B&L Service manual needed

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Pizzazz
Posts: 583
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:39 pm

B&L Service manual needed

Post by Pizzazz »

Hi

I have a Bausch & Lomb .3 - 7x stereo zoom scope and I need
to clean the internal optics. Does anyone have a service manual
or detailed instructions on how to perform the cleaning that I
need to do?

Thanks

Mike

ray_parkhurst
Posts: 3415
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2010 10:40 am
Location: Santa Clara, CA, USA
Contact:

Re: B&L Service manual needed

Post by ray_parkhurst »

Pizzazz wrote:Hi

I have a Bausch & Lomb .3 - 7x stereo zoom scope and I need
to clean the internal optics. Does anyone have a service manual
or detailed instructions on how to perform the cleaning that I
need to do?

Thanks

Mike
I have a copy of this manual but I can tell you it is not much help. It mostly details all the specialized tools needed to do the disassembly-reassembly.

I've cleaned quite a few of these over the years. Can you determine which lens(es) are needing cleaning? Is the mirror prism clean? The mirror prism is very tough to clean without doing damage as it's an assembly of first-surface mirrors. Re-alignment after reassembly is also no laughing matter, especially if you mess with any internal alignments.

You can determine which lenses need cleaning by peering down both ocular and objective ends of the light paths while adjusting the zoom. If the two moving lenses need cleaning, it is a really big job. Cleaning the objectives is fairly easy. Cleaning the mirrors is the hardest.

Often the biggest problem is in the cover glass at bottom of the eyepiece tube. This glass is superfluous as long as you always keep eyepieces in the tubes. I always remove the glass as it is really just a dust cover.

Hope this helps and update us if you take it apart.

Ray

g4lab
Posts: 1437
Joined: Fri May 23, 2008 11:07 am

Post by g4lab »

I have the manuals for these in dead tree format.
send me a PM if interested. But Ray is correct, they won't help much.
Everything he said squares with my experience on a few of these too.

Pizzazz
Posts: 583
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:39 pm

Post by Pizzazz »

Hi

Thanks for the input. If I recall, there appears to be some dust
in the left column. I remove the eyepiece and looking down, I can
see some items.

Do I dare try to expel the matter with some compressed air
from a can or compressor?

I do not want to take this apart due to the danger of damage
as you have pointed out.

Is there a reputable service company available that can do a
deep clean on this?

Thanks for your help.

Mike

g4lab
Posts: 1437
Joined: Fri May 23, 2008 11:07 am

Post by g4lab »

Compressed air or freon 134a as sold at office depot will not hurt any thing generally.

Make sure if you are blowing into the the erecting "prism" area that you don't have it going so hard that you blow the mirrors off.

There are several companies that will overhaul these. Accurate Clarity and Calibration comes to mind. But you also can buy these pods on ebay for about $100 each so if you find a good one it is cheaper than having one repaired.

And if it isn't good return it.

But you won't probably damage much taking it apart. Just don't knock the mirrors off.

Pizzazz
Posts: 583
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:39 pm

Post by Pizzazz »

Hi g4lab

I used some air from a "can" and it helped, but looking through
the eyepiece recepticle, I can see some stuff that appears to be inside
near the bottom.

The nice thing, it really does not introduce too much impact
because the particulate material never gets in focus, so to the novice
user, you never really "see" the stuff.

Maybe I can get the courage to open the scope up, but for now, I think
I should leave it alone.

Sign me scared.

Mike

ray_parkhurst
Posts: 3415
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2010 10:40 am
Location: Santa Clara, CA, USA
Contact:

Post by ray_parkhurst »

Pizzazz wrote:Hi g4lab

I used some air from a "can" and it helped, but looking through
the eyepiece recepticle, I can see some stuff that appears to be inside
near the bottom.

The nice thing, it really does not introduce too much impact
because the particulate material never gets in focus, so to the novice
user, you never really "see" the stuff.

Maybe I can get the courage to open the scope up, but for now, I think
I should leave it alone.

Sign me scared.

Mike
Don't be too scared, it sounds like you are doing the right things. If you can see dirt and stuff at the bottom of the eyepiece tubes then it is probably the upper glass dust covers that need cleaning. You can unscrew the eyepiece tubes fairly easily and usually without having to do any re-alignment. This will expose the dust covers and make it very easy to clean them with swabs and alcohol. If they are really dirty you might want to use very wet swabs after a more thorough air dusting to avoid having the dirt scratch the glass. Swab gently and use several swabs...

Ray

Pizzazz
Posts: 583
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:39 pm

Post by Pizzazz »

Hi Ray

OK, I will give it a try. I found a deceased honey bee on my sidewalk
last night and gave it a look. Pretty awesome to see this specimen at
10x in 3-D. The hairs on it and in the eye are incredible. I showed
my daughter and she thought it was cool. I showed my wife and she
freaked out.

