We have a FACSVantage SE with two, Spectra Physics, 5-watt argon lasers, purchased in 1988 (they were originally purchased to go on our FACS 440 and when we received a grant in 1998 to purchase the Vantage, we put these lasers on it to save some money). One of these lasers has developed problems and we are now faced with probably a $15,000 to $20,000 bill to replace the plasma tube and take care of other problems including the choke and EMI filter. Even if we repair it, we are still left with a laser/power supply no longer being manufactured. We are now using the back-up laser as the primary, but it is old as well so we need to think about having at least one 'new' laser that we can count on. Spectra Physics has the Model 177 air-cooled argon with power supply for about $11,400 but it only puts out 100 mW of 488 whereas we normally run at about 200 mW of 488 for our standard analysis of FITC/PE/PI/GFP/live-dead reagents/etc. This laser (our 5-watt argon) has never seemed too stable below 200 mW. So my question is, will we be able to do most routine analyses such as those mentioned above on a Vantage with 100 mW of 488? Does anyone have a recommendation for an air-cooled argon other than the SP model 177? Thanks for any thoughts/advice. Ray Hester Univ. of South Alabama rhester@jaguar1.usouthal.edu
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