<div dir="ltr">Hi Chris,<div><br></div><div>Regarding the first issue that you are facing, we had a similar issue with the grid crushing during inventory this April (see attached screenshot of crushed grids during the inventory). There was no issue with autogrid loading in the cassette neither the cassettes had any issues. It looks like you also have issues with Cassette Arm assembly and the Docker assembly.</div><div><br></div><div>TFS replaced Cassette Arm assembly and the Docker assembly and the problem got solved. </div><div><br></div><div>Good luck,</div><div>Jan</div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Sep 22, 2021 at 10:28 AM Christopher Aylett <<a href="mailto:chsaylett@gmail.com" target="_blank">chsaylett@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div><div><span>Dear EM mailing lists,<br></span><div><br></div><div>We received our new Glacios from Thermo / FEI this summer, and initial commissioning proceeded extremely smoothly, however we have experienced several quite unusual and peculiar issues shortly after beginning user operation which I would like to run past the lists in case anyone has any insight into their possible underlying cause.</div><div><br></div><div>Autoloader issue (currently resolved by gripper arm replacement, but severe and of unconfirmed initial cause):</div><div><br></div><div>While the autoloader had been working perfectly during commissioning, following an initial initialisation error, the autoloader stopped registering clip-rings placed within it. Our facility manager was able to confirm that no grids or clip-rings had been dropped into either the column or autoloader itself, however there was clear mis-alignment (see attached video). We then had a series of more severe failures; the clip-rings were being bent into
U-shapes apparently, although this was not through being pushed into the
cassette, which was my initial assumption, as the dimensions do not
match - some are too large, some too small. There does not appear to be any damage to our cassettes, so maybe the gripper jaws were clamping them down into this
shape, although they should not open wide enough to allow that to the best of my understanding? I am still at a loss as to how this happened, and while it seems
to have been resolved through replacement of the gripper arm by Thermo / FEI, I would like to find out what
went wrong in the first place so that we can be certain it does not recur. I attach images in case they are helpful.</div><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Drift issue (ongoing - intermittent and of variable severity):</div></div><div><br></div><div><font color="#000000">While drift rates during commissioning were effectively zero (consistently below 0.2 Å/s with the stage at rest), w</font>e are now experiencing ongoing image drift <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">which began suddenly shortly after commissioning completed</span>, varies between 1 and 5 Å/s in rate, and is predominantly (but not exclusively) in the X direction, suggesting lens involvement. The drifting issue remains present despite one hour of stage rest. <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Our chiller was purchased from ATC rather than Thermal Exchange as is typical, however </span>extensive monitoring of temperature has implied that both room temperature and chiller water temperature are stable within specification, and performance was admirable during commissioning. The drift appears to increase very distinctively once imaging commences e.g. a drift test begins, as can be seen in the attached drift test image, before plateauing. I have been assured that there has been no change in lens coolant flow / balance since installation, however.</div><div><br></div><div>Thermo / FEI have been responsive in fixing broken parts, and Paul - our facility manager - has been investigating matters, however we still lack explanations for either <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">underlying</span> issue. Should anybody have experienced similar issues with their own microscopes, or be able to provide probable diagnoses, we would be most grateful to hear from you - </div><div><br></div><div>Best wishes,</div><div><br></div><div>Chris</div><div><br></div><div><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">#######################################</span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"></div><div><br></div><div></div></div></div><div><div><div></div></div></div><div><div><div></div></div></div><div><div><div></div></div></div><div><div><div></div><div></div></div></div><div><div><div></div><div><br></div><div><div dir="auto" style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><div dir="auto"><div>#######################################<br><br>Dr. C. H. S. Aylett<br><br>Principal Investigator and Sir Henry Dale Fellow<br>Imperial College London<br><br>#######################################</div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>
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</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><font face="comic sans ms, sans-serif">Janarjan Bhandari, Ph.D.</font><div><font face="comic sans ms, sans-serif">Cryo-EM Facility Manager</font></div><div><div><font face="comic sans ms, sans-serif">The Hormel Institute-University of Minnesota</font></div><div><font face="comic sans ms, sans-serif">801 16th Ave NE, </font><span style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif">Austin, MN 55912 </span><span style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif"> </span><span style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif"> </span></div><div><font face="comic sans ms, sans-serif"> Phone: +1 507.437.9648 email: <a href="mailto:bhand082@umn.edu" target="_blank">bhand082@umn.edu</a></font></div></div></div></div></div></div>