Seeking information on how to clean inside of FODUA long base Leitz Rangefinder

[banjobees]

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Good afternoon-

I have a FODUA Leitz Rangefinder (ser.#31383). Image is hazy and coincidence images not very distinct. The end caps are knurled, as are the bezels surrounding the lenses, but they do not seem to unscrew. Would you know the proper way to access the inside to clean the glass?  Thanks very much,  David

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[jerzy]

hello, they are screwed on, you will need wrench to unscrew. This is >80 years old device, most probably never opened before, so all screws are sitting firm. While the glass may be foggy most probably this is not the main reason for dim patch. Most probably beam splitter is corroded, you cannot clean it, it must be replaced. Replacements are available, either new from Japan or adopted from old, scraped rangefinder cameras from garage sales. Very rarely silvering of a prism inside is gone and there is no replacement available.

Picture below shows it  partially disassembled. Besides  optics  (orange)' as well caps (blue) are screwed on and if you want to replace beam splitter (green) you need to remove the right one. Afterwards horizontal and vertical adjsutement need to be done, this is separate story, if you decide to do it alone contact me for details

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Edited April 23, 2022 by jerzy

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[banjobees]

Thank-you very much, Jerzy.  It took a surprising amount of force to get them unscrewed, but all came apart as you suggested.  I cleaned the foggy glass. And, as you suspected, the beam splitter glass is corroded.  I wrote to 'nobbysparrow' on eBay to see about a new one.  The rangefinder reads accurate distance and the dial turns smoothly.  Cosmetically it is in good shape except for slight wear to the lower end-cap and the top inner edge of the locking ring of the distance adjustment screw.

I won't be using it but have it for display.  However,  I came across an interesting method to get a bright split-image for a rangefinder in need of a new beam splitter glass. I tried it on the rangefinder by putting a small piece of tape in the center of the lower ( yellow) window and it does give a strong split image. This is the link: http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-165.html

Thank-you again, David

[jerzy]

great, David. I did not know the trick with black dot, it is good. You will not need it for the beam splitter from Japan. They are thinner than original Leica and milticoated, "ghost" image is reduced, patch is sharper and more contrasty as with original Leica beam splitters. There are however some collectors who prefer the "Leica look" and for such case I use beam splitters that are coated like Leitz did it.
When mounting into rangefinder the reflecting side has to be on eye side (there is toothpick trick to see which side is coated) and most probably you will need to do adjustments (horizontal, vertical).

[banjobees]

Thank you again, Jerzy.

Nobu (knobbysparrow on eBay) said it would take several weeks to arrive- I will write back afterwards.

[banjobees]

The beam splitter from Nobu arrived and replaced the old one without difficulty. The range finder images are sharp and align well without adjustment. It reads accurately from 3-25 feet and seems correct at the longer distances.

Thank-you again for your help, Jerzy.
David

[sweat100]

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Bumping this thread, is the replacement of the beamsplitter difficult? How does it attach to the RF? Lastly, is the alignment difficult?