Olympus BX40 focus block stuck

[PeteM]

Hoping someone can help me sort out a new-to-me BX40 I'm hoping to rescue.

The focus block is driven by a coarse/fine gear train -- and all of that gear train works as it should. Part of that gear train is removed in the photo below, showing the focus block. However the focus block, which probably runs on balls, is stuck in the down position with just a mm or so of movement up and down. In the photo, the gear rack and its black carrier needs to move maybe 2=3cm up to the top limit.

It appears the guts of this are buried behind a glued-in-place thin plastic panel; plus another glued-in-place metal panel to the side. Before tearing into this, I'm hoping someone here has experience and can guide me. There ARE two socket head screws that can be reached. One from the front of the scope (cm or so hole seen in one picture). And the other from the rear (small recess with screw barely visible. However neither appear to do anything.

Any help, much appreciated.

BX40focus_block.jpg (109.28 KiB) Viewed 2932 times

[PeteM]

So, to answer my own question in case anyone else confronts this:

The black plastic and metal covers are glued on and they're the only way to reach the slide. Once in, it was easy enough to pull the focus block out, soak out the grit jamming it, and re-lube. Kind of a chintzy detail, IMO. The plastic cover came off easily enough with a square ended scalpal blade. The metal cover ended up slightly bent.

The set screw accessible fron the front controls the upper and lower travel. The other is one of two holding the rack. Meant to allow pulling off a damaged rack without getting into the focus block.

[KurtM]

Mighty kind of you to post the solution. I wonder how "factory trained technicians" remove those thin metal glued-on cover/access plates (without slightly bending them as I have also done)?

What are your plans for that BX40 stand?

[MichaelG.]

Mighty kind of you to post the solution. I wonder how "factory trained technicians" remove those thin metal glued-on cover/access plates ...

I suspect that they treat the plates as "consumables"
But, a suitably sized 'rubber-sucker' might do the trick.

MichaelG.

[PeteM]

Mighty kind of you to post the solution. I wonder how "factory trained technicians" remove those thin metal glued-on cover/access plates (without slightly bending them as I have also done)?

What are your plans for that BX40 stand?

I'm wrapping up a donate-microscopes-for-kids phase with our local Children's Museum of Discovery (several dozen scopes fixed up and about to be donated for the "Micronaut" program I started) -- and on to content.

My hope is to develop a series of "one slide" science lessons. (Any ideas will be welcome!!) Things parents and their kids could do once a week for a few minutes and learn something. The BX40 scope will hopefully be one of my go-to scopes for photos and lesson development, since I have some good lenses that want an Olympus infinity stand. Too early to tell how it will work out -- the trinocular head on this has a bit of damage to the telon lens.

Regarding Michael's rubber suction cup idea -- these were glued too tightly for that. Best was to slip a very thin blade under the cover. I'd agree Olympus probably regarded them as disposable whenever service to the nicely-built focus block was required. But, I'd hate to guess how much they'd want now for a bit of metal or plastic that might have cost 30 cents to make in quantities of a few thousand.

[KurtM]

I don't think so, I believe they have ways of pulling such covers without damage so they may be reinstalled. When I said "factory trained technicians" I meant the techs who who work in microscope service establishments, of which there are many (everything being relative), that deal with all the brands, OLY is hardly the only one who uses glue-on plates, and it's impossible for me to believe all those places keep all those plates in stock.

Lorez could probably answer this one in two seconds flat.

I'm guessing application of heat plus a tool similar to an artist's palette knife.