Zeiss Standard rebuild

[StandardX]

Greetings all.

I have a Standard 16 which appears to be in very good optical condition, but with the majority of the mechanical parts stiff to the point of being impractical for use. I would like to disassemble the focus mechanism, condenser rack and stage, clean off the old grease and rebuild with something more appropriate (I've settled on using ML-FTS5 from OSIM - unless advice / experience suggests otherwise).

I have various Zeiss manuals, but can find nothing that equates to a mechanical service manual. Is there anything out there (either from Zeiss or informally) with good instructions on the correct order for a Standard teardown / rebuild? I am happy to attempt it, I have the tools, but would rather do so with guidance and without too many surprises and chasing tiny springs and ball-bearings around the room!!

Any thoughts, pointers or guidance would be much appreciated.

With thanks - Ben

[MicroBob]

Hi Ben,

have a look here: https://www.mikroskopie-forum.de/index. ... #msg144349
The description is for an early Standard RA, the later Standard 14 -18 were a little different, but not more complicated.
I use this grease: https://www.ebay.de/itm/OSIM-Spezialfet ... SwuShab5UJ
It is good for most microscope guides. It also behaves well in the Zeiss Standard steel ball planetary gear that needs a light grease to be able to transmit the torque. The ML-FTS5 would be too stiff for the planetary gear.

Bob

[Hobbyst46]

Not an expert, just personal experience. The most important tools are first-grade machine flat screwdrivers, since it is easy to ruin the head of the Zeiss screws with a tapered screw driver. It is a high precision instrument, and parts fit exactly where they belong, so all operations must be slow, careful, no excessive force.
Whenever you take apart anything, do it above a layer of soft white cloth, to capture the tiny screws and balls that tend to fall out. The smallest ones are of diameter about 1mm maybe..
The focus gear is the worst challenge if stuck. Other parts are easier to deal with.

I have worked on the field iris aperture, objective turret and condenser. If any of those are stuck on your scope, I will gladly locate previous posts with details and photos.

Zeiss repair manuals seem to be invisible or non existent.

[StandardX]

Thanks Hobbyst46 - Any pointers towards repair and reconditioning on Standards (or indeed any older Zeiss) would be much appreciated. I've done quite a bit, but mostly it's going in blind, and I've made some regretable mistakes in the past. Your point on tools is well made - I have good, but possibly not excellent tools - is there a brand you would recommend?
Best regards
Ben

[Hobbyst46]

Thanks Hobbyst46 - Any pointers towards repair and reconditioning on Standards (or indeed any older Zeiss) would be much appreciated. I've done quite a bit, but mostly it's going in blind, and I've made some regretable mistakes in the past. Your point on tools is well made - I have good, but possibly not excellent tools - is there a brand you would recommend?
Best regards
Ben

Werra and Wiha tools are very good; yet other folks have recommended screw drivers that are designed for weapons; the important feature of the blade, besides hardness, is that it should be sufficiently flat, not tapered. Some Zeiss screws are made of brass, so the head slots are easily deformed. A quality multi-tool screw driver with bits is an option.
Will shortly find some previous posts.

[MicroBob]

In some cases the size of the screwdrivers is different from ordinary screw drivers. In these cases it is ideal to have a bench grinder and a assortment of bits to make one just the right size. To loosen screws it is often helpful to insert the screwdriver and give a few sharp knocks on the handle. This tends to break free the screw's threads.
The central screw of the nosepiece is left handed and when you dismantle the nosepiece lots of small ball bearings are set free. Stuck guides can be freed up for dinsmatling by warming to about 60°C after removing tho optical components. Try to avoid temparature changes and knocks on microscope optics, they could delaminate.

[StandardX]

All great advice and well received - thanks Bob and Hobbyst46. in addition to the tools I have, I also have access to good facilities to grind and re-work tools - and plenty of old tools, almost certainly of high quality steel, that I can adapt to fit as required. I'm inspired!
Thanks again
Ben

[Hobbyst46]

These might be relevant
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10932&p=91465&hilit ... ece#p91465
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11189&p=93023&hilit=465277#p93023
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5995&p=54801&hilit=hacksaw#p54801

[Charles]

I don't have a service manual but have taken apart most of the Zeiss Standard. I remember 75RR and I took apart the focus mechanism awhile back but I can't find our post...maybe we just discussed it via email. It maybe easier to get to the focus gears by just removing the arm/body of the stand from the base by removing the four bolts. Then you will see the main gears through the bottom of the arm/body.

For the focus knob, there is a hex type set screw in the fine focus knob (I think a .5mm Allen wrench will fit) which allows you to remove the fine focus knob. Then the coarse focus knob can be screwed off by holding the left knob and turning the right knob counter clockwise.

Another area where you would need to clean is where the stage and condenser is connected to the focus which rides on a set of cylinder bearings in someguides, but you would need to remove the top shield piece above the stage, and the stage and condenser connection. You maybe able to spray in some solvent between the stage/condenser carrier and the neck/body of the scope to clean it out instead of trying to take it apart.

[StandardX]

Thank you Charles - once again, excellent advice. I have performed similar cleaning in the past - to good effect. In this case however, the grease is really heavy and hard - I assume from a past service and the incorrect grease (?). I think a complete teardown, clean and rebuild will be the best way forward if the scope is ever to see proper use again. I may of course regret it, but then again it it all serves to satisfy a curious mind!
Very best regards
Ben

[Charles]

On the focus knobs/shaft. The right side, once you unscrew the coarse focus knob has 6 alignment "leaves" (maybe more) which needs to be aligned a certain way in order for the full focus travel to be correct length. Make note of how they are arranged after taking the plastic knob off, so they can be replaced in the same order and orientation. The left side has a shield which protects 3 large ball bearing held around the shaft.