Hund Wetzlar replacement condenser???

[clengman]

Hi there! It's been a while since I've been on the forum, but I recently came across an old 'scope at work that I may have the opportunity to adopt.

It is a Hund Wetzlar. It looks like the H600 frame, but I believe it is a very basic model. It's 160mm tube length. It has a 6V 20W halogen lamp, 0.9 Abbe condenser made of plastic with 39mm mount diameter. It has four objectives all branded as Hund Wetzlar: 10/0.25 achromat, 20/0.25 SPL Ph-p, 40/0.65 SPL, and 100/1.25 oil, achromat. It has a pair of 10x WF oculars with 18mm eye relief. It also has a trinocular port that looks like it would be very useable for mounting my olympus mirrorless camera with a 3d-printed trinoc tube.

I'm not finding a great deal of information on this make or model. I found the current Hund Wetzlar brochure, but this scope, I'm guessing, is 30ish years old and the current brochure is not a lot of help.

It seems like a pretty solid frame, but I'm thinking the optics are nothing to write home about. Everything below the stage, especially, is giving me fits. The carriage for the condenser does not seem to have enough upward travel to focus the field stop diaphragm. If I unscrew the condenser top lens a few turns, I can just barely get it to focus, but the condenser optics seem pretty terrible. There are big big fringes around the aperture blades even at 10x.

It should not be difficult at all to find some decent 160mm objectives for it, but I've searched a lot for a good replacement for the condenser and I'm not coming up with much. I'm just throwing this out there in case anyone has experience with this brand and can suggest some good parts to go with it. Thanks!

[MicroBob]

Hi,
Hund is carrying on the microscope production of the former company Will, in Wetzlar where Leitz is too. They make good routine instruments for medical work etc. and offer a good service, also to amateurs. They have a good stock of spares for their old models too.
There might be an adjustable stop that keeps the condenser to move up to the right position. Colour fringes in the image of the field aperture leaves are normal for basic abbe condensers, you can get a decent image with them. Will used to use similar dimensions as Leitz. So an old Leitz condenser with cylindrical fit might be usable.

[clengman]

Thanks for the info! When I found it, the coarse focus and the condenser carriage were completely frozen. I took it all apart, cleaned, lubed and reassembled it and... did not notice the tiny set screw poking up above the condenser holder. With that screwed all the way in I can just get the condenser to focus with all 4 objectives. It's strange to me that the correct condenser position is so close to the stage, but at least it works now.

I've seen several of these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/304442802438?m ... edia=EMAIL at auction. I think it has the correct mounting diameter. Some listings call it an achromat. I don't see an NA marking or any other information about it in any of the listings I've looked at. Does anyone know anything about it?

I believe I could probably 3d print a collar to adapt any 37mm condenser to the holder on this scope. That would open up a lot of possibilities.