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Old 25-January-2008, 02:09 AM
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man on the moon man on the moon is offline
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Default Binoc repair question

I have a relatively large pair (10x50) of binoculars. They are good, work well, all things that they are supposed to do.

I lent them out and got them dropped. Shortly after I began to notice the two viewing...tubes? are not aligned. If I look at a tree and center it in one eye, it will be on the "edge" of the other eye. I'm not sure if they were off before and I just never noticed (they always make me feel cross-eyed), or if the drop exacerbated the difference, or if it was all caused by the drop.

Where or who would I contact for a repair like this? Is there anything other than sending it back to the manufacturer that I can do?

I've asked at optical shops in town, but they only like eye glasses. I thought about camera shops, just haven't found the right one if they can do this. Any other thoughts?
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Old 25-January-2008, 06:19 AM
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I had to send in a Bosch and Lomb pair (New cost $200). Cost was minor (postage to and from was more) and the time about 2 weeks. There was a shop about 60 miles away that would do the work but they cost more than B&L -- a lot more. They wanted $50 just to look at the problem, fixing was extra, they estimated $150 making the total cost equal to replacement. B&L with shipping was just $50. In my case they were dropped in a lake and filled with water so all elements had to be removed and cleaned then reinstalled and realigned. This was 15 years ago so costs are likely higher now and they no longer make binoculars either.

Rick
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Old 14-February-2008, 05:05 PM
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Default Binocular repair

Quote:
Originally Posted by man on the moon View Post
I have a relatively large pair (10x50) of binoculars. They are good, work well, all things that they are supposed to do.

I lent them out and got them dropped. Shortly after I began to notice the two viewing...tubes? are not aligned. If I look at a tree and center it in one eye, it will be on the "edge" of the other eye. I'm not sure if they were off before and I just never noticed (they always make me feel cross-eyed), or if the drop exacerbated the difference, or if it was all caused by the drop.

Where or who would I contact for a repair like this? Is there anything other than sending it back to the manufacturer that I can do?

I've asked at optical shops in town, but they only like eye glasses. I thought about camera shops, just haven't found the right one if they can do this. Any other thoughts?
I'm wondering if the locking ring for the objective lens was loose to begin with on one or both lenses. If so, you can (carefully) loosen the locking ring a little more and, doing one lense at a time, look through the binos at a fairly bright star. Then, using your (clean) two finger tips, you can spin the lens in the barrel and while gazing at infinity, adjust the lens for the most comfortable viewing; not having to look cross-eyed to focus on the star. Lenses that are way out of adjustment will produce a double vision image when looking through the binos. When one lense is adjusted, do the same to the other lens. The process sounds complicated but once you'r making the adjustments, the process will seem easy. After adjusting both objectives, carefully tighten the locking rings just enough to snug them dowm. Use a jewler's screwdriver and be carfull not to let the driver slip off the ring or good by lense surface! One pair of binos I bought had both locking rings loose and after the above adjustments, they worked fine.
If one of the prisms broke loose from its mount and is the problem, best idea is to send the binos out to a reputable repair facility. Hope this info helps you out. Mr Q
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