Tips for Regular Maintenance of Microscopes to Extend Their Life
A microscope is a tremendously useful education tool. So, if it gets damaged, students may suffer a lot. You can avoid this by conducting routine mechanical and optical maintenance and microscope servicing which can ensure that the microscope functions well year after year. Compound microscopes need to be serviced usually after around 200 hours of use. Thus, most schools need to service their microscopes every three years, which can be more frequent if microscope is used many times a day.
Storage and Handling
Microscopes, when not in use, should be stored in a cabinet and it should be covered with a dust-cover. Only this precaution also extends its life. Even if you store the microscope inside a cabinet, it should be covered with the dust cover. Don’t store microscopes with their eyepieces removed even if they are covered. If there are no eyepieces, dust will enter the eye tubes and the tubes are hard to clean. If you have to remove eyepieces, cover the tubes with a plastic bag or cap and tie with a rubber band around eye tubes.
Most of the times microscopes are damaged due to faulty handling. Microscopes should always be held at their base and your other hand should be on its metal support arm. You should not hold it by grabbing its stage because that can make the stage misaligned. If you have to transport microscopes many times from one place to another, you better purchase a carrying case for them.
If immersion oil is being used, the lens of the condenser as well as the high power objective lens must be carefully cleaned before storing. After your work with the microscope is over, you should turn off the illuminator and let it cool down for several minutes before storing. This will extend its life.
Another point to remember is that the microscopes should not be stored in a space where there may be chemical fumes because they can corrode and destroy the lenses and/or metal parts of the microscope.
Lubricating
Moving parts of microscopes should be cleaned and lubricated on yearly basis. Clean dirt and grease from sliding surfaces with a clean cloth. A very thin film of lithium-based grease should be applied to the sliding surfaces. Don’t lubricate the teeth of rack and pinion gears. If, after lubrication, the coarse adjustment starts moving too freely, tension knob should be adjusted.
Mazurek Optical Services Ltd offers microscope servicing and repairs and is a leading dealer of high quality microscopes. They always employ talented engineers and expand their product range.
