Re: Rmoving oil inside objective

On 27 May 2005 08:51:38 -0700, "jon" <jon.goguen@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Does anyone know of methods for removing immersion oil from inside an
>objective? I have a high quality Nikon PlanApo 60/1.4 that has
>accumulated internal oil after years of use on an inverted scope.
>After determining the cost and schedule of repair by Nikon, we opted to
>replace the original objective with a used one. I still have the
>contaminated objective, and would like to try cleaning it in-house if
>there's a reasonable approach. It seems to me that if oil can get in,
>so can a much lower vicosity solvent. I'm considering cycling solvent
>in and out by the alternate appilaction of positive and negative
>pressure, followed by drying in a warm oven. Does this seem
>reasonable? Ant other Ideas? I haven't seriously considered
>disassembly, since I have know idea how to do it and I'm afraid
>accurate reassembly would be extremely dificult.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Jon

I'd suggest keeping the old objective for sentimental value only. The
complexity of objectives in general is bad enough but horrific for
PlanAPO objectives. I have/had a Zeiss 40X oil PlanAPO that had the
oil side chipped. Zeiss would repair it for about 50% of the cost of
a new lens. It just wasn't worth the cost. So, I took the thing
apart, as much as possible, to see what it looked like inside. Pretty
amazing. Without the right equipment and expertise, there is no
realistic way to do repairs one's self. I can just imagine the "extra
components" scenario after putting it back together.

Gary Gaugler, Ph.D.
Microtechnics, Inc.
Granite Bay, CA 95746
916.791.8191
gary@microtechnics dot com
.

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