Hitachi Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) Teardown

[dexters_lab]

i am about to make a video tearing down a Hitachi S-800 scanning electron microscope (SEM) from 1988, this will be the biggest and most expensive thing i have made a video on and it's really quite exciting...

Normally i don't post up until i make a video but in this case i am and i will attach a few pics here before i start. The microscope is not complete and doesn't work so what i want to do is make a video on it all and  once i have recouped my expenses from buying and shipping it (probably by selling the main diffusion pump) i want to give away some of the other parts. Because there are so many things in it that might be extremely useful and very hard to obtain if your doing high vacuum stuff as a hobby.

So i have the actual microscope part (the main control panel was sadly scrapped before i saw it so i only have the 'science' element of it), but this does include most of the high vacuum parts like the main chamber with several feed-through things, electron gun, beam scanning and focusing column & a large diffusion pump (Branded Daia, 700 Watt, 570L/s), two small and one large (23kg!) ion pump(s). There is a ton load of other bits like pneumatic actuators, valves, sensors and the secondary electron & x-ray detectors. The main chassis could be useful as it's a very solid steel frame with rubber isolators for the main column so could make a great starting point for a vacuum system.

Before i start taking things apart and making the video, what items should i NOT do a (coining Mike's phrase here) 'extreme teardown' on or which items should i be careful with because they might be useful for other experimenters and high vacuum fanboys?

I'd love to take it all to many, many bits but i guess i might get lynched if i do end up destroying something particularly useful 

i should point out that although some of the bits will be free, i will ask you cover cost of postage and most of those parts are extremely heavy and may not be suitable to post. To give you some idea the whole thing must be getting on for 1/4 ton!

[cat87]

Holy mother of.... 
Great score 

Can't wait for the teardown(s)    and look at that molecular pump... I feel a faint coming on 

[dexters_lab]

Holy mother of.... 
Great score 

Can't wait for the teardown(s)    and look at that molecular pump... I feel a faint coming on 

thanks, it'll likely be a couple of weeks before i can get started on it!

[SeanB]

Mark, you probably want to look at shipping some to Australia, I think there is somebody there who can use them, and it is not Dave.

[dexters_lab]

Mark, you probably want to look at shipping some to Australia, I think there is somebody there who can use them, and it is not Dave.

i'll ship anywhere if they cover the postage!

[SeanB]

Mark, you probably want to look at shipping some to Australia, I think there is somebody there who can use them, and it is not Dave.

i'll ship anywhere if they cover the postage!

You will have to send it sea cargo, and build a wooden box for it though.....

[German_EE]

Are there any interesting power transformers? A couple of decades ago I was invited to help scrap an x-ray machine and came away with a transformer that was a three-man lift! After building a 13.8V 250A power supply for my ham radio shack I didn't need another one 

The power supply was sold when I relocated from the UK to Hungary, I dread to think what the shipping costs would be.

[joeqsmith]

It looks like there are lots of treasures just waiting to be discovered in that room.     

[tpowell1830]

 
IMHO, DON'T TEAR IT DOWN OR TAKE IT APART!! That is a glowing example of science that became art (science/art). A control panel can be re-designed to make it work again. Did you get schematics?  This is like a classic car that you take to the scrapyard instead of returbishing, it gets torn apart and crushed and bits and pieces are reused on other classics.

I know that it is probably not feasible or economical to restore it, but really, such a waste. This is the kind of thing that is only a win to those who find useful parts from it, and I am probably beating a dead horse  , but think of it, a garage SEM! The in-laws come over and you take them into your garage and examine something in your own SEM! Or a co-worker has an engine part that he thinks has microfractures and you say "Bring it over and we will examine it in the SEM."

All ridiculous, I know, but that is a beautiful piece of science/engineering. Such a waste. Gorgeous piece of art. All of that stainless steel. WOW!

[dexters_lab]

Are there any interesting power transformers? A couple of decades ago I was invited to help scrap an x-ray machine and came away with a transformer that was a three-man lift! After building a 13.8V 250A power supply for my ham radio shack I didn't need another one 

The power supply was sold when I relocated from the UK to Hungary, I dread to think what the shipping costs would be.

sadly no, it seems the electrical good stuff like the HV transformer would have been in the control panel because it's not in the bit i have. The only big transformer seems to be for the ion pumps which seem to be 100v

[dexters_lab]

It looks like there are lots of treasures just waiting to be discovered in that room. 

lol, yea it's surprising what we find, we dug out an original mouse for an Apple Lisa the other day, shame we don't have the rest of it!!

[dexters_lab]

IMHO, DON'T TEAR IT DOWN OR TAKE IT APART!! That is a glowing example of science that became art (science/art). A control panel can be re-designed to make it work again. Did you get schematics?  This is like a classic car that you take to the scrapyard instead of returbishing, it gets torn apart and crushed and bits and pieces are reused on other classics.

I know that it is probably not feasible or economical to restore it, but really, such a waste. This is the kind of thing that is only a win to those who find useful parts from it, and I am probably beating a dead horse  , but think of it, a garage SEM! The in-laws come over and you take them into your garage and examine something in your own SEM! Or a co-worker has an engine part that he thinks has microfractures and you say "Bring it over and we will examine it in the SEM."

