[3dem] Service FEI Tecnai Polara (Sacha De Carlo)

[David DeRosier]

For many years we had our 100 kev microscopes serviced by a former FEI service engineer, who went into business for himself.  He did very well servicing instruments in New England.  His service contract was much cheaper than that of FEI and his fixes were less costly because, for example, he repaired the power supply rather than swap it out for a rebuilt one. Being a former engineer, he knew where FEI got its parts, and he collected parts from decomissioned machines.  I think his business was much, much more profitable than his salary at FEI.  I am not sure if this model would work for the more sophisticated Polara or whether a former Polara engineer could be found to set up his/her own company, but if it were to happen, it might take the combined pool of Polara owners to bring this about in the form of how many service contracts might be available and how much travel might be involved.

David DeRosier

> On Jul 19, 2018, at 7:59 AM, Mike Strauss <mike at biochem.mpg.de> wrote:
> 
> Dear Sacha,
> 
> Do your statements represent the policy of Dectris?  Are you planning on abandoning 12-year-old cameras? Planned obsolescence is a major problem for consumers, especially in a consumer society largely driven by companies that profit from intentional design limitations that hobble their own products.  Even in our field...  Are you suggesting this practice is one you espouse?  
> 
> Surely there is something noble about the 30-year old Edwards evaporator that is making carbon as well today as it did 30 years ago. Or the Zeiss 902 that is sitting in every other pathology department in the world, that has required realignment only twice in the last 25 years, and still takes publication quality images every day.
> 
> Thorsten, I sympathise with your plight.  The lack of replacement parts for Polaras is a real problem, and one that is experienced by nearly all labs with operational Polaras. It’s not quite fair to say the Polara is an F30, though.  It has a vastly different cryo-box, and cryogenic components including cold trap and anticontaminator, along with the different holder you mentioned.  It’s worth noting, that all of these components are in the objective region, and a failure in any one of them leaves you unable to operate. Then there are the host of microswitches, and interlock sensors that are not present on the F30s either.  It’s not that simple.
> 
> It may be worthwhile, though, to stay in touch with other Polara owners, so you can distribute components when one is decommissioned or scrapped.
> 
> I wish you luck.
> 
> mike
> 
> On 19.07.2018 14:57, Sacha De Carlo wrote:
>> I do not represent the opinion of Thermo Fisher, but what you guys are 
>> asking doesn't make any business sense. There is no ROI in trying to 
>> maintain the old scopes alive. In our consumer society it makes more 
>> sense to sell new tools.
>> 
>> Best,
>> Sacha
> 
> -------
> Mike Strauss - former cryoEM Facility Manager 
> MPI Biochemistry
> mike at biochem.mpg.de
> tel: +49 89-8578-2474
> mob: +49 151 55 308040
> 
> 
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