Confocal Microscope Resources

Quick Start-up and Shut-down Guide for Zeiss LSM 880 Confocal Microscope

INSTRUMENT STARTUP – Confocal Microscope

  • Flip switches labeled 1, 2, and 3 in numerical order (1-2-3). Wait 6 seconds between each switch. Do not turn on or adjust any other switches.
  • Start up computer and launch Zen software.

INSTRUMENT SHUTDOWN – Confocal Microscope (No User Scheduled After You)

Check the instrument calendar. If no session is scheduled within 1 hour of the end of your session, proceed with shutdown procedure.

  1. Clean the objective that you worked with
  2. Put the 10x objective in the working position, in the lowest z position
  3. Turn off Argon laser in software, and wait for fan to turn off before shutting down the instrument.
  4. Gather your data and shut down computer.
  5. Turn off instrument by flipping the switches used for start up in reverse numerical order (3-2-1). Do not turn off or adjust any other switches.
  6. Cover the microscope with the dust cover.
  7. Post a message on the slack channel to confirm that you have followed the protocol above before leaving the room.
  8. Special note to incubator users: please confirm that you have shut off the CO2. Let us know the CO2 level, and water level in the bottle.

INSTRUMENT STANDBY – Confocal Microscope (If User is Scheduled After You)

Check the instrument calendar. If a session is scheduled within 1 hour of the end of your session, proceed with the following procedure.

  1. Send a message in the Slack channel publically tagging the next user to see if they are still planning to come in at their scheduled time.
  2. Clean the objective that you worked with
  3. Put the 10x objective in the working position, in the lowest z position
  4. If the next user has confirmed that they will arrive within one hour, put the argon laser on standby and leave the system on for the next user.
    1. If you haven’t heard back from the next user, shut the system down following the INSTRUMENT SHUTDOWN protocol above.
  5. Post a message here on the slack channel to confirm that you have followed the protocol above before leaving the room.
  6. Special note to incubator users: please confirm that you have shut off the CO2. Let us know the CO2 level, and water level in the bottle.