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<div>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.</div>
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<div>Good luck!</div>
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<div style="font-family: 'Iowan Old Style', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Lucida Handwriting';">Cindi L. Schwartz</span> </div>
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<div style="font-family: 'Iowan Old Style', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="mailto:Cindi.Schwartz@NIH.gov">Cindi.Schwartz@NIH.gov</a></div>
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<span style="font-weight:bold">From: </span>Nadav Elad <<a href="mailto:nadav.elad@weizmann.ac.il">nadav.elad@weizmann.ac.il</a>><br>
<span style="font-weight:bold">Date: </span>Thursday, September 1, 2016 at 3:00 AM<br>
<span style="font-weight:bold">To: </span>"<a href="mailto:3dem@ncmir.ucsd.edu">3dem@ncmir.ucsd.edu</a>" <<a href="mailto:3dem@ncmir.ucsd.edu">3dem@ncmir.ucsd.edu</a>><br>
<span style="font-weight:bold">Subject: </span>[3dem] contamination in cryo samples<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Dear all<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thank you for your help<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nadav<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">--<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nadav Elad, Ph.D<span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span lang="HE" dir="RTL" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>.<br>
</span>Electron Microscopy Unit<span lang="HE" dir="RTL" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br>
</span>Weizmann Institute of Science<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rehovot, Israel<span lang="HE" dir="RTL" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br>
</span>Tel: +972 (0) 8 934 2115<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mobile: +972 (0) 52 3909 420<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Email: <a href="mailto:nadav.elad@weizmann.ac.il">nadav.elad@weizmann.ac.il</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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