Dimension 3000/Nanoscope IIIa System

soval64 posted on Thu, May 3 2012 1:48 PM

rated by 0 users

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to "resurrect" an old SPM (Dimension 3000/Nanoscope IIIa) and have run into a problem. The system itself is in good shape and was well taken care of, but it hasn't been used in 2-3 years. I realize that this system is obsolete and probably isn't supported fully any more, but I am looking for some pointers for my troubleshooting effort. I have no problem focusing on the tip and the surface, and can use the mirror to center the laser beam on the cantilever tip. The laser spot in the window on the scanner head looks good, but I cannot move the "red dot" to the center of the four quadrant graph on the laser signal screen. It is at the extreme lower right corner of the quadrant display, and the two values are maxed out at 10.00 and -10.00. At the start of this project, I turned on the IIIa, but it did not have any power. This turned out to be caused by a blown fuse. When a new fused was installed, I did have power once again, but I don't know if any damage was done to one of the boards inside the controller during the initial event that caused the fuse to blow. I can borrow another Nanoscope IIIa and extender box for troubleshooting purposes, but cannot keep them. Any ideas or suggestions?  Thanks.