[3dem] contamination in cryo samples

Fri Sep 2 07:49:22 PDT 2016

Works in Colorado, Cindi, where the air is already very dry :)
I tried this in Leiden, especially during the "wet" summer the dewars were
still wet the day after...

Cheers,
Sacha

On Fri, Sep 2, 2016 at 4:19 PM, Schwartz, Cindi (NIH/NIAID) [C] <
cindi.schwartz at nih.gov> wrote:

> I would echo having very dry nitrogen when you load samples. We built a
> simple way of drying dewars overnight. We hung them upside down and shoved
> a hose that went to the house air in there. Turn on the house air and
> voila! Dry dewars. We put an industrial air filter in the system to make
> sure we weren't blowing any contaminants into the dewars. They were nice
> and dry every morning.
>
> Good luck!
>
> --
> Cindi L. Schwartz
> Electron Microscopist
> Rocky Mountain Labs/NIAID/NIH
> 903 South 4th Street
> Hamilton, MT  59840
> 240-669-5473
> Cindi.Schwartz at NIH.gov
>
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> From: Nadav Elad <nadav.elad at weizmann.ac.il>
> Date: Thursday, September 1, 2016 at 3:00 AM
> To: "3dem at ncmir.ucsd.edu" <3dem at ncmir.ucsd.edu>
> Subject: [3dem] contamination in cryo samples
>
> Dear all
>
>
>
> We are having a serious contamination problem in our cryo preparations and
> would be grateful for any suggestion. Although this issue has been
> discussed in the past in this forum, the solutions raised do not seem to
> work. The attached image shows the contamination on a bad day. I am
> referring mainly to the lighter, smaller particles (10-20 nm) which are the
> most persistent. They seem to be above or below the ice layer and are the
> first to evaporate under the electron beam. The concentration of
> contaminants is variable.
>
>
>
> We are using a Leica EM GP plunger for freezing, and Tecnai T12 and F20
> microscopes with Gatan side entry holders. We have tried to replace the
> ethane cylinder and are in the process of ordering a third one, cleaning
> the glow discharger machines, different cryo holders, different
> cryo-transferring units and grids of varying sources. There seems to be no
> leaks in the compustages of the microscopes.
>
>
>
> Thank you for your help
>
>
>
> Nadav
>
>
>
> --
>
> Nadav Elad, Ph.D.
> Electron Microscopy Unit
> Weizmann Institute of Science
>
> Rehovot, Israel
> Tel: +972 (0) 8 934 2115
>
> Mobile:  +972 (0) 52 3909 420
>
> Email:  nadav.elad at weizmann.ac.il
>
>
>
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