Zeiss terra ed 8x32 loose Central hinge (1 Viewer)

[Acorndrive]

Hello all,

Already the happy owner of several Zeiss bins I recently picked up a second hand Zeiss Terra Ed 8x32 at a very good price.

Optically everything is excellent, however the central hinge is a little looser than I would like.

Any assistance on where the relevant tightening bolt can be accessed would be appreciated. I have removed the rubber focussing cover but this does not obviously lead to a central bolt that I can see. Is the bolt accessed from the opposite end perhaps? I am cautious about proceeding further, not wanting to make things worse.

Your help appreciated.

 

[KC Foggin]

I'm just going to jump in here and wish you a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum
We're glad you found us and please join in wherever you like

 

[BryanP]

I looked at my wife’s Terra’s 8x32 (older cosmetics) it seems that the inside ring on the forward part of the hinge might pop or spin off somehow. Might need a special magic Zeiss tool though because I can’t budge it. Maybe someone else who might know can wade in.

The hinge on these Terra’s are a wee bit too snug but since it doesn’t get adjusted often its not a problem. the focus is buttery smooth with no slop or lag.
Bought them new from B&H when they were unloading old stock to make way for the new cosmetics model. Smoking deal thanks to the binoculars bargains thread.

 

[Acorndrive]

Many thanks for your message Bryan. I also suspect that the hinge bolt access is located beneath the forward ring. Although I'm comfortable working with fine mechanics, I'm reluctant to force the ring and make the situation worse. I suspect it clips on, but am not sure.
Let's wait and see if a more knowledgeable contributor can point me in the right direction. Again, thank you for taking the time to reply.

Michael

 

[BryanP]

No worries,
Out of curiosity I peeled off the rubber on the focusing knob and noticed these two screws. I wonder if they might be something to investigate. At least they could be reassembled readily If they turn out to have nothing to do with hinge tension The plate they’re mounted in stays in place when I turn the focusing knob If that helps.
Cheers,

 

[Acorndrive]

Thanks for this. I'll investigate further later on today. Its a beautiful day here in Switzerland so I'm off for a mountain hike. More later.

 

[BryanP]

I'm off for a mountain hike. More later.

A more enjoyable thing to be doing, enjoy

 

[garymh]

Hi,

The cap at the front unscrews but there is no way to tighten the hinge underneath it.

The two screws you see in the focus wheel control the focus mechanism for each side - do not try and unscrew them or you will have to re-callibrate the focussing system.

Gary

 

[Acorndrive]

Hi,

The cap at the front unscrews but there is no way to tighten the hinge underneath it.

The two screws you see in the focus wheel control the focus mechanism for each side - do not try and unscrew them or you will have to re-callibrate the focussing system.

Gary

Thanks for this. So, while we know more about what not to do, we still don't have a clear idea on how to tighten the central hinge. Logically there must be some way to do this.........

Michael

 

[garymh]

Send it to Zeiss

 

[BryanP]

Hi,

The cap at the front unscrews but there is no way to tighten the hinge underneath it.

The two screws you see in the focus wheel control the focus mechanism for each side - do not try and unscrew them or you will have to re-callibrate the focussing system.

Gary

Whew! Glad I didn’t meddle with them then, my wife would’ve killed me, she loves those little Terra’s

Thanks for this. So, while we know more about what not to do, we still don't have a clear idea on how to tighten the central hinge. Logically there must be some way to do this.........

Michael

This ^^ wondering the same thing. for the lack of anything else, my money is on the forward end of the hinge under that little cap.

 

[Foss]

Send it to Zeiss

Send it to Zeiss

+ 1

 

[BryanP]

Send it to Zeiss

+ 1

Where’s the fun in that? 😉😂

 

[garymh]

It's a lot less fun if you ruin a binocular because you don't know what you are doing

 

[BryanP]

It's a lot less fun if you ruin a binocular because you don't know what you are doing

Haha! I live on a boat so its in my job description to take things apart and fix them under duress and against my will.

I do agree with the advice though.
I’ll be sending my own SF 42’s in for repairs because I don’t want to mess with them even a little bit.
To paraphrase my mom “it’s fun until it ends in tears”.😉

 

[dries1]

I am surprised Zeiss gets what they ask for these. There is so much better glass in that category.

 

[BryanP]

I am surprised Zeiss gets what they ask for these. There is so much better glass in that category.

True, I got my wife’s Terra’s for 200.00 US when B&H was clearing out stock of the older model otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered. At 200.00 US they are a nice binocular and are at least as good as or generally better than other bins in the 200.00 US price range.

In Canada the 8x32 Terra's are on sale for 629.00 CAD which converts to just around 500 US, no thanks, there’s better options out there at that price.

 

[Acorndrive]

OK, here's the solution to the problem. It occurred to me that the larger Terra Eds support a 1/4 inch tripod adapter. This means the hinge cap at the objective end of things must be removable. A quick mail to Zeiss tech support confirmed this, but also confirmed that removing the cap (it screws off) can be tricky as there is very little surface area to gain traction. Also you have push hard on the cap in addition to twisting. They recommended using a rubber glove. After a half hours difficulty I succeeded in removing the cap.
Underneath, the hinge bolt is exposed together with a tightening nut (oddly designed in a cross formation) which needs to be tightened. You cannot use a normal Philips or flat head screwdriver to do this, unless you have a 1/2 inch screwdriver head.
Lacking the correct tool I applied alternate pressure to each slot using a large flat head driver, working around the nut very carefully. This worked.
Thanks again to all for your support, sometimes not doing the wrong thing is better than doing anything at all.

 

[BryanP]

OK, here's the solution to the problem…

That’s good news Acorndrive, glad you got it sorted. How much did you have to screw down the nut? Does that nut hold its position based on friction alone? I’m guessing there is no way to lock it at a desired tension.
Anyway, enjoy your new and improved bins.

 

[Acorndrive]

I rotated the nut in a clockwise direction by less than a 1/4 full rotation to reach the desired level of hinge tightness. The tightness level is secured purely by friction. The hardest part was removing the covering cap. This struck me as pretty poor product design.
Another thing that struck me having opened both ends of the bins, is just how crudely fashioned the supporting mechanics are underneath. I'm sure the prisms etc are excellent, but the rest looks like very rough machine shop stuff.
Anyway I can't complain too much, I paid 80 dollars for the binoculars........