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Hi Michael,

Interesting question. We have 2 Zeiss confocal microscopes; an LSM 710 installed in 2018 and an LSM 800 Airyscan installed in 2019. Both systems are under service agreements. The LSM 800 has a comprehensive agreement that covers everything but the LSM 710 has a lower level contract that covers one preventative maintenance visit per year and labour and travel for any repairs. We have to pay for parts.

It was our decision to drop the LSM 710 contract to a lower level after we purchased the LSM 800 because that was part of the business case I wrote and we knew that the system was getting older, parts might be harder to get and we also might have to look at decommissioning the system when new equipment arrives. This decision was not influenced by Zeiss so I don't know if they would have been able to provide another comprehensive contract for that system.

Our service from Zeiss has always been excellent and so far parts have been available. Today, the LSM 710 is getting a replacement AOTF. I was glad that the part was still available. The other repair we have had in the last couple of years was the joystick and control unit for the Marzhauser stage. In this case, the control unit was second-hand but the joystick was new.

I can't imagine not being able to get service from Zeiss but I can imagine that parts might not be available.

Our two Olympus FV1000 confocals also have service agreements that include preventative maintenance visits once a year and labour/travel. These also don't include parts. However, in this case the vendor told us that they couldn't offer a comprehensive contract anymore because of the risk of not being able to guarantee that parts would be available.  One was installed in 2006 and the other in 2009 so this is understandable and we don't have a problem with it. However, both are still serviced regularly and we get excellent service support from Olympus/Evident too.

Kind regards,

Jacqui

Jacqueline Ross
Lead Technologist
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Biomedical Imaging Research Unit (BIRU)
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From: Confocal Microscopy List <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Cammer, Michael
Sent: Wednesday, 6 September 2023 6:54 am
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: how long to scanning laser confocals last and how long are they covered by service contract?

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Has anyone tracked the amount of time between introduction of a new instrument and discontinuing service on the instrument per microscope brand? I'm trying to get a grip on whether different companies have different built in obsolescence, in particular regarding scanning confocals, or if I'm biased because we have so many Zeiss scopes that I've noticed service on them being discontinued more often. For instance the 700 series. They work great but we have to take them off line because we can't get service. I'm trying to figure out whether I'm being fair to Zeiss or whether Zeiss really does cut off service earlier than other companies. I'm interested in actual data of how long people keep their instruments running and how long service support is available.
Thank you.

Michael Cammer, Sr Research Scientist, DART Microscopy Laboratory
NYU Langone Health, 540 First Avenue, office MSB 06 57, main lab Smilow C-17, New York, NY 10016
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Scheduling the time you want is far more reliable by phone call. Why not provide your phone number?

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