• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Aarrgggh ! Disaster ! ED3 - The left eyecup rubber has come loose - solutions ? (1 Viewer)

Well that didn't work .....
Gave the eyecup rubber a Bex and a good lie down on a nice cool sink.
Still oblongated across the diameter.

Will wait for the brain to reboot before working out the next step ....




Chosun 🙆
 
OK - so the task at hand:
Glue stretched rubber eye cup to horizontally microgrooved (something like machining marks) black anodized aluminium twist up cage.
Environmental conditions it needs to survive are +70°C to -10°C.

Anyone have any proven recommendations that aren't going to melt goo all over the oculars in mid summer sun .... ?

Thanks.


Chosun 🙅
 
OK - so the task at hand:
Glue stretched rubber eye cup to horizontally microgrooved (something like machining marks) black anodized aluminium twist up cage.
Environmental conditions it needs to survive are +70°C to -10°C.

Anyone have any proven recommendations that aren't going to melt goo all over the oculars in mid summer sun .... ?

Thanks.


Chosun 🙅
Use the tiniest amount of adhesive in 3-4 places around the eyecup. If the adhesive comes out of the tube or bottle in uncontrollable amounts, deposit some onto a piece of card and use a cotton bud or artist's paint brush or similar to lift off a tiny smear and apply it to the rubber or eyecup according to the adhesive instructions. I would avoid adhesives that need some applying to both surfaces as this obviously doubles the quantity. The less you use the better, and then do give it all the time it needs to cure/set.

Lee
 
Last edited:
Use the tiniest amount of adhesive in 3-4 places around the eyecup. If the adhesive comes out of the tube or bottle in uncontrollable amounts, deposit some onto a piece of card and use a cotton bud or similar to lift off a tiny smear and apply it to the rubber or eyecup according to the adhesive instructions. I would avoid adhesives that need some applying to both surfaces as this obviously doubles the quantity. The less you use the better, and then do give it all the time it needs to cure/set.

Lee
Thanks Lee.
Any idea what sort of adhesive to use ?
(I know I could look it up - but brain still kicking over, and likely someone here has already done it successfully many times over).

Rubber to anodized Al would seem a fair ask. I'm a bit concerned by running when it gets to 70°C in the full summer sun (air temps have nudged 50°C !)

I have an inkling that it may be easier to control by putting on the twist up cage - well clear of the slots ?

P.s. the chiropractor unlocked my sacrum today before putting me on the Spinal Decompression machine - so the pain has at least halved, and I'm no longer looking for a spaceship seat off the planet ! 😁 phew ! that was insane ....




Chosun 🙅
 
Thanks Lee.
Any idea what sort of adhesive to use ?
(I know I could look it up - but brain still kicking over, and likely someone here has already done it successfully many times over).

Rubber to anodized Al would seem a fair ask. I'm a bit concerned by running when it gets to 70°C in the full summer sun (air temps have nudged 50°C !)

I have an inkling that it may be easier to control by putting on the twist up cage - well clear of the slots ?

P.s. the chiropractor unlocked my sacrum today before putting me on the Spinal Decompression machine - so the pain has at least halved, and I'm no longer looking for a spaceship seat off the planet ! 😁 phew ! that was insane ....




Chosun 🙅
I have no personal experience of using adhesives on rubbers but Cyanoacrylate instant adhesive seems to be recommended on the internet. My comments about oils and adhesives doing nasty things come from witnessing the effects of customers experimenting with them.

Don't envy you your painful sacrum and glad you have got some relief. I have all too vivid memories of a slipped and split spinal disc some years ago..

Lee
 
The quicker the glue sets, the weaker the bond is. Just a simple fact. Use a high quality rubber cement sparingly and expect to do it again about 6 months later. Rough up the metal surface as much as you possibly can before applying rubber cement.
 
The quicker the glue sets, the weaker the bond is. Just a simple fact. Use a high quality rubber cement sparingly and expect to do it again about 6 months later. Rough up the metal surface as much as you possibly can before applying rubber cement.
Those 'Super Glue' type adhesives seem to offer the temperature resistance I'm after, but I have read are weak in shear stress - which is what they are going to be mostly subject to.

How do the rubber cements handle high temperature ~ 70°C ?? The very last thing I want is runny goo everywhere in the middle of summer ....



Chosun 🙅
 
Although no one seems to pay attention to my suggestion in the multitude of threads in which I've made it (including earlier in this thread), I always recommend 3M VHB adhesive transfer film. It is super strong and yet reversible. It, or something like it, is what most manufacturers use to secure rubber armor on cameras, bins and the like. Has a million other uses besides. If you don't use VHB adhesive, I'd use regular rubber cement (as used to patch innertubes on bicycles or tractors). I would not use any cyanoacrylate glues (like Super Glue or Krazy Glue). They bond well to rubber but they don't hold forever and cannot be removed except with acetone, which can damage other things.

I've attached the specification sheet for the VHB product that I use. Check the specs. I think you will find it amazing. I certainly have. I have been using it for over a decade and nothing that I've secured with it has come loose.

