[3dem] Elsa cryo holder

Thu Jun 13 07:45:13 PDT 2019

We have seen a few times contamination problems at the start of the day. We
have done the following to minimize the issue: pre-cool ELSA at least half
an hour before loading the grids. Also cool the cold trap even longer if
you could. If you load your grids too soon, the temperature will rise
significantly once you put it into the column (we believe the rod design
difference is the cause). We still see contamination sometimes, but usually
the 2nd one and on are ok. Due to our many users we also continuously use
the ELSA no stop often. The previous user fill the LN at 11-12 pm, and the
next user take over around 9ish in the morning no problem. Read bellow for
more good and bad of the ELSA.

In extreme, we got 11-12 hrs for ELSA to keep Cryo, 8-10 as a norm which
allowed us to use it continuously. We bake out about once a week. The drift
of ELSA is also very impressive: with active heating on, the drift is
usually better than the 626.6.

Now came to the bad part: we got pretty annoying resolution anisotropy
(stage Y much worse than X). We played alot here on the V-grove but doesn't
help that much. Gatan is not very helpful here either, their measurement of
"resolution" (they use "interferometer" to measure some vibration kind of
thing) showed ok. In comparison, the 626.6 holder shoot for better than
2.3A with a cross grating specimen easily on our F20 (their resolution spec
is to be able to see the 2.3A Xgrating diff line on all directions). You
may ask why the amazing drift rate of ELSA didn't help here? I believe it's
some high frequency vibrations that the drift couldn't help with. For
example, in the stage X direction, even if it is still drifting crazy and a
bad summed Thon Ring, the MotionCorr corrected image recovered all the lost
Thon Ring. The K2 is just amazing.

We were thinking of buying another ELSA, but this resolution story
hesitated us. In principle, due to the use of many particles, you may still
be able to get high resolution, but with double or quadruple the number of
particles than necessary on a better holder.

*In short for potential buyers, if a long Cryo holding time is all you
need, go for it, otherwise think again. But, I do hope we are the only
exception. And frustratingly, Gatan didn't offer any help further.*

Regards,
Haifeng

On Thu, Jun 13, 2019 at 8:07 AM Grassucci, Robert <rg2502 at cumc.columbia.edu>
wrote:

> Dear Anastasia,
>
> We tried out the ultra-low profile Elsa and liked the ability to recover
> the grids but did not like the robustness of the clipping system.  We have
> a Gatan 914 holder and have had to replace the front spring on several
> occasions because it eventually gets bent or loose and no longer clamps the
> grid properly.  This may be why you are seeing with the leopard skin ice.
> The conduction on the grid may not be sufficient to maintain a temperature
> that will keep vitreous ice on the grid.  This holder is great for a very
> experienced and careful user but definitely not for general use.  That is
> our experience with the Elsa.  Hope it helps.
>
> Regards,
>
> Bob
>
>
>
> *From:* 3dem [mailto:3dem-bounces at ncmir.ucsd.edu] *On Behalf Of *Anastasia
> Gazi
> *Sent:* Wednesday, June 12, 2019 8:01 AM
> *To:* 3dem at ncmir.ucsd.edu
> *Subject:* Re: [3dem] Elsa cryo holder
>
>
>
> Dear all,
>
>
>
> I would be grateful if someone of you could share some more information
> related to the ELSA cryoholders.
>
>
>
> We extensively tried out the ultra-low profile (ULP) tip for 2 weeks and
> the results were quite controversial.
>
> The stability of the holder was amazing in comparison to our 626
> cryoholders but there was a regular appearing of leopard/orange skin on the
> grids.
>
> We believe that this might be related to leakage at the loading station
> but I wonder if someone else had the same experience with its own ELSA (ULP
> or standard tip profile).
>
>
>
>
>
> Thank you a lot for your help,
>
> Anastasia
>
>
>
> On Sat, 6 Jan 2018 at 00:38, David Michael Belnap <David.Belnap at utah.edu>
> wrote:
>
> I don’t know, Benjamin.  Elsa freezes things so fast that maybe she is
> really making vitreous ice!  :-)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jan 4, 2018, at 10:13 AM, Benjamin Bammes <bbammes at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> While I don't know anything about the holder, I find the name "Elsa" a bit
> humorous. For anyone with young kids who has watched the movie Frozen, you
> know that Elsa does two things: (1) She turns everything she touches to
> solid ice, and (2) She always wants to "let it go." Both of those things
> are undesirable for cryo holders! :-)
>
>
> ----
> *Benjamin Bammes*
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jan 3, 2018 at 9:21 PM, jamonshi <jamonshi at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Our local sales says
>
> "Gatan has not shipped any production 698 Elas holder yet. The holders
> won’t start shipping until March of 2018. Gatan cannot discover where they
> tested the holder, as that is not a complete product and the development is
> confidential."
>
> Cheers,
> Jian
>
>
>
> On 04/01/2018 06:36, Elizabeth Montabana wrote:
>
> Hi All
>
>
>
> I haven't seen any responses to this, but we are also curious about if
> anyone has purchased or tested an Elsa Cryo transfer holder and their
> opinion about it - particularly, if folks have been able to get high
> resolution data with it.
>
>
>
> thanks
>
> Liz Montabana
>
> Donner Labs, LBNL
>
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 29, 2017 at 4:54 AM, Anastasia Gazi <anadegaz at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Hello all,
>
>
>
> We are considering the purchase of an Elsa Cryo transfer holder Model 698
> from Gatan. It is looking great on paper with its centrosymmetric design,
> extended hold time to 8h and everything but I am wondering if someone has
> already experience with it. Either with the standard profile holder or with
> the ultra-low one.
>
>
>
> Thank you for your help,
>
> Anastasia
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ==================================================
> Anastasia D. Gazi, PhD.
> Ultrastructural BioImaging unit,
> Départment de Biologie cellulaire et infection,
> Institut Pasteur
> 28, rue du Dr. Roux
> 75015 PARIS
> FRANCE
>
> agazi at pasteur.fr
>
> ==================================================
>
>
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