MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Update: the pure glycerin slide from yesterday hasn't dried out at all and the cells are still in perfect condition! I don't know what happened the first time but the subsequent attempt was fine. I'll definitely be doing more tests with different parts and different species to see if the cell-shrink...

Perhaps the variable is the glycerin? If it was left out or open it might have absorbed humidity and reached saturation point. Just a thought. Interesting thought. It seems unlikely though because it was only a couple of hours apart, and the glycerin came straight out of the bottle both times and w...

Now I'm very confused because I just tried another attempt with pure glycerin and.. it went fine? The only difference is that with the first leaf I put a drop of glycerin down then placed the leaf into it, and with this attempt I spread the leaves on the slide and then dropped glycerin on top. Surel...

You may try a weak glycerin/water mix - perhaps 1:10 (v/v) - but with a glycerin content that is enough to cover the sample if used on it's own. The idea being to put the leaves into the mixture then allow the water content to slowly evaporate - thus gradually increasing the concentration of glycer...

I want to make semi-permanent slides of moss leaves in glycerin. I've read that glycerin can be used with samples straight from water, but I had trouble the first time trying it. When I placed the moss leaf into a drop of pure glycerin, it immediately started to curl up. I managed to flatten it out ...

Actually they didn't reply directly to say what problem they found. But when I initially contacted them they said it sounded like the nosepiece had been knocked out of alignment, so I'm guessing if it had turned out to be something different they probably would have told me!

Update: I just got the microscope back from the manufacturer, and the problem is completely fixed! The shadow on the right of the field of view is gone, and the condenser light is centred in the view too. They didn't charge me anything, and they were very quick and arranged collection and delivery a...

I definitely will! They've already arranged to collect it today and return it when it's fixed, with no mention of me paying for anything. I'm already convinced of their good service because there was also a problem when I first ordered it (came with the wrong set of objectives) and they handled it v...

Thanks again for all the responses! After narrowing the problem down thanks to all your help, I contacted the manufacturer. They agree it sounds like the monocular head got shifted in transit somehow, so they're going to fix it up for me. I really appreciate all the advice - I've also learned a lot ...

To verify that the problem does not arise from the condenser OR light source (lamp and collector optics if any) you might try this: choose the 4X objective, remove the condenser altogether, turn off the scope lamp, place a small mirror on the base (actually, on a thin plate laid on the field lens) ...

Thanks for the responses! This could be the condenser, a loose iris leaf in the condenser, the stage, the field assembly, or even the nosepiece not centered -- I'd guess the condenser or the stage it is attached to. There are likely screws attaching the condenser to the stage which allow some degree...

Sorry! :D I have a Brunel SP28 with biological objectives. I'm very much an amateur and this is the first microscope I've ever owned. When I searched about the off-centred condenser there were results suggesting that it can be adjusted. But I'm pretty sure that mine is *not* adjustable? Here is a pi...

I'm still getting the hang of my new compound microscope, but I'm confused by two possibly-related problems. This is the view through the eyepiece, down the 10x objective lens with no slide: https://imgur.com/dDQJXWe.jpg Something is cutting off the edge of the field of view on the right. It's alway...