Need help with bubbles in oil immersion 100x

[aoikirin]

I'm taking general micro and got a microscope to work with at home. It's not the quality of the one at school obviously but it gets the job done. I am having problems with the oil immersion that I never have on the school microscope. I get what appear as bubbles and am completely unable to focus on 100x with oil.

One thought I have is that the part that touches the oil on my home microscope can move inward to prevent breaking the slide. My school microscope does not have this feature. Am I using bad immersion oil? I never have problems with this on my school microscope at all.

[75RR]

One thought I have is that the part that touches the oil on my home microscope can move inward to prevent breaking the slide. My school microscope does not have this feature.

It is unusual to have a 100x oil objective that is not spring loaded. You might want to check that that is the case.

Either way, the fact that your home microscope has a spring loaded 100x objective should not affect the process.

Make sure that you are following the exact same procedures as you do at school.

If you are, then it may be your oil container that mixes air in with the oil as you place the drop.

This happens sometimes with glass droppers or plastic bottles that are designed to be squeezed. If you press them gently while holding them vertically it can sometimes eliminate the bubbles.

If that does not work, you can place some oil on a slide and then transfer it with a split toothpick (or something similar) on to the cover slip.

Longer term you might want to purchase a small vial with a tester cap that contains a glass or plastic rod.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/10-glass-appli ... 1179398286

If you are still having problems and your objective is compatible with the microscope you use at school - you might want to try it on that microscope.

At the end of the day it is a process of elimination.

[aoikirin]

Thank you so much! I bought those 10 droppers.
I only need one but oh well.

The two oils I have at home both feature droppers similar to those in eye drops. I think you nailed the cause of the bubbles!!! I can just transfer the oil into these new droppers that do not rely on squeezing right ?

My oil at school has a bottle dropper configuration like the droppers you linked on Ebay. I think you solved it !

[MicroBob]

Just some hints:
-You might have old gummed up immersion oil on your front lens.
Sometimes it is necessary to swing the objektive through the oil and back to completly get the air out.
-When you remove an eyepiece you can see whether the back lens is fully illuminated all around.
-The oil immersion doesn't have very much working distance - your preparations might be too thick to focus.

Bob

[aoikirin]

Thank you. Is it ok to clean the oil immersion lens with alcohol or should I use only lens paper dry?

[75RR]

I use isopropanol with cotton wool swabs.

This link is to the Zeiss brochure called 'The Clean Microscope'. You can't go wrong if you follow its advice.

https://microscopy.duke.edu/sites/micro ... scsope.pdf

[MicroBob]

I think Zeiss said "Wundbenzin + Augenwatte", medical white spirit with medical cotton wool.
Simplified Ethanol is more aggressive than Isopropanol and this is more aggressive then white spirit (lighter fluid), so I would start with the latter.
To acheive the high numerical aperture of 1,2 and above the front lens has to be set into the barrel just at the very border. This makes high aperture oil immersion objectives somewhat sensitive to rough handling. The lens is fixed with a glue an the cleaning agent has to be compatible to this glue.

Before cleaning the lens I would first check whether it is dirty at all - you need a loupe for this or use an inverted eyepiece.
If there is gummed up immersion oil it is a good method to stand the objective onto a piece of tissue soaked with white spirit.

[Hobbyst46]

Thank you. Is it ok to clean the oil immersion lens with alcohol or should I use only lens paper dry?

I would use dry wipes (Kim Wipes or lens paper) ONLY to absorb excess oil, NOT to pass it to and fro over the lens surface. Never WIPE any lens with ANY dry material. If using alcohol or light petroleum, use it sparingly, and only if absolutely needed.

[Hobbyst46]

Find The Best Flusable Wipes on Temper website...
they are providing excellent quality of the Wipes that are good for the Scops.

thanks!!!

May I inquire, on what evidence is this statement based ?
those wipes that are scented or otherwise contain liquid componenets are totally unsuitable.
moreover, flushable wipes dissolve in water and could leave remnants, either sieves or even sticky residues, on the optics.
Optical surfaces are not baby skins!

[75RR]

Find The Best Flusable Wipes on Temper website...
they are providing excellent quality of the Wipes that are good for the Scops.

thanks!!!

May I inquire, on what evidence is this statement based ?
those wipes that are scented or otherwise contain liquid componenets are totally unsuitable.
moreover, flushable wipes dissolve in water and could leave remnants, either sieves or even sticky residues, on the optics.
Optical surfaces are not baby skins!

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