--AP
 

Attachments

  • VHB-tape specs.pdf
    57.9 KB · Views: 13
Although no one seems to pay attention to my suggestion in the multitude of threads in which I've made it (including earlier in this thread), I always recommend 3M VHB adhesive transfer film. It is super strong and yet reversible. It, or something like it, is what most manufacturers use to secure rubber armor on cameras, bins and the like. Has a million other uses besides. If you don't use VHB adhesive, I'd use regular rubber cement (as used to patch innertubes on bicycles or tractors). I would not use any cyanoacrylate glues (like Super Glue or Krazy Glue). They bond well to rubber but they don't hold forever and cannot be removed except with acetone, which can damage other things.

I've attached the specification sheet for the VHB product that I use. Check the specs. I think you will find it amazing. I certainly have. I have been using it for over a decade and nothing that I've secured with it has come loose.

--AP
Alexis this sounds like excellent advice. I note that the tape comes in three thicknesses, 0.05mm, 0.13mm and 0.26mm. Which one do you use? Any idea why it is called Transfer Tape instead of double-sided adhesive tape?
Lee
 
Alexis this sounds like excellent advice. I note that the tape comes in three thicknesses, 0.05mm, 0.13mm and 0.26mm. Which one do you use? Any idea why it is called Transfer Tape instead of double-sided adhesive tape?
Lee
Actually, the VHB adhesive is available in many products from 3M, not just the ones described in the first part of the document that I attached. They've been available since the 1970s, but I had tried in vain for many years (in the 1990s, early 2000s) to learn the name and a source for these products until finally, in ~2007 I bought a custom accessory grip for a compact camera from the legendary (now retired) Richard Franiec.

The beautiful little CNC machined grip came with a small piece of VHB transfer tape for its attachment, marked with the 3M logo. I contacted Richard, learned the name of the product and then tracked it down to order a roll of the transfer film from a source online. It was very hard to locate at the time (generally, only available in industrial quantities!) but I find some VHB products fairly easily nowadays at my local hardware stores and many sources online. I have several products, some of which are actual foam tape with adhesive on both sides and useful for situations where the contact between surfaces is a bit rough. For bonding two surfaces that are a perfect fit to each other, I believe I use the 0.05 mm transfer tape. I think that is also what I use for attaching rubber armor and the like. It is extremely thin film. The ones called "transfer" tape have that name because they have no tape within them. The adhesive is sandwiched between two peel-away layers. You peel off one side, apply the film to whatever surface, then peel off the other side (leaving behind the adhered adhesive), then align the object to be bonded to the piece with the adhesive on it and put it in place. Take great care to get the alignment perfect on the first try as it isn't easy (or good for the join) to try to reposition!

--AP
 
Actually, the VHB adhesive is available in many products from 3M, not just the ones described in the first part of the document that I attached. They've been available since the 1970s, but I had tried in vain for many years (in the 1990s, early 2000s) to learn the name and a source for these products until finally, in ~2007 I bought a custom accessory grip for a compact camera from the legendary (now retired) Richard Franiec.

The beautiful little CNC machined grip came with a small piece of VHB transfer tape for its attachment, marked with the 3M logo. I contacted Richard, learned the name of the product and then tracked it down to order a roll of the transfer film from a source online. It was very hard to locate at the time (generally, only available in industrial quantities!) but I find some VHB products fairly easily nowadays at my local hardware stores and many sources online. I have several products, some of which are actual foam tape with adhesive on both sides and useful for situations where the contact between surfaces is a bit rough. For bonding two surfaces that are a perfect fit to each other, I believe I use the 0.05 mm transfer tape. I think that is also what I use for attaching rubber armor and the like. It is extremely thin film. The ones called "transfer" tape have that name because they have no tape within them. The adhesive is sandwiched between two peel-away layers. You peel off one side, apply the film to whatever surface, then peel off the other side (leaving behind the adhered adhesive), then align the object to be bonded to the piece with the adhesive on it and put it in place. Take great care to get the alignment perfect on the first try as it isn't easy (or good for the join) to try to reposition!

--AP
Many thanks Alexis!

Lee
 
Cory Suddarth is a bino repairman in Oklahoma. Started his training in the Navy as an Optical Technician. He does repairs that are over our abilities.

Many people here who work on their own binoculars have reported that crazy glue, or other such names for quick drying permanent glues do a marked out gassing. They have tried to use it in the inside of the Binos body and then the surfaces become fogged with the residue from those glues. That transfer tape is good. I will have to make a note of it.

https://suddarthoptical.com/ S.O.R.
 
Those 'Super Glue' type adhesives seem to offer the temperature resistance I'm after, but I have read are weak in shear stress - which is what they are going to be mostly subject to.

How do the rubber cements handle high temperature ~ 70°C ?? The very last thing I want is runny goo everywhere in the middle of summer ....



Chosun 🙅
CJ,
Why not getting a replacement (ED4)?
Peter
https://www.ebay.it/itm/Zen-Ray-ED4...a=1&pg=2045573&_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042
 
Warning! This thread is more than 3 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top