Product Information Hydraulic Microdrive

Catalogue Numbers:

04-30   Hydraulic microdrive
04-31   Hydraulic microdrive with paraffin press

  Hydraulic microdrive with paraffin press (04-31)

  Paraffin press (04-34) mounted on Leitz® manipulator

Description:

The hydraulic microdrive consists of a master cylinder and slave cylinder. The piston of the master cylinder is driven by a precision micrometer screw which can be moved forward or backward by turning the large calibrated hand-wheel (coarse drive) clockwise or counter-clockwise. When engaging the fine drive, the micrometer screw is operated by the smaller hand-wheel of the fine drive only.

The piston of the slave cylinder moves because of hydraulic fluid being squeezed out or sucked in, depending on the movements of the piston in the master cylinder. For best performance, the fluid must be absolutely bubble-free.

Exchange of Hydraulic Fluid:

Use acid-free hydraulic oil only. A 20 ml supply is included with the instrument. The hydraulic system may not be completely filled when shipped. For filling and exchange of the hydraulic fluid observe the following instructions:

• turn large hand-wheel fully counter-clockwise (do not apply too much force!)
• place microdrive on the smaller hand-wheel so that the master cylinder is facing up
• open large sealing screw on master cylinder by about 2 turns (turn counter-clockwise)
• remove dust cover from filling nozzle and connect nozzle with oil-filled syringe. Use small syringe so that sufficient pressure can be applied (5 ml glass syringe recommended)
• open venting screw on slave cylinder and fill until all air is removed from slave cylinder (oil starts coming out of the venting hole)
• close venting and sealing screws and turn hand-wheel clockwise until the piston of slave cylinder is fully extended. Make sure that the system is air-free (look for bubbles in the tubing). Repeat filling if necessary
• remove syringe and replace red dust cover

Accessories: