Baader zoom ep successful repair

[Steep]

For those others who have experienced the same seizing of the Baader Clickstop Zoom MkIII I've managed to repair mine and it's a 'relatively' easy fix.

The fault is indeed the grease used, somehow I suspect the cold affects the grease used by the manufacturer such that it becomes more like a glue.

To access this part of the eyepiece you need first to remove whichever nose piece you're using, the narrow section you then see has a thin plastic shroud which in my case just pulled off with a bit of effort (see below), it's not fixed in place, just a snug fit. Once removed you should see a brass screw inside a nylon spacer. The spacer on mine was badly damaged probably by me trying to force the zoom ring round over time. Anyway, remove this screw and using a small screwdriver try to gently slide the inner section out through the top. This is where it gets interesting the grease on the surface of this is the cause of the seizing and it might not be easy to remove the assembly. I actually completely stripped the ep down before finding that this was where the problem lay and I found it easier to slide the assembly down the other way to remove it but try it this way first as it's a lot quicker and easier.

Once out I cleaned the surfaces with a baby wipe to get the old tacky grease off and replaced that with a very small amount of molyslip (molybdinum grease). I suspect that any light grease will do but be very sparing with it. Once cleaned and regreased the assembly slides in and out of the ep body very easily. You can see in the picture below I've replaced the screw without the spacer, it seems to work well for now and will do until I can find a suitable replacement.

[Steep]

If anyone needs to do it I can write up some instructions for a complete teardown of the ep though I most likely went about it in a cack handed way.

[rowan46]

This post will annoy baader I think they have done a few sales on repeat business.

[stargazerslivingroom]

Very useful post...Thanks for that.

BTW Love the Latin signature.

Steve

[Steep]

Cheers Steve and rowan that would suit me fine, Baader didn't even acknowledge me when I wrote to them about the problem.

[SnakeyJ]

Either brave or foolhardy, but incredibly useful - thanks!

Such a minor fault that has tarnished the reputation of an otherwise excellent piece of kit. Any chance to get Baader to acknowledge the fault and perhaps arrange dealer return/repair of affected eps?

[NGC 1502]

Well done, but after reassembly, did you have any bits left over ?

Cheers, Ed.

[Steep]

Heh! only one Ed, there's a tiny ball bearing on a spring that acts as the 'click stop' I didn't refit that.

Edited May 11, 2013 by Steep

[cplee42]

I would appreciate the tear down instructions. In fact I took out the lenses myself because of some metal flakes had intruded and now I am not entirely sure I have put the lenses back the right way up (i tried to be careful but those pesky lenses have a habit of confusing you...!).

[Peter Drew]

From what I can see in the photos, it appears that there is a component held in place by the small brass screw. If so, then this is probably a slider that locates in the helical slot. If it is removed, then the brass screw becomes the locater and the extra clearance may lead to backlash in the zoom operation.

[Steep]

Chris do you mean these?

[Steep]

From what I can see in the photos, it appears that there is a component held in place by the small brass screw. If so, then this is probably a slider that locates in the helical slot. If it is removed, then the brass screw becomes the locater and the extra clearance may lead to backlash in the zoom operation.

I've been thinking about that today Peter and you're probably right, the nylon bearing/spacer/bush thing fits snugly in the helical channel, without it there is some play in the forward element set. It will do the job though until I can find something suitable to replace the damaged one.

[cplee42]

Steep - brill... Yes exactly these! many thanks

[Moonshane]

yet another example of how fab this forum is - thanks for helping so many with a Baader zoom stuck in a drawer.

[Steep]

That's exactly what mine was doing Moonshane, it just went against my Scottish nature to leave it there

To my mind the eyepiece was already a dead loss so even if I'd ruined it I would have been no worse off.

[Space Dragon]

Well done sir...........pretty poor from Baader. Would have expected better from them.

[ibraidwo]

Thanks for the info. Mine seems to be okay at the moment, but it's good to know what I need to do if mine exhibits the same problem.

[gregl]

Please forgive me for resurrecting this old thread but I have the same problem and a question. Below is a photo of the end of the zoom. Is the ring indicated by the red arrow what needs to be removed? It does not look like a separate piece from the plate below. There is a small groove at the bottom of the ring that I can get a jeweler's screwdriver under, but it does not want to move and I'm reluctant to pry on it. I don't want to destroy the ring in order to get it off. I have a lathe and can turn up a clamp or collet to go over the ring if needed. Any advice on how to proceed will be appreciated. THANKS!

[Steep]

On mine that sheath comes off quite easily Greg, it's just a thin aluminium (aluminum to you? ) cover basically for the inner section and isn't fixed in place at all. If you hold the main body and the sheath and rotate the two you should be able to rotate it off.

[gregl]

Thanks, Steep. I won't be able to deal with this for a few days but I'll report back.

[gregl]

Progress report:

I wrapped the collar with a piece of rubber gasket material and was able to get a grip on it. It slid right off. The lower lens group slid out easily. While I had the lower lens group out for cleaning off the original grease, I discovered that a significant amount of the drag is coming from the upper section of the eyepiece body; the part that probably contains the click stop (which won't click, by the way). So a new question arises: How do I get into that upper section to clean it as well? THANKS again!

[Steep]

The click comes from a tiny ball bearing on a spring in the body of the eyepiece, mine popped out and disappeared when I took it apart.

Immediately below the collar you just got off, the main body has a narrow grip round it with a bevelled edge, the bevel and the grip sections are screwed together so you have to hold each one and twist them to undo the thread. Once the bevelled piece comes free the grip section will slide down the main body revealing 3 grub screws. Loosen these and the inner workings should be free to slide out of the body.

Disclaimer - this is from memory so might not be totally accurate, take it easy and you should be fine.

[gregl]

Thanks, Steep. I found those screws under the bottom ring on an earlier exploration but was hesitant to go farther. I'll try that.

By the way, that ring allows the body to turn when trying to zoom. Annoying. While it seems that the design idea might have been to permit orienting the index mark after the ocular is clamped into a diagonal or focuser, I think I'm going to tinker with the shim rings I found in there and see if I can make it stay put.

[Steep]

Glad it worked Greg, the eyepiece is too good to throw away.

[Hobbes]

Thanks for the guide Steep. Just used it to resurrect my Baader zoom  eyepiece which has been unusable for the last few months.