your hand you can invert an eyepiece and
use
it like a magnifying glass to inspect the lens for junk). I only use lens
tissues (not Kimwipes) for cleaning fine optics. After cleaning the lenses
I usually run through all the mechanical parts to look for problems then
look at a slide using all lenses as a final check (by using high light and
small diaphram settings I can usually tell if the oil lens is clean without
adding oil).
I've also taken apart and cleaned my share of microscopes. It can be
tedious and often the first scope takes quite awhile until you figure out
what is going on. It also requires a bench you can lay out parts in some
order that allows you to remember how to put them back together. Add the
frustration of small, that is _very_ small, screws and set screws along
with
not always having the correct tool to tighten/loosen parts, I can understand
why people send them out. It isn't as bad if you have all the same scopes
to work on... once you get a system you can do it pretty quickly and you
learn the tricks need to disassemble/reassemble the scopes.
The greases we use are provided by:
Micro Optics Co
28475 Greenfield Rd.
Southfield, MI 48076
(313) 557-3742
We use #2 Medium and #10 Light.
I generally use the medium on "heavier" mechanisms such as focusing
parts
and racks that turn "harder" while using the lighter stuff on
"lighter"
mechanisms such as condenser racks and mechanical stages.
One note is to not use anymore grease than absolutely needed. From what
I've found the number one reason recently greased mechanisms fail is due
to
over greasing (which collects more dust and dirt).
Jeff Lewin, Lab Associate jclewin@mtu.edu
(906) 487-3435 Dept. of Biological Sciences
Fax (906) 487-3167 Michigan Technological University