Hi,
I am using an Olympus FV1000 confocal microscope. Usually when imaging, there are 2 lights which illuminate and indicate ‘laser emission’ is on. However, I could not get them to work and thus no imaging could occur. Attached a photo of the problem for reference. The lasers themselves are working fine as I can see my slides when looking through the eyepiece. It is when I try acquiring via the imaging software that I don’t get any laser emission. Not sure if this is some sort of shutter issue - haven’t had any luck fixing this. Anyone have any suggestions? I appreciate the help.
Thanks - Jack!
The light you use for viewing in the eyepieces is not the lasers, but a mercury arc lamp. So, unfortunately what you see through the eyepieces is not helpful in diagnosing the lasers beyound confirming that there’s something on the sample to see in the image.
The reason the light you use to view by eye is not the lasers is because lasers can blind you. Olympus does not want the liability of people being blinded, so the system has multiple safety interlocks that prevent laser from getting to the microscope unless everything is in place for user safety. An interlock is a blocking device that is active unless triggered to open.
My first guess is that you have an interlock that has gone bad, so it’s telling the system that things are in a dangerous position even if they aren’t. A stuck shutter would also result in no light to the sample, but I think it would still show the lights on the box, but don’t quote me on that.
The best way to check if your laser is working is to look inside the black box of the Argon laser (488nm). If it is working you’ll see a purple glow from inside the box. There is no easy way to check the other lasers if the interlocks are active.
Hi - thanks for some helpful ideas 
After a few more days, I am pretty sure it’s a finicky shutter. I was randomly switching between the trans lamp and epi lamp buttons on the image acquisition software for the 100th time when all of a sudden, I got the lights on the box. I guess the shutter became unstuck. However, anytime I turn on/off the microscope the shutter gets stuck again. Sadly we are not a core facility so no chance at repair and just have to hope it falls into place after awhile. Thanks again
Yay! Maybe keep exercising regularly will help it stick less. Many of the shutters in the system have a soft support for the closed position that degrades and becomes sticky.
If you let us know what country you’re in we might be able to suggest third party repair options so you can at least get a quote. Good luck!
Okay that makes sense We are located in Oslo, Norway if you are able to suggest a third party repair option - much appreciated!
I’m in the US so don’t have anything. You might try creating a separate post about looking for a service provider for the FV1000. You might also join the confocal listserv (hosted at the University of Minnesota) and search the archives. If you don’t find anything, post there, too. There’s overlap with this group but I think it’s a much larger audience.
Thanks - I got an error saying ‘not authorized to browse the archives of the CONFOCALMICROSCOPY’ when I tried that site so I posted in this group instead
