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Ken Orndorff reported an oil leak in his 1.4 na lens.  We recently had an
oil leak in our Zeiss Plan Apo 40 from our LSM 410 and unfortunately, since
it was on an invert, the oil did go into the lens, collected on the
diaphragm and, when that was closed, transferred oil onto the inner lens
surface.

The lens has now been away for repairs for far too long and Zeiss has been
unable to lend us a replacement lens so the LSM is of limited use.  This is
the third time we have had such a problem, once previously with the 40x
Plan Apo and once with the 63x Plan Apo, in spite of removing the lenses
when not in use and putting them upright in their cases.  Each time Zeiss
has been very slow to return our lens and charged a huge amount for the
repair.

We wick off most of the oil with lens tissue and use 1,1,1 trichloroethane
sparingly to remove the rest.
_____________________________________
Tom Gore, Advanced Imaging Laboratory
Biology Department, University of Victoria
Box 3020, Station CSC,
Victoria, BC, V8W 3N5 Canada
voice (250) 721-7134   fax (250) 721-7120
web:  http://web.uvic.ca/ail/