I bought this scope to clean small subjects and to eventually use
it to clean my lenses and sensor, as recommended by Chris S. I am
glad I did as it can be a very useful tool.

Sorry to sound like a kid, but I guess I am intrigued.

I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks

Mike

g4lab
Posts: 1437
Joined: Fri May 23, 2008 11:07 am

Post by g4lab »

Again I agree with Ray.
Just go ahead. Be careful but you probably won't kill anything.
These were made to be serviced unlike some of the newer crap out there.


Use some clean paper towels (I like Bounty) and good lens cleaning solution to do the gross cleaning, then a microfiber cloth for the final drying and spot removal.

If you are cleaning the lenses in the zoom watch out for the lubricants. If they are very dried out you can "freshen" them with a tiny drop of oil. This requires a bit of care so you don't get too much. Sometimes it is better to just do this (making sure the oil mixes with the original grease) rather than solvent cleaning a lot of original grease and regreasing. Especially on an item that is not valuable or not worth a lot of labor investment.

You probably won't run into trouble removing the ocular tubes, Zoom knob, and zoom body cover. The all should go right back where from you took them.

phil m
Posts: 162
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:45 pm

Post by phil m »

Pizzazz wrote:Hi g4lab

I used some air from a "can" and it helped, but looking through
the eyepiece recepticle, I can see some stuff that appears to be inside
near the bottom.

The nice thing, it really does not introduce too much impact
because the particulate material never gets in focus, so to the novice
user, you never really "see" the stuff.

Maybe I can get the courage to open the scope up, but for now, I think
I should leave it alone.

Sign me scared.

Mike
It isn't usually dust particles or other opaque particles on mirrors or prisms in older microscopes that causes image problems but a layer of collected film that cuts down the reflectivity and transmission percentage. The result is a reduction in brightness and contrast, even though the image can still be relatively sharp. I agree that a large percentage of the problem is likely on the upper surface of the dust shield cover glasses in the ocular tubes. Blowing dust out with compressed air is only partially useful, because most of the dirt is very clingy. If you can get the ocular tubes out , swab them internally with cotton swabs and alcohol, as you apply compressed air. This will get out any residual murk that could foul things up after you get the covers clean.
Then.
Moisten cotton swabs with alcohol: 100% ethyl, if you can get it.Clean each dust cover glass and dry with clean swabs. It may take 3 or 4 moistenings with alcohol and 5 or 6 drying cycles , to get the film off. Always use a new swab each time, so to clean each glass may take 7 or 8 double ended swabs and be careful not to accidentally touch a clean end of a swab with your hands---they wick skin oil up like a sponge mop. Make sure you carefully clean right out to the perimeter and try to avoid catching the swaps on tiny snags, such as threads and set rings.
The glass can look clean, even when it isn't. You need to apply a strong light( a small high intensity led flashlight is good) at the correct angle to see the surface reflectivity. LIght smears will come off with repeated use of clean cotton swabs.You will likely see clean glass, eventually but with some dust particles and fibre from the swabs, still hanging around. Use compressed air or a photographic lens air bulb while you do a light dusting with a fresh swab to get everything out. Blow out the tubes one more time and reassemble.
If you have to go into the head, all of the principles used above can be used in the head.
Gentle and repeated if necessary cleaning of even first surface mirrors in situ. can usually get rid of 95% of anything in there and restore the microscope to first rate performance without disturbing the alignment. It's gentle and repeat with new, gentle and repeat with new, over and over on each optical surface until done. No elbow grease.

Pizzazz
Posts: 583
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:39 pm

cleaning

Post by Pizzazz »

Hi Phil M

Thanks for the details. I will follow the instructions and see how it goes.
I will let you know. I will probably tackle this over the weekend.

Mike

phil m
Posts: 162
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:45 pm

Post by phil m »

hope it goes well. The good thing about cleaning microscopes is, they get cleaner the more you clean them.
as an aside. there are thousands of inferior Chinese and Indian microscopes being sold, with plastic parts and coarse machining , while absolutely first rate used microscopes that just need cleaning sit on shelves. i don't know how many times i have heard someone say or read someone saying that a certain older microscope doesn't have the contrast of a newer microscope. clean the ##### thing! almost all of the optical designs the Chinese and Indians are working with they pilfered from Bausch & Lomb, Leitz, Zeiss, American Optical , Reichert, PZO or others anyway and the older microscopes have top quality machining and old world craftsmanship----sometimes at 1/10 of the price of an equivalent or lesser new one.

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