We run two four-color Caliburs here, each having a red diode laser. They generally get high utilization (4-6 hours/day). The lasers have lasted for about a year for the old style ones - the new ones have a cooling fan in them and are supposed to last longer, but we don't have the experience to say. The mode of failure we see is a gradual decrease in power. We standardize every day with Spherotech beads, adjusting the voltage to put them in the same position on all the measurement parameters. When the bead signal drops to half its initial value, we've called BD for a replacement. Marty >Greetings fellow flow cytometrists > >We recently acquired a new dual laser facscalibur. We have had some >serious problems with the stability of the red diode laser. In two >months, the laser has been changed out three times and our fourth >service call for the same problem will commence tomorrow. >Typically, one will observe a decline in sensitivity in fluorescence >in channels that rely on the use of the diode laser, accompanied by >a large increase in the amount of compensation required for those >same fluorescence channels (I am being deliberately non-specific >here to accomodate those who do not have BD instruments, for those >facscalibur users, I am obviously talking about FL4, but this would >depend on the fluorochromes that were being used etc). I went with >BD because my previous long experience with the highly reliable >Facsscan and the fact that I really needed two lasers. >Unfortunately, the other laser is not useful if it is unreliable. > >Have others experienced this problem, particularly since BD switched >suppliers for the diode laser? > >This is making me crazy. Any info you have on this would be useful. >I am working with BD on this (upper management has been pretty >responsive), but currently I have not seen a permanent solution to >the problem. > >-James -- Marty Bigos Director, Flow Core Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology Building 3 SFGH Rm 509 415-695-3832
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