Does anyone know how to tighten the central hinge on a pair of Bushnell Ultra HD (1 Viewer)

Hello!
I have a pair of Bushnell Ultra HD 10x36 that I like very much optically. Mechanically they have been a little weak, but in their defense I must say that they are very small and lightweight.
After some years use the central hinge has now got annoyingly loose. Is there some way of tighten it?

I have previously managed to correct a wiggely focus wheel, and a drifting diopter. These screws are available under the small plaque that is attached to the focus wheel.

Many thanks!

:hi:Hi

Welcome to Bird Forum!

Not all binoculars have this but check the front of your binoculars hinge. There might be a blind cap there covering a female thread which is used in attaching a Tripod mount. If your binocular has this cap unscrew it. There may be a slot for a screwdriver across the tripod mount. Use it to tighten the hinge. It also may have a circular ring of holes around the perimeter. In this case you will need a small pin wrench or spanner wrench to tighten it.

Bob

Yes, it has that tripod mount with a slot. I tried it, but it was stuck so hard that I risked damaging the slot. I did not try anymore as I was not sure it was the right screw. Now when I know, I will try again, but with better tools, and more force.
/J

What kind of warranty do they have?

I fear none. I live in Europe and I bought them in the US 4 years ago. It would cost me too much to send them to Bushnell compared with buying new on amazon.com at lowest price. Thus, I should be careful with my fixing attempt...
Too bad this fantastic optics does not sit in a better body. My specimen is optically really good, and I have experience with Zeiss, Sw, and Leica.

These have a limited lifetime warranty in the US and a thirty year warranty in Europe.

Contact your retailer and instruct them to contact Bushnell Europe on your behalf :

http://bushnell.eu/eu/customer/

Do not take no for an answer.

Keep in mind that, for current US sales, Bushnell are offering a 'bullet proof money back guarantee' for this product. Yes, it does not apply in your case but it won't hurt to remind them that you are their customer.

Best of luck and don't forget that they are just order takers.

I had the same thing with my 8x42hds and I was able to tighten the slotted tripod adapter screw and it tightened up the hinge. Maybe try loosening the screw just to get it turning and then tighten back up.

Many thanks for all your great advice!
I will have a look and see if I can tighten the screw (it would be the fastest/simplest solution), but if I feel I may damage the binoculars I will contact the vendor in US and see what they suggest.
I have seen many varied reviews on the Bushell ultra HDs, most frequently people having problems with the diopter wheel, but I have been very happy with my pair. Everytime I pass places where binoculars are sold, or when out birdwatching with others, I try every available binocular. I have rarely seen any binoculars in the price range and magnification, or even more expensive, that optically are as nice as my 10x36 U HD (maybe a good specimen?). Large FOV, sharp and large sweet spot, nice colors, no visible CA within the sweet spot, bright image, not any disturbing amount of stray light reflexes, good focus wheel (although needs tightening occasionally), and relatively easy to hold still for a small pair of 10x. And the portability is also great (smaller and 20% lighter than my 8x32 Conquest HD). If they could just make them with better eye pieces (are a bit loose), better diopter wheel (some say it breaks easily), and firmer hinge, they would be near perfect for a small, medium-sized 10x binocular. I have heard some say that today mechanics cost more than optics, but I have seen cheaper binoculars with really good mechanics so it should be possible.

/j

A note of caution:

---Turning the big screw slot at the top (the eyepiece end of the binocs)
usually affects the FOCUSER clamp and not the hinge...crank on that and you're
likely to tear up the clamp screw and shear off the setscrews that hold it in
an exact place. Result: floppy focuser arms and bad L-R focus repeatability.

---Turning the bottom (objective end) is a safer try.

Turning the top would require you to pull the setscrews, pull the clamping screw,
slide out the oculars, and then look for the slot below all that.

The first top slot you see can temporarily tighten the hinge, but by by squeezing the
occular holders (I have seen them cracked by this!) and shredding the clamping
threads below...and that leads to a loosening focuser soon after.

I have repaired a few dozen such shredders (the ones I can).

loose hinge

I have a pair of Bushnell Ultra HD 10x36 that I like very much optically. Mechanically they have been a little weak, but in their defense I must say that they are very small and lightweight.
After some years use the central hinge has now got annoyingly loose. Is there some way of tighten it?

A number of newish roof prism models have a lock ring for the hinge at the bottom of the focus wheel assembly. You would have to remove the focus wheel; the threaded parts that make the twin focus shafts move up and down; probably the dioptre ring and then a funny shaped washer.
Assuming there is a lock ring to be tightened, you then have to reverse the procedure making sure you reset the threaded parts correctly especially the dioptre.
Probably not a job for the inexperienced.
Shame you are not closer as it would take me about 12 minutes.

Last weekend I managed to tighten the hinge by using the slotted tripod adapter screw. The slot was too wide for any of my screwdrivers so instead I had to file down the mid section on a small wrench tool to fit into the slot. This allowed me to pull the tool on one side and to push with the thumb on the other. In this way I got a more controlled force (and lots of force was needed!) and without risking to damage the slot. The hinge is now pretty tight, it does not change easily by itself, but I could not get it as rigid as on my 8x32 Conquest HD. But I am happy with the result. It made the nice Ultra HDs usefull again. They were very annoying with the loose hinge.