X-Cite
®
Guide
X-Cite® 120 Series Maintenance
& Troubleshooting Guide
1. Introduction
This guide contains installation, maintenance and troubleshooting tips to help optimize the lifetime and
performance of X-Cite® 120 series and components. This information is intended to supplement the detailed
installation and operating instructions found in the X-Cite® User Manuals.
Topics covered include liquid light guides, lamps, and air vents – the components most likely to affect performance
over time and require maintenance or replacement. Note that the lifetime information on components is for typical
or average conditions. Depending on the imaging application, more frequent replacement may be required—for
example, if a fluorophore’s signal is low to begin with, or is excited by a low power portion of the X-Cite® lamp’s
output spectrum.
2. Liquid Light Guides
2.1 Proper handling and installation of liquid light guides
Liquid light guides have a typical useful life of 4000 hours of operation when handled properly and installed in a
well maintained X-Cite® 120. The formation of bubbles is one of the most common reasons for a light guide to
degrade prematurely and result in a sudden reduction in illumination intensity. Bubbles can form without warning,
and if they occur within the first 1500 to 2000 hours of use, it is typically due to overheating and/or mechanical
stress to the light guide. Below are some simple tips to avoid overheating and stressing the light guide.
Always fully insert the light guide into the X-Cite® unit (i.e. up to the white line);
1.
this ensures contact with a heat sink to conduct heat away from the light guide.
