Best Scientific have completed the trade-in, refurbishment, upgrade, and installation of a research level microscope.  

One of our valued clients reached out to us recently to evaluate their Olympus BX51M. It had come into their possession by chance, and they wanted a thorough appraisal and service, to utilise fully. In this instance their application required the use of transmitted light to view their sample and complete their inspection task.  

Unfortunately for the user, such functionality was not included in the original configuration build of this BX51M from Olympus. So, it was up to us to repair the faulty aspects of the microscope and investigate feasibility of introducing transmitted illumination to make this microscope fit for purpose.

Evaluation

• Faulty focusing Unit “Z” axis
• Stage not inherent to microscope frame
• Outdated illumination (Halogen)
• Faulty camera with inappropriate C-mount adapter
• Plenty of dirt and marks
• Transmitted light function not included but required
  • Light source
  • Substage
  • Field Diaphragm
  • Condenser

Unfortunately, due to the age of the microscope original spare parts were not available to retrofit transmitted illumination capability, and the relevant accessories needed for it to work successfully. This BX51M was built utilising a frame model specifically for incident light only, with opaque materials inspection in mind. It would have saved the original buyer money at the time it was purchased new (as they did not have to pay for functions they were not using) But every application is different, and in this case, there were not enough transferable capabilities built in, for the new user to move it over to their application.

However, I did not want this microscope to go to scrap or sit somewhere getting dusty, as it had a lot of positives for the right application and the right user. I offered my client a trade in on this BX51M as money off a new microscope system that I could tailor and supply to suit their requirements.

With the BX51M in house I started to make suitable repairs to bring it up to speed.   

Repairs and upgrades:

• Complete microscope strip down to individual parts – To evaluate and review everything
• Repair faulty Z drive – Required a replacement part, I sourced from Olympus
• Respray base plate for aesthetic & hygiene purpose – It was stained and scratched
• Install a new LED light source – To upgrade from halogen, increase efficiency and kelvin value
• Machine back of stage as did not sit flat on substage – Assumed taken from another model
• Clean everything!

Repair was nearing completion when we received an enquiry from the University of Kent who were looking for a materials research level microscope. I offered the BX51M that had come into our possession and discussed the possible specifications with them to establish suitability.

They mentioned already owning a canon APS-C camera that they would very much like to use on any microscope they purchased. So, I added our large format camera coupler suitable for EOS DSLR cameras into the configuration, so they could attach it.

Kent university also wanted to look at opaque materials, so I suggested removing the slide holder (meant for glass slides and transmitted illumination) and add a new alternative black solid stage plate for placing the samples on.

The LED upgrade was also desirable to the new user. You can see from the comparison image HAL vs LED, how much better the LED upgrade is against the Halogen in terms of output (Lumen power and Collimation) and kelvin factor (colour temperature). With many other positive attributes such as efficiency and consistency over time.

Results:

I was really pleased with the repurposing of this microscope. Taking the tight products from our portfolio allowed us to upgrade it and tailor it to a new user’s application. Giving a new lease of life to older units and sustaining them into the future.

If you have specific microscope needs, already own older systems that you would like to trade in or upgrade, please do contact us as we are flexible in our approach to providing suitable solutions, to fit your application.