Removing Rubber Grips Completely from Original 8x30 EII (1 Viewer)

[dysmedia]

Hi all. The rubber grips on my old EII binoculars are beyond repair: not only is the rubber sticky, but the glue itself seems to be decomposing. It will be easy to peel the rubber off completely, but I don't want to do it unless I know how to remove the residual glue. Is this going to be difficult? And am I going to be happy with them naked? (If not, I can find someone to put leather grips on, I suppose, or just send them to Nikon for new rubber.) Note that these aren't the Anniversary reissue: they're a couple of decades old. Thanks!

 

[Alexis Powell]

Hi all. The rubber grips on my old EII binoculars are beyond repair: not only is the rubber sticky, but the glue itself seems to be decomposing. It will be easy to peel the rubber off completely, but I don't want to do it unless I know how to remove the residual glue. Is this going to be difficult? And am I going to be happy with them naked? (If not, I can find someone to put leather grips on, I suppose, or just send them to Nikon for new rubber.) Note that these aren't the Anniversary reissue: they're a couple of decades old. Thanks!

I expect that the glue is a rubbery adhesive that should simply peel off. That's how all my old Nikon equipment has been. If there is any residue (I doubt it), it should come off with a nonpolar solvent, such as by using a cloth "wetted" with a bit of mineral oil or something like WD-40 (take care to not have enough to have liquid enter the bin). If you want to cover with rubber or leatherette, use 3M VHB adhesive film (e.g. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40065871/ ) to attach it.

--AP

 

[dysmedia]

Thank you! I think you're right; I hadn't really tried removing it yet, and when I fooled around with it today, it seemed as if it would just peel right off. The rubber may be salvageable — it's not that sticky — so I may just try some of that adhesive film.

I appreciate it!

 

[tenex]

use 3M VHB adhesive film (e.g. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40065871/ ) to attach it

Thanks for keeping us reminded of this product. I got a smaller (1/2") roll and used it to reattach the blue Zeiss badge that fell off the 10x32 FL I just acquired. Worked like a charm. I think I've seen it mentioned on camera forums too. (It comes in many varieties, some too thick for this purpose.)