Mirror replacement

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dragonblade
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Mirror replacement

Post by dragonblade »

I'd like to use my compound microscope again as I haven't used it in ages. Yesterday, I collected a water sample with lots of green growth (looks like it has a lot of potential for harboring micro organisms.) Though I then discovered that the power cord for the microscope is missing. And the mirror is missing too. I looked around and I can't find these items. I then had a look on eBay for mirror replacements and all the ones I found for microscopes are overseas and would take an eternity to get here.

Out of curiosity, has anyone used a small hand held mirror positioned at a 45 degree angle below the scope in conjunction with sunlight or a desktop lamp? If this kind of thing would work, I'd need to look for a very small mirror. I could also find some things around the home to wedge it in place when I find the right angle.

Chris S.
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Re: Mirror replacement

Post by Chris S. »

Dragonblade,

I'm not one of the forum's experts on standard microscopes, but have a couple of thoughts. First is that I've ordered cut-to-size first-surface mirrors over the Internet at low prices, for a couple of projects--they were not difficult to obtain.

Second, what is the manufacturer/model of your microscope? Perhaps some forum member has the part you need. I have a number of old Nikon Labophot-2 stands, and perhaps an older Labophot stand, and would be happy to give away the mirror assembly from one of them, in the unlikely event that this is what you have. Across our membership, the variety of derelict stands may be quite varied.

--Chris S.

dragonblade
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Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 11:16 pm

Re: Mirror replacement

Post by dragonblade »

Ive just located the power cable and adapter. Though the mirror is still missing. The microscope also came with a filter though I haven't seen that in a very long time.

With regards to a replacement mirror, is it better to get a mirror that is oversize rather than too small? On eBay, Ive spotted a 5cm round mirror and also a 10cm round mirror (both local.)

dragonblade
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Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 11:16 pm

Re: Mirror replacement

Post by dragonblade »

Chris S. wrote:
Mon Nov 02, 2020 8:54 pm

what is the manufacturer/model of your microscope? Perhaps some forum member has the part you need. I have a number of old Nikon Labophot-2 stands, and perhaps an older Labophot stand, and would be happy to give away the mirror assembly from one of them, in the unlikely event that this is what you have. Across our membership, the variety of derelict stands may be quite varied.

--Chris S.
Thank you Chris. I have an Indian monocular compound microscope. The model name is RM-600. I believe this microscope comes from a company called Radical Scientific Equipments.

Actually, I am attracted to using the mirror more often in conjunction with an external light source. This is because the supplied LED light source is very small and not really adequate for the lower powered objectives. It gives uneven illumination with those objectives. It's fine when using the 40x objective because of the narrow field of view.

Though I have had some mixed results when using a mirror. When I used the microscope for the first time, we didn't have an adapter for the power cord so we didn't have any choice but to use the mirror. It was a sunny day outside so I directed the mirror towards the window and it worked well there when viewing a sample. And there was another time when I used the scope outdoors with the mirror and that was fine for viewing a sample also.

Though I had problems using a desktop lamp with the mirror. Without any slide on the microscope, it worked well. Though when I added a slide, I got a very poor quality image through the eyepiece with various issues. I can't recall exactly what the issues were as this was quite some time ago. The desktop lamp was fitted with a 60 watt LED globe.

Chris S.
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Re: Mirror replacement

Post by Chris S. »

Ah, a very simple, external mirror in a rotating mount. Should be easier to source than I was thinking--I had in mind a mirror internal to the microscope base.

Good luck!

--Chris S.

dragonblade
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Re: Mirror replacement

Post by dragonblade »

Chris S. wrote:
Mon Nov 02, 2020 10:23 pm
Ah, a very simple, external mirror in a rotating mount. Should be easier to source than I was thinking--I had in mind a mirror internal to the microscope base.

Yes simple to get a replacement but I can only find those rotating mirror stands overseas. I would like to get hold of another mirror sooner (even if that means wedging it in place below the stage.) I guess a 10cm round mirror may be a bit larger than what I need. Being oversize wouldn't present any issues as long as it would fit?

Pau
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Re: Mirror replacement

Post by Pau »

There are someones for sale at UK (although more expensive), Russia and Ukraine. Maybe adapting a LED "downlight" plate over the microscope base could be more practical
Pau

dragonblade
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Re: Mirror replacement

Post by dragonblade »

Pau wrote:
Tue Nov 03, 2020 1:56 am
Maybe adapting a LED "downlight" plate over the microscope base could be more practical
Thanks for the suggestion. Do you mean something like this?

https://www.bunnings.com.au/hpm-130mm-w ... e_p4390437

And have it attached to an LED downlight on the base? Interesting idea. Though I'm not sure about how I would go about attaching a power plug. I wonder if a small sized LED panel could be another option.

