Olympus BX61 Microscope – What Every User Should Know

Read the Edited Transcript for ‘Olympus BX61 Microscope – What Every User Should Know’

Hi, this is Chad with Munday Scientific, and today we’re going to go over the Olympus BX61. We’ll cover some basic features, how to use it, important information about the cables and where they go, and a few other tips along the way.

Bran’s going to come in now, and we’ll talk through the features of the microscope.

Let’s start with the keypad—it’s probably the most confusing part for new users, so we’ll walk you through it.

You’ll notice that the fluorescent light is currently on. To close the shutter, press this button here—it’s clearly labeled “Reflected Light Shutter.” Pressing it toggles the shutter.

To move between the six filter cubes in the system, use these buttons: press the left arrow to move to the left, and the right arrow to move to the right.

This customer requested four objectives, so we installed and labeled the 10x, 20x, 40x, and 60x. The 10x is currently selected. To switch to the 20x, press that button, and the same goes for the others. You can also continue adding objectives and labeling them accordingly.

Continue with ‘Olympus BX61 Microscope – What Every User Should Know’

Next, we have the UCB—the main controller for the microscope and the fluorescent power supply. The customer wanted a mercury light source, so we set up a high-brightness mercury system.

The mercury lamp house is a 12V, 100-watt bulb. It includes a collector lens, and you can adjust the bulb’s position using these two screws for proper alignment. If you’re unsure how to do that, we can send you a video or provide literature to help you.

Once the bulb is aligned, open the collector lens to spread the illumination. If you look at the fluorescent light here, you can see it become much brighter once properly aligned.

The microscope also features a standard right-handed stage, nosepiece, and condenser. There’s a 3 mm Allen wrench used to disassemble many components. To remove the head, for example, insert the wrench into the slot right here.

BX61 Important Note

Important note: If you’re going to unplug any cables or components, make sure the UCB system is powered off and unplugged. It’s always better to be safe.

We’re going to power it off now to show you some of the basic handling procedures.

We left the reflected light shutter open, so you’ll still see some fluorescent light coming through. We’ll go ahead and shut that off as well.

When powering the system on or off, allow the mercury lamp to warm up for at least 15 minutes, and cool down for another 15 minutes before restarting. Longer is better, but 15 minutes is the minimum.

To lower the condenser, there’s a screw right here. To center it for Köhler illumination, use these two screws. Once centered, it won’t change unless someone manually adjusts it again with the wrench.

The field diaphragm is located here and opens or closes the illumination field.

Focusing the Microscope and Other Tips

Focusing is motorized: use these buttons to move the stage up or down. Fine focus is also automated and works very smoothly.

The neutral density filters and daylight blue filter are manual and not electronically controlled. You can switch them manually as needed.

We also powered down the system to show you the initialization process when turning it on. When you power it on, the stage will automatically lower and then return to its starting position.

Do not touch any buttons during this process. Wait until the stage fully returns to its original position before interacting with the microscope. If you press any buttons too soon, it will trigger an error code—lights will turn red, and you’ll have to restart the whole system from scratch.

On the side of the microscope, there’s a power button for the brightfield lamp. Pressing it will turn on the brightfield illumination. You can adjust the light intensity using this dial.

If you had two halogen lamphouses installed for brightfield and reflected light, you’d use this button to switch between them.

That’s the overview of the basic functions. Now let’s talk about cabling and connections.

Cabling and Connections

Always unplug the system before working with the cables.

• The lamp house cord connects here. It’s a twist-and-pull connection with a notch that aligns with a pin. Twist it to release and pull it out.
• The main power cord for the microscope connects here. Olympus labeled everything clearly. This one is marked “BX61/BX62” and connects to the UCB.
• The reflected light illuminator is labeled “RFA R.” We’ve labeled both ends to match. When plugging it into the UCB, you’ll hear a click. If you don’t, it may not be fully connected.
  • To remove it, press these two buttons simultaneously.
• This connector here runs from the scope to the UCB.
• The mercury lamp connector goes here. It’s a twist-lock connector. Align the thicker prong with the notch at the top, push it in, and screw it to secure.

One last important note: if you ever need to change the filter cubes, make sure the microscope is powered off. Use a 3 mm Allen wrench to loosen the screws, and carefully remove the motorized cube assembly.

This customer ordered eight filter cubes; the system was loaded with six. If they want to swap them out:

• Rotate to the accessible side.
• Loosen and remove only the accessible cubes.
• Never force the mechanism or try to access the inaccessible side by force.
• After removing the first set, rotate the filter turret to access the other side and repeat.

Once you’re done, reinstall the assembly and power the system back on.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at .

Anyway, you can find us at microscopemarketplace.com if you’re interested in purchasing any of these scopes.

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