Nikon se eyepiece and parts (1 Viewer)

[Sirclickalot]

Hi, my nikon se 10x42 has severe clouded up eyepiece lenses, the center 2 in both sides, a optics technician has attempted to split the doublets and re-cement, but failed miserably and cracked one of the lenses! The binos are mint, but now useless without the ep elements at fault.
If anyone has a faulty set or spares, plus get in touch, I know they are getting harder and rare as hens teeth to get parts for.

 

[Binastro]

The back end or eyepieces from a Nikon SE 8x32 should also fit the 10x42 front end.

Regards,
B.

 

[Paultricounty]

Hi, my nikon se 10x42 has severe clouded up eyepiece lenses, the center 2 in both sides, a optics technician has attempted to split the doublets and re-cement, but failed miserably and cracked one of the lenses! The binos are mint, but now useless without the ep elements at fault.
If anyone has a faulty set or spares, plus get in touch, I know they are getting harder and rare as hens teeth to get parts for.

That’s very odd that both would cloud up and at the same time. Did this happen over a period of time where it deteriorated more and more over a time frame? We’re the bins exposed to anything that could have damaged the glass, heat, chemicals or other?

 

[pat mitchel]

Paultricounty; Apparently it's a known problem with a certain serial # range. Something in the synthetic cement turning opaque and every attempt that I've heard to de bond the doublet has failed. Cory Suddarth failed and he's pretty much the top of the repair facility hierarchy in the US. Last I heard Nikon USA was only able to offer a replacement bino of comparable value. Pat

 

[Paultricounty]

Paultricounty; Apparently it's a known problem with a certain serial # range. Something in the synthetic cement turning opaque and every attempt that I've heard to de bond the doublet has failed. Cory Suddarth failed and he's pretty much the top of the repair facility hierarchy in the US. Last I heard Nikon USA was only able to offer a replacement bino of comparable value. Pat

I’m aware of this phenomena, I’ve researched it quite a bit and it appears to be a very rare issue. I haven’t read anything or determined that this issue was in a serial number range, more likely a few quality control issues that got through. I spoke with Cory in-depth about this and he indicated to me that he had only seen two of these issues with the SE’s over many years. Mountain Optics and Redlich have never encountered it and they both have done a lot of service on SE’s over the years.

I was just wondering if this issue from the OP does fall into that category of cement or balsam separation. He didn’t elaborate if this is something that occurred rapidly or over a period of time, and if it happened in one ocular more than the other at first.

Paul

 

[dries1]

Hi, my nikon se 10x42 has severe clouded up eyepiece lenses, the center 2 in both sides, a optics technician has attempted to split the doublets and re-cement, but failed miserably and cracked one of the lenses! The binos are mint, but now useless without the ep elements at fault.
If anyone has a faulty set or spares, plus get in touch, I know they are getting harder and rare as hens teeth to get parts for.

I would keep an eye on Jauce in japan (yahoo auctions) you can usually get a used pair of 32/42s for much lower than the bay. All three of the models 8X10X and 12X use the same eye piece. I had this happen to me on a 12X50 and I was the first one to get Suddarth to install replacement eye pieces from a donor set (older beat up 8X32s).
This is a very rare occurrence, likely when an improper chemical adhesive was used to cement the eye pieces.

 

[Sirclickalot]

Yeah, I've spoke to Cory, this is a known problem with a batch of these, the bonding is literally permanent, managed separate one doublet ok, but cracked one too cementing is going off and discoloured ruining the view completely, both eyepiece sides, the 2x inner lens elements, rest of the binos are perfect, so trying find either eps or lenses to replace.

 

[Binastro]

Someone who really knows what he is doing would make up the middle elements by hand.

Horace Dall made thousands of small elements.
Including aspherised cemented triplets.

It is necessary to know the glass types.
If Nikon won't say then these can be measured.

Then these are ground and polished by hand and cemented.

He only did single coatings, but this should be good enough.

The problem is that nowadays there are few people skilled enough, but someone at Televue would be able to do this or some of the very skilled amateur telescope makers.

The easiest route is to find replacement elements.

Regards,
B.

 

[Sirclickalot]

Someone who really knows what he is doing would make up the middle elements by hand.

Horace Dall made thousands of small elements.
Including aspherised cemented triplets.

It is necessary to know the glass types.
If Nikon won't say then these can be measured.

Then these are ground and polished by hand and cemented.

He only did single coatings, but this should be good enough.

The problem is that nowadays there are few people skilled enough, but someone at Televue would be able to do this or some of the very skilled amateur telescope makers.

The easiest route is to find replacement elements.

Regards,
B.

Absolutely, I'm not desperate, but hoping I can find suitable replacements eventually, I'm a big nikon fan, and I'm just unlucky to have one faulty batch ones!

