Amscope T400 lighting
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Amscope T400 lighting
Last month I purchased a T400 from Amscope with a 20 watt halogen bulb. It's plenty bright for bright field and dark field but I do wonder about phase contrast work.
I put in a 30 watt bulb to see if it would work out ok. It did! I was somewhat amazed by this but it makes me think that any T400 or T490 with a 20 watt bulb can drive a 30 watt bulb and I thought there may be some who would like to know.
Greg
I put in a 30 watt bulb to see if it would work out ok. It did! I was somewhat amazed by this but it makes me think that any T400 or T490 with a 20 watt bulb can drive a 30 watt bulb and I thought there may be some who would like to know.
Greg
Re: Amscope T400 lighting
A couple of things to consider when using a higher wattage bulb is the draw of the bulb on the circuitry and the additional heat.
lorez
lorez
Nikon 80i
Re: Amscope T400 lighting
It might very well be the same transformer as in the Amscope's with a 30w halogen bulb:
Yesterday I took apart my Swift s380b.
It comes with a 1w LED, but the transformer supports 2-5 volts, 1000mA, thus making possible a 3w bulb, just what I had hoped for!
However, the LED is soldered into place, so as I have just started out in microscoping, for now I have a lot to see with the 1w, before any diy'ing on the microscope
Yesterday I took apart my Swift s380b.
It comes with a 1w LED, but the transformer supports 2-5 volts, 1000mA, thus making possible a 3w bulb, just what I had hoped for!
However, the LED is soldered into place, so as I have just started out in microscoping, for now I have a lot to see with the 1w, before any diy'ing on the microscope
Re: Amscope T400 lighting
I know someone who replaced the halogen bulb of a microscope with a higher wattage halogen bulb (outside the manufacturer's guaranteed range). The light was bright and nice for many minutes. It took an hour to melt the plastic parts around the lamp and send the illuminator and scope's base to the trash.Greg Howald wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 1:04 amLast month I purchased a T400 from Amscope with a 20 watt halogen bulb. It's plenty bright for bright field and dark field but I do wonder about phase contrast work.
I put in a 30 watt bulb to see if it would work out ok. It did! I was somewhat amazed by this but it makes me think that any T400 or T490 with a 20 watt bulb can drive a 30 watt bulb and I thought there may be some who would like to know.
Greg
A halogen bulb emits a lot of heat.
Also with LEDs, one must remove the heat. certainly with 1-3W LEDs. For example, a common consumer superbright LED pocket torch might be destroyed by the self-generated heat, if it is being charged while turned on and lighting.Yesterday I took apart my Swift s380b.
It comes with a 1w LED, but the transformer supports 2-5 volts, 1000mA, thus making possible a 3w bulb, just what I had hoped for!
However, the LED is soldered into place, so as I have just started out in microscoping, for now I have a lot to see with the 1w, before any diy'ing on the microscope
Re: Amscope T400 lighting
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Very true ... and please remember that the heat is produced at the back of the LED ... so lamp housings designed for tungsten bulbs might not be compatible with high power LEDs
MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'
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Re: Amscope T400 lighting
I have somehow made a habit of not leaving the lamp on for prolonged periods of time and the scope is all metal with no plastic in the light path other than the filter holder. But I will be cognizant of heat build up and the possibility of electronic overload. Its an experiment after all. I may well choose to return to 20 watts.
Greg
Greg
Re: Amscope T400 lighting
The other consideration is the power supply. A 20 amp supply might well provide 30 watts, but fail much sooner under the added load.
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Re: Amscope T400 lighting
I know. I have to open things up to check, and I will before I continue. If things are ok I will report back so everyone knows the result.
Greg
Greg
Re: Amscope T400 lighting
Just saw my typo - meant a 20 watt power supply.
My impression is that today's cheap imported power supplies aren't conservatively rated.
In addition, filament lamps have high inrush currents before they heat up and resistance increases. So, a nominal 20 watt bulb will initially draw far more than that. A well designed supply will have some sort of current-limiting protection circuitry for the inrush current. Whether this is present for $300 microscopes - I don't know. How it responds to a 50% overload (30 watt vs. 20 watt) - I also don't know.
My impression is that today's cheap imported power supplies aren't conservatively rated.
In addition, filament lamps have high inrush currents before they heat up and resistance increases. So, a nominal 20 watt bulb will initially draw far more than that. A well designed supply will have some sort of current-limiting protection circuitry for the inrush current. Whether this is present for $300 microscopes - I don't know. How it responds to a 50% overload (30 watt vs. 20 watt) - I also don't know.
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Re: Amscope T400 lighting
The end of it.
30 watts is nice but the scope does get hot too quickly.
Although the 20 watt bulb is really not able to be centered due to design, rocking the bulb to one side and putting it as far back as possible comes very close to center and increases intensity by about 20 percent. That's just enough for me to do what ever I want to do.
Solution .... Center the bulb and leave it alone.
Greg
30 watts is nice but the scope does get hot too quickly.
Although the 20 watt bulb is really not able to be centered due to design, rocking the bulb to one side and putting it as far back as possible comes very close to center and increases intensity by about 20 percent. That's just enough for me to do what ever I want to do.
Solution .... Center the bulb and leave it alone.
Greg
Re: Amscope T400 lighting
I have a T490B with 20 watt halogen, and I've never felt any need for more light even when doing darkfield at 400x.