All ridiculous, I know, but that is a beautiful piece of science/engineering. Such a waste. Gorgeous piece of art. All of that stainless steel. WOW!

i totally sympathise but to take your analogy this car would have no engine or interior and only have three wheels!

it's just too damd big and heavy to do anything else with it. This is why i want to pass one some of the parts to others so it will be helping others with their own projects

[richnormand]

Feel sorry to see it parted.
but, if you must...

Would be interested in the two small ion pumps on the column.
They are compatible with the one I have that is not able to maintain a good vacuum anymore.
No need to ship the heavy stuff (magnets) as I have them, just the inside pump modules.
The UHV conflats connectors/pipes from the ion pump to the column would be useful too.

PM me if you want to follow up at some point. Cheers and thanks.

[Brumby]

Feel sorry to see it parted.
but, if you must...

It's already partially parted - missing some rather important pieces to make it operational ... so this is at least going to be one last "Hurrah!" before dispersal (rather than disposal).

[CJay]

It looks like there are lots of treasures just waiting to be discovered in that room. 

lol, yea it's surprising what we find, we dug out an original mouse for an Apple Lisa the other day, shame we don't have the rest of it!!

Yeah, bloody annoying but I *DID* have one, complete with prototype HDD, it got thrown in a skip.

[dexters_lab]

right i think i have a handle on what everything does in this machine now thanks to some extended googling, reading of wiki pages & several technical docs, user guides and some emails from Ben at Applied Science (thanks Ben!)

I will be filming part one very soon, i'll be giving you a walk around all the parts and controls and then remove the ion pumps and beam column for further teardown.

The base chassis will be partially stripped so the diffusion pump, baffles etc and the sample chamber are intact. If you or you know anyone who might be interested in buying the base as a starting point of a home vacuum system let me know else it will be up on ebay. If that doesn't appeal to anyone because it's still too big & heavy then just the diffusion pump and baffles will be removed and sold on their own.

The two smaller ion pumps have been provisionally claimed

The diffusion pump is a Japanese made Diavac DPF-4Z
http://www.diavac.co.jp/english/products/kiki/abura/dpf.html

[dexters_lab]

part 1 is here



for part 2 would you like me to teardown the column or more of the parts in the chassis?

[razberik]

Turbomolecular pumps were not used in electron microscopy until the end of 80s, mid 90s. Diffusion pumps were used, you can recognize them by cooling spiral around the body.
Turbos were introduced to this field when CNCs were able to machine precise parts.

I work for SEM manufacturer, perhaps I can answer some questions.

[dexters_lab]

Turbomolecular pumps were not used in electron microscopy until the end of 80s, mid 90s. Diffusion pumps were used, you can recognize them by cooling spiral around the body.
Turbos were introduced to this field when CNCs were able to machine precise parts.

I work for SEM manufacturer, perhaps I can answer some questions.

  you spot any glaring mistakes, let me know so i can correct... although it's difficult to do that now YouTube have removed annotations!

[razberik]

Okay, Ill try my best I work there for <2yrs, so very limited knowledge and experience.

Are there any interesting power transformers?

Transformers are definitely not the interesting part in SEM. We dont use any these days, SMPSs all the way.

i'll ship anywhere if they cover the postage!

You will have to send it sea cargo, and build a wooden box for it though.....

Every shipping wooden box is custom made for particular product sell. Different configuration = different proportions and box requirement.
Products are shipped by truck when it is possible to reach customer on land, because FEG electron gun is permanently ON. Devices turned on cannot be shipped by aircraft.

(the main control panel was sadly scrapped before i saw it so i only have the 'science' element of it),

"Plumbing" is the most valuable thing. You can refurbish electronic part anytime with pretty much anything. (33120A + amplifier for scanning coils. ). Anyway, in todays electron microscope, the most valuable part is software anyway.

Before i start taking things apart and making the video, what items should i NOT do a (coining Mike's phrase here) 'extreme teardown' on or which items should i be careful with because they might be useful for other experimenters and high vacuum fanboys?

Do not disassembly detectors. May contain very valuable and fragile scintillators.
Be very careful with X-Ray detector. Its plumbing + PIN diodes are fragile and valuable.

[razberik]

I clicked through the video quickly and removing these ion pump with bare hands without covering flanges - what a butchery ! Without proper cleaning procedure, it would not be possible to pump these to some reasonable vacuum.
Use gloves and cover flanges with some covers please.

//Sheet metal covers for column are probably permalloys. Hitting ground = they are dead.

[DCtoDaylight]

Hi,
At which company do you work? Or is it a secret?

Gesendet von meinem A0001 mit Tapatalk

[razberik]

Look at the flag under my Knorrig avatar. Its second largest city with the largest number of electron microscope manufacturers in the world. The smaller one, surrounded by forest.

[dexters_lab]

thanks for the comments razberik

the ports on the ion pumps were covered over just after i removed them and i would expect someone would clean the flanges before using them hopefully they will be ok

the metal covers on the column could well be permalloy / mumetal magnetic shielding, as for damaging those parts... i think they got more damage when i threw them in the scrap metal bin!!

I didn't expect the x-ray detector to have any value TBH, given it's 29 years old? I was actually hoping nobody would claim it as i wanted to do a teardown on it as well as some of the other items.

[DCtoDaylight]

First, i am interested in the se-detector and in two of the 3 pol connector because i am building my own sem and my two se detectors that i have can't move to adjust the distance relative to the sample.

Look at the flag under my Knorrig avatar. Its second largest city with the largest number of electron microscope manufacturers in the world. The smaller one, surrounded by forest.

Is your company related to ThermoFischer?