Microscope and humidity

maplesm

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I am looking to purchase a microscope but am concerned about the humidity here in the Virgin Islands. Anyone have some experience with that situation?
 

Sam

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Humid environments are the enemy of binoculars, camera lenses, and microscopes. There's some sort of fungus that'll grow on the optics deep inside lenses. If left untreated, it seems to etch its spidery patterns in the lens coatings. You have every right to be concerned, but as long as your scope is kept in an air conditioned room that remains relatively dry you should be ok. If it's exposed to outside air and humidity you could very well have a problem. / ~Sam in Louisiana, where heat and humidity were invented!
 

monk

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take this to heart: if you cant do as sam said- get a large bag or container of silica gel. when not using your scope, wrap the scope and silica gel within a suitable plastic bag and store that way. esp for long periods of non use. get silica gel that changes color when it absorbs moisture. you can nuke it to dry it out and reuse it.
 

Christopher Malouf

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Yep ... same deal here in West Virginny. Never thought about the silica gel but that's a great idea Monk.

You can definitely nuke it or put it in the oven at 250 degrees for an hour or so. Save the little tyvek bags full of silica beads you get when you buy stuff. You can use a bunch of little silica bags for a few weeks and heat them in the oven .... be careful because overheating will melt them and render them useless.

Sam ... don't think I can ever peer through optics again without wondering about fungi.

Regards,

Chris
 
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monk

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chris, beware ! the beasties are on your corneas. soon as yer eyeball crashes onto the eyepiece, the eye piece becomes infected !
 

jimzim75

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Sitting next to the Great Lakes we have some stupidly humid days. If you have a air conditioner this will
help the situation in that it pulls a lot of the moister out of the air. A dehumidifier works on the same
principal. Having you studio on the second floor of two story house rather than in a basement is a help.
 

maplesm

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I keep my cameras in a pelican water tight case and seems to work. How difficult is it to remove the microscope from the stand taht GRS sells?
 
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