 

[Patudo]

Very sorry to hear about this. I have the same model, which has become my regular 10x - hopefully not with the same issues, but at the end of the day, I suppose if it happens, it happens. Balsam separation can definitely be an issue with other binoculars (Leitz etc) and, much though we'd like it to be, nothing lasts forever. What would Nikon do if all their old binoculars kept soldiering on till kingdom come!

Apparently it's a known problem with a certain serial # range.

I don't suppose anyone knows what the serial numbers in question are?

To be honest if I were offered a Monarch HG 10x42 (as some have been) in exchange, I'm not sure I wouldn't take it, especially if my SE became unusable. The MHG may lack the cachet of the SE (whatever that means) but in some very important respects it is better as a birding tool - waterproof and has a much wider field of view (which I do at times feel confining with the SE). I also think it handles better (subjective I know) and its eyepiece is friendlier, at least to my eye, than the overly long relief eyepiece of the SE (compounded by the Nikon's insistence on folding rubber eyecups rather than the twist-up type with this series). The SE is a fine binocular but not without its weak points.

 

[Paultricounty]

Very sorry to hear about this. I have the same model, which has become my regular 10x - hopefully not with the same issues, but at the end of the day, I suppose if it happens, it happens. Balsam separation can definitely be an issue with other binoculars (Leitz etc) and, much though we'd like it to be, nothing lasts forever. What would Nikon do if all their old binoculars kept soldiering on till kingdom come!



I don't suppose anyone knows what the serial numbers in question are?

To be honest if I were offered a Monarch HG 10x42 (as some have been) in exchange, I'm not sure I wouldn't take it, especially if my SE became unusable. The MHG may lack the cachet of the SE (whatever that means) but in some very important respects it is better as a birding tool - waterproof and has a much wider field of view (which I do at times feel confining with the SE). I also think it handles better (subjective I know) and its eyepiece is friendlier, at least to my eye, than the overly long relief eyepiece of the SE (compounded by the Nikon's insistence on folding rubber eyecups rather than the twist-up type with this series). The SE is a fine binocular but not without its weak points.

It doesn’t appear to be a serial number range, more like a few units with material issues. This has been determined to some degree that it is a very rare occurrence in SE line.

 

[brocknroller]

Very sorry to hear about this. I have the same model, which has become my regular 10x - hopefully not with the same issues, but at the end of the day, I suppose if it happens, it happens. Balsam separation can definitely be an issue with other binoculars (Leitz etc) and, much though we'd like it to be, nothing lasts forever. What would Nikon do if all their old binoculars kept soldiering on till kingdom come!



I don't suppose anyone knows what the serial numbers in question are?

To be honest if I were offered a Monarch HG 10x42 (as some have been) in exchange, I'm not sure I wouldn't take it, especially if my SE became unusable. The MHG may lack the cachet of the SE (whatever that means) but in some very important respects it is better as a birding tool - waterproof and has a much wider field of view (which I do at times feel confining with the SE). I also think it handles better (subjective I know) and its eyepiece is friendlier, at least to my eye, than the overly long relief eyepiece of the SE (compounded by the Nikon's insistence on folding rubber eyecups rather than the twist-up type with this series). The SE is a fine binocular but not without its weak points.

I don't think it's a problem in a serial # range since the bad sample I looked through (505) was a different first serial # series than the other 8x32 SE with the same problem (can't remember the number but it was an earlier sample--the 8x32 SEs ran from 500xxx-505xxx, then skipped to 550xxx for the last run with the lead-free glass).

And as Andy said, Nikon uses the same EP in all three models, and so far I've heard it occur in two 12x50 SEs, two 8x32 SEs, and two 10x42 SEs.

One SE owner on Cloudy Nights from South America had balsam separation happen in the objectives on his sample. It should be easier to heat and separate the elements in large diameter doublet and re-cement them whereas the problem with the balsam separation in the EPs is between a convex EP lens element and the thin, concave field flattener. Corey said if he heated the doublet any higher, the thin field flattener element would have melted. I have photos on my other computer taken by Corey, I will try to dig them out.

Since all of these SEs are at least a decade old (the SE series was discontinued in 2014), I don't think we can say with absolute certainty at this point if it will continue to be a rare occurrence. They may the canaries in the coal mine and a harbinger of more balsam separations to come. I certainly hope not since I've got a good sample!

I just saw an 8x32 SE sell for $595 on eBay, but before I could contact the seller and ask him to do the balsam separation test, it was "Gone in 60 Seconds." The test is to turn the binoculars upside down and look through the objectives at an overhead light and see if it has a halo around it. I took photos of that halo through the bad sample, which I will also try to find on my old computer. I also took photos through the bad sample of sun glinting off shiny objects creating spikes instead of dots or small circles.

The view of the landscape was in focus and sharp but hazy and somewhat dim.

Brock