Edit: Ive just looked at both of those kinds of products and it looks likes generally, they are very low wattage like 20 watts etc.

Pau
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Re: Mirror replacement

Post by Pau »

No, you linked just a hole adapter, I meant a light source like:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/6W-24W-Round-L ... SwwUJdxN7n
(6W round flush mount / 4000K neutral white)

A dimmable model would be preferable

10W LED is quite a beast, roughly equivalent to 60W incandescent, I wold prefer a 6W and even then in many case you will have too much light
Pau

dragonblade
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Re: Mirror replacement

Post by dragonblade »

Pau wrote:
Tue Nov 03, 2020 3:41 am
A dimmable model would be preferable

10W LED is quite a beast, roughly equivalent to 60W incandescent, I wold prefer a 6W and even then in many case you will have too much light
Thanks for the added info. So looks like these would be quite ideal. Though like I mentioned before, they probably don't have power plugs since they're down lights. I wouldn't know anything about the wiring of such lights and whether it would be possible to add a power plug.

Speaking of lighting, I looked through my microscope tonight which i haven't used for a very long time. And something really caught me by surprise. With the original LED light and the 4x objective selected, I could see severe vignetting in the eyepiece. I have not seen this before with this scope. And I made sure that the objective was in the right position (locked in place.) I then switched to the 10x objective and the vignetting was gone. Very unusual.

rjlittlefield
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Re: Mirror replacement

Post by rjlittlefield »

dragonblade wrote:
Tue Nov 03, 2020 8:35 am
With the original LED light and the 4x objective selected, I could see severe vignetting in the eyepiece. I have not seen this before with this scope. And I made sure that the objective was in the right position (locked in place.) I then switched to the 10x objective and the vignetting was gone. Very unusual.
Many condensers have a lens that pivots in or out of the light path, to adjust the coverage of the light to match the objective.

Look for one of those, and try it both ways.

--Rik

rjlittlefield
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Re: Mirror replacement

Post by rjlittlefield »

Regarding the mirror, there is another approach that you might like: stick an ordinary index card or piece of white paper at the location where the mirror would go, and shine a bright light on the paper.

I tested just now with a small LED flashlight and an index card, using objectives from 4X to 100X, and got good quality illumination in all cases.

--Rik

dragonblade
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Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 11:16 pm

Re: Mirror replacement

Post by dragonblade »

rjlittlefield wrote:
Tue Nov 03, 2020 11:13 am
Regarding the mirror, there is another approach that you might like: stick an ordinary index card or piece of white paper at the location where the mirror would go, and shine a bright light on the paper.

I tested just now with a small LED flashlight and an index card, using objectives from 4X to 100X, and got good quality illumination in all cases.

--Rik
Hey great idea using white paper as a reflector. I'll definitely give that a try with a desktop lamp or other light source.

I wonder if we could use off camera flash in the same way to freeze the movements of micro organisms.

rjlittlefield
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Re: Mirror replacement

Post by rjlittlefield »

dragonblade wrote:
Tue Nov 03, 2020 9:07 pm
I wonder if we could use off camera flash in the same way to freeze the movements of micro organisms.
I haven't tried that, but I expect it would work OK. Paper is very good at reflecting light in all directions, so it doesn't much matter exactly where the light came from.

--Rik

dragonblade
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Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 11:16 pm

Re: Mirror replacement

Post by dragonblade »

Pau wrote:
Tue Nov 03, 2020 3:41 am
No, you linked just a hole adapter
That's what comes up in most google search results when you type "LED downlight plate."
dragonblade wrote:
Tue Nov 03, 2020 8:35 am
Pau wrote:
Tue Nov 03, 2020 3:41 am
A dimmable model would be preferable

10W LED is quite a beast, roughly equivalent to 60W incandescent, I wold prefer a 6W and even then in many case you will have too much light
Thanks for the added info. So looks like these would be quite ideal. Though like I mentioned before, they probably don't have power plugs since they're down lights. I wouldn't know anything about the wiring of such lights and whether it would be possible to add a power plug.

Speaking of lighting, I looked through my microscope tonight which i haven't used for a very long time. And something really caught me by surprise. With the original LED light and the 4x objective selected, I could see severe vignetting in the eyepiece. I have not seen this before with this scope. And I made sure that the objective was in the right position (locked in place.) I then switched to the 10x objective and the vignetting was gone. Very unusual.

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