Leitz head needing some work

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henryr
Posts: 182
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 12:29 pm

Leitz head needing some work

#1 Post by henryr » Sun Dec 20, 2020 3:57 pm

The interpupillary distance adjustment on my 160mm TL trinocular head is sticky and requires more effort than it should. How can I get access to clean and lube the slides? And can the four screws securing each eyepiece tube be removed, without disengaging anything else, so I can get better access to clean the front surface of the protective windows? Are there any Leitz documents, exploded views or parts lists with pictures of the head parts?

Thanks,
henryr
Attachments
Leitz Dialux head3.JPG
Leitz Dialux head3.JPG (59.1 KiB) Viewed 4289 times
Leitz Dialux head2.JPG
Leitz Dialux head2.JPG (56.91 KiB) Viewed 4289 times

Leitzcycler
Posts: 254
Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2019 11:55 am

Re: Leitz head needing some work

#2 Post by Leitzcycler » Sun Dec 20, 2020 6:51 pm

Look information here:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9096

henryr
Posts: 182
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 12:29 pm

Re: Leitz head needing some work

#3 Post by henryr » Sun Dec 20, 2020 7:58 pm

Thanks so much. While my head is different, in that interpupillary adjustment is done by pulling or pushing on the outer edges of the slides, the info and parts diagram sheds some light on what to expect. And, now that it is apparent that Leitz did produce a parts list with an exploded diagram for that head, there must be comparable documents for their other trinocular heads and someone somewhere must have them. The search continues.

PrecisionInstruments
Posts: 62
Joined: Mon May 06, 2019 11:44 am
Location: Perth, Western Australia

Re: Leitz head needing some work

#4 Post by PrecisionInstruments » Tue Dec 22, 2020 11:08 pm

Are there two flat head screws on top of the head? If so, there will be two more under the camera port (port needs to be removed to access). The silver image path selector knob needs to be removed as well from memory, it’s on a spline and should just pull off.
A picture of both top and bottom would help.

The four screws holding each tube on is doing that only, they do not hold anything else from behind. Removing the tube will require some alignment upon refitting, otherwise you will get double imaging (collimation error). You can align both tubes to each other using an eyepiece with graticule over a point of interest on your slide.
I have a headache, For which the future’s made

henryr
Posts: 182
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 12:29 pm

Re: Leitz head needing some work

#5 Post by henryr » Wed Dec 23, 2020 1:35 am

Thanks for the help. There are two screws on the top and four screws on the bottom shown in photos. I also thought, as an aid to realignment of the tubes, I could put small pieces of masking tape on the horizontal and vertical sides of the tube mounting flanges and adjacent slide surfaces that they screw on to and then draw lines across the pieces of tape. Or just put tape on the slides butted up against the vertical and horizontal sides of each of the tube flanges. I would think either approach should get the tubes aligned within +-.010" of original position. Would that be sufficient?
Attachments
Leitz Dialux head3.JPG
Leitz Dialux head3.JPG (58.91 KiB) Viewed 4210 times
Leitz Dialux head6.JPG
Leitz Dialux head6.JPG (74.35 KiB) Viewed 4210 times
Leitz Dialux head4.JPG
Leitz Dialux head4.JPG (67.22 KiB) Viewed 4210 times

henryr
Posts: 182
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 12:29 pm

Re: Leitz head needing some work

#6 Post by henryr » Wed Dec 23, 2020 1:55 am

I meant to add the following to my previous post but hit submit to fast. The interpupillary adjustment is now easy and as smooth as butter. The process included positioning the head on its side and putting a few very small drops of Hoppes #9 gun oil at the edges of the interface of the dovetails. I let it sit overnight and then did the same to the other side. I then exercised the slides, starting with very slight movements, and over the course of the day the movement became as new. I used the same approach, successfully on an old AO series 10 scope and it worked great. So now I just need to clean the protective windows and maybe remove any dust on the prisma and any other optics inside the head.

PrecisionInstruments
Posts: 62
Joined: Mon May 06, 2019 11:44 am
Location: Perth, Western Australia

Re: Leitz head needing some work

#7 Post by PrecisionInstruments » Wed Dec 23, 2020 11:11 pm

That’s good news
As expected, removing the photo tube will reveal two more flat head screws. Removing all four flat head screws will allow you to remove the prism assembly from the head box frame. You don’t have to remove the image path selector knob as that assembly will stay with the frame.

Removing the bottom four screws will only give you access to some of the prisms.

Even marking the position of the tubes will not guarantee correct alignment. After I rebuild a head, I centre one tube and secure it, place a cross hair eyepiece in the fixed position and align it over a slide micrometer, then align the other tube to that same position.

Good luck.
I have a headache, For which the future’s made

henryr
Posts: 182
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 12:29 pm

Re: Leitz head needing some work

#8 Post by henryr » Thu Dec 24, 2020 12:06 am

There is also the central front cover, between the tube flanges, held in place with with three small screws. Is that to be removed? And how do I remove the photo tube? After it is removed are the two exposed screws and the two screws on the top near the front to be removed? A schematic or service manual would a valuable aid in this endeavor.

PrecisionInstruments
Posts: 62
Joined: Mon May 06, 2019 11:44 am
Location: Perth, Western Australia

Re: Leitz head needing some work

#9 Post by PrecisionInstruments » Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:44 am

Removing the center plate won’t reveal much, just the other sides of the dovetails.
There should be four phillips head screws that you should see through the top of the photo port, these will remove the port.
Yes, just removing the four (2 already visible, 2 under port) flat head screws will allow you to pull the entire prism and ipd assembly out. Be careful as you remove the last screw as the prisms can collide with the frame if it falls.
Also, removing the eyepiece tubes won’t reveal any more prism surface than what you can already see down the tubes, may not be necessary and could cause issues regarding alignment.
I have a headache, For which the future’s made

henryr
Posts: 182
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 12:29 pm

Re: Leitz head needing some work

#10 Post by henryr » Thu Dec 24, 2020 4:32 pm

The reasons for my original post was to make interpupillary adjustment work easier and to get better access to clean the front surface of the protective windows. The movement of the tubes is now fixed. So I only need to clean the windows. And If they are just plain uncoated glass, I could be more aggressive at cleaning and not need to remove the eyepiece tubes. So are they just plain uncoated glass?

Thanks,
henryr

drDICOM
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Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2021 8:32 pm

Re: Leitz head needing some work

#11 Post by drDICOM » Wed Mar 31, 2021 8:57 pm

There was a post (did not show up in these) about the dovetail diameter and which Leitz stands on which they will fit (and work with the tube length). I have looked at the “ergonomic” trinocular head for the Ergoplan. Since it is (I think) a 160mm TL stand, would that ergonomic head also work on the Aristoplan? I know the Aristoplan brochure shows one with an ergonomic head, but I do not know if is the same as the Ergoplan one.

A semi-related question. For my Orthoplan, I have turret sliders of 0.8X and 1.0X. There are tube lenses in them and those lenses have numbers engraved on them. They appear to be part numbers, not tube lens focal length. Does anyone know what those numbers mean? I ask because two of the turret sliders have the same overall magnification but different numbers on those tube lenses.

Thanks to any of you Leitz experts who can provide some insight into the seeming Leitz esoterica.

Steve Horii

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