Olympus NC Splan APO 60x spring dissasembly

[imkap]

Hi everyone, I've acquired this objective yesterday in a lot with few others. It was stuck so I've sprayed some WD40 contact cleaner and it's free now. I still feel it would benefit from a thorough cleaning of the spring system. I've successfully cleaned the Splan 20 as it has a screw on the side so it's easy to dissasemble. Not sure how to disassemble this one.

Should I use some lubricant for this application? I didn't put any on the Splan 20.

It's the one like this:



Also I'm interested how do I evaluate the condition of the objectives. It's easy to spot delamination on the low mag objectives, but not sure for high mag... Is there something else besides delamination I should be checking?

Thanks

[carlh6902]

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... Mwbqubw1D0

[josmann]

Page 86 of this pdf: http://www.alanwood.net/downloads/olymp ... df#page=86 has the exploded diagram of this objective.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... Mwbqubw1D0

Judging from this and the parts diagram, I think the general idea with these non-adjustable SPlanApo objectives is to clamp the bottom (as Carl details) and then unscrew from the knurled ring. Essentially you're unscrewing AF 254600 from AF 169700 if I interpret this correctly...

Vaya con Dios!

[imkap]

This is great, thanks very much I'll save it in my computer... I have decided not to disassemble yet as it seems a bit more complicated than I expected I'll focus on food these days...

It's working now I just have to press the objective with my finger before using, because after half a day or so it gets stuck again but not too hard. Every time I spray with contact cleaner, some of the diluted gunk comes out so maybe if I do it often it will all go out...

[Dubious]

I would be afraid of the WD40 working its way into the optics of the objective.

[imkap]

Hi, it's not the usual WD40, it's a WD40 contact cleaner, used for cleaning contacts on electronics. It evaporates quickly and leaves nothing behind. It's quite good for dissolving oil or grease. I wouldn't use it on lens but for metal parts it should be safe I think, as it's safe for electronics. It was recommended to me by a light technician in a theatre where we had a show and I've never seen someone so fascinated with a contact spray, so I had to buy it. When I got my scope the condenser iris was stuck, when I sprayed it a bit, it was free after a few moments, no force needed. So later I've cleaned it just by spraying, wiping, and closing/opening...

This looks like an ad...

[Dubious]

Interesting. Going online, I see the WD40 people have branched out, with several quite different products now sold under that name. I guess they figured "WD40" had a lot of name recognition, which it does, of course, but as the formulation of a penetrating oil--at least for folks of my generation... Anyway, the WD40 contact cleaner sounds like useful stuff to have around, and I will order some.

[imkap]

I also bought the WD40 degreaser, as I thought it might be even better for this kind of application but it turned out to be acetone based and very smelly so I won't be using it. I actually think it degreases worse than the contact cleaner... Maybe it's good for car parts or something...

[imkap]

Great success

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I have unscrewed AF 254600 from AF 169700 as josmann said. I needed to apply some force as it wasn't touched for years. Later, unscrewed the small screw PUK 1 . 4X 1 • 5SA and a threaded ring AF 169 600 using a caliper tool. It's important to note there is no need to unscrew the AF 259500 ring. In the end I've just pulled out the objective (AF168900) from the housing tube (AF 254600), it can easily get stuck while on the way out, you should go slow and try not to move it from the center axis while pulling.
It's kinda hard to do, it actually got stuck, so I thought there was something I didn't unscrew (like AF 259500 you shouldn't touch) so was frustrated for a moment, but later I've freed it and realized it will go out if I'm more careful...

I did apply some grease when assembling back...

Thanks very much for your help, the outcome easily might have been different if you didn't send me the materials

[imkap]

Hi everyone, I've been using this objective for a week or so. It's great to have a dry high magnification objective, but I can't say I'm thrilled with the views, the contrast is kind of soft... I have no experience and nothing to compare it with, but I realise the image is quite a bit better on lower mag like oly splan 20 or zeiss plan 25. So I'm wondering what might be the reason for the non satisfactory image.
1. There is some dust/dirt visible on the inside, not sure how much of it is needed to spoil the views. When I defocus to the farthest point from the light (up) I can see a shade over the view?
2. My condenser isn't appropriate for high mag?

3. I'm not sure, as I have nothing to compare it to, but this softer contrast might be normal in high mag dry?

Also it is rated without a coverslip, not sure what to observe like that, as the objective comes so close to the object... I only observed with a coverslip.
I'm generally not sure what and how to observe without a coverslip

Thanks

[deBult]

The coverslip is part of the optical correction mechanism: so if you use it without: this causes the "softness" you observe.

In general objectives 40* NA 0.60 and higher require coverglasses of EXCACT 0.17 mm tickness, most coverglasses range from 0.13-0.18, even the ones used on commercial slides (no good). Zeiss has some of the 0.17 exact ones, costly though.

The SPlan NC are often used to view blood smears and developed to do quick scanning (= no coverglass).

Note: the WD40 you have used "smells": meaning it will evaporate and land on the lenses as well: ruining a otherwise nice objective.

[imkap]

Not sure I ruined it at least not yet
I'll try some blood without a coverslip...
Thx

[deBult]

Try a blood SMEAR not a drop of blood

Technique: UPDATE previous link used a cover glass, now a true smear
https://okean.rs/preparation-of-blood-s ... ss%20slide.
or
https://medicallabtechnology.com/perfec ... technique/

Comparison material: viewtopic.php?t=426

[imkap]

I tried to look at the same blood stain with and without a coverslip and image is much better without ... I don't have any stains yet, so it was all a bit bland. But I understand now, this one should be used without a coverslip if I want to see the best possible image through it... Thanks

[josmann]

Congrats! Glad you got it working