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Confocal BB,
        Thanks everyone for the tips on cleaning.  I would like to say that we do indeed use these good cleaning habits and we try to take excellent care of these very expensive elements of the system. It is really the more serious issue of what I believe is objective failure at the gasket that I wanted to address.  
        Tom Gore is reporting exactly the type of problem that I think we should expect to be able to avoid with reasonable care and treatment of our objectives.  I am especially concerned about objective failure because our core facility has just purchased a new inverted confocal system that will  emphasize live cell work.  Therefore, the inverted objective will be far more easily covered in oil. I  expect that the higher  37C temp also  places a much greater demand on the seals of the objectives.  We have a water immersion objective for the long term studies of live cells.  But other core facility users with fixed samples will also want to use the system when it is warmed, so the issue of oil running down the objective will still occur.
        Are microscopists to consider $5000.00 +  objectives as disposable items? I would like to think not.  This is my first experience with a gasket failure in nearly 25 years of working with microscopes. Thus, my first response was that something funny was going on.  So I am just checking with  with everyone to see if similar events are happening out there.
        I  wonder if it might  be possible for microscope companies to recertify the objectives for a much reduced cost than required when a total failure occurs.  Possibly providing a loaner?  I can dream. :-)     Is it possible to remove aging but intact sealant and apply a new coating at a much reduced cost and much more quickly? Is it possible to avoid designs that have readily exposed sealing gaskets?   Any thoughts that you have would be of interest to me.  Thanks again to all.


Ken

Ken Orndorff
Supervisor-Imaging
H.C. Englert Cell Analysis Lab
Dartmouth College/DMS/NCCC
Borwell Building Room 338 West
One Medical Center Drive
Lebanon, NH  03756

Phone 603-650-7661
FAX    603-650-6130
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~celllab