KERN OPTICS OZL-46 Stereo Zoom Microscope Owner’s Manual

KERN OPTICS OZL-46 Stereo Zoom Microscope

Before use

General notes

You must open the packaging carefully, to make sure that none of the accessories in the packaging fall on the floor and get broken. In general, microscopes should always be handled carefully because they are sensitive precision instruments. When using or transporting the microscope it is particularly important to avoid abrupt movements, as this may damage the optical components. You should also avoid getting dirt or finger prints on the lens surface, because in most cases this will reduce image clarity. To maintain the performance of the microscope, it must never be disassembled. So components such as lenses and other optical elements should be left as they were before use. Also the electrical parts in the base of the device must not be tampered with, as in this area there is an additional risk of triggering an electric shock.

Notes on the electrical system

Before connecting to a mains power supply, you must make sure that you are using the correct input voltage. The information to select the correct power supply is located on the device, on the rear of the stand base. You must comply with this information. If you do not comply with these specifications, then fires or other damage to the device could occur. The lighting unit must also be switched off before the mains cable is connected. In this way you will avoid triggering an electric shock. If you are using an extension cable, then the mains cable you use must be earthed. When carrying out any procedures whereby you come into contact with the electrical system of the device, such as, for example, changing the bulb or fuse, only carry out these procedures when the power is disconnected.

Storage

• You should ensure that the device is not exposed to direct sunlight, temperatures that are too high or too low, vibrations, dust or a high level of humidity.
• The ideal temperature range is between 0 and 40°C and a relative humidity of 85% should not be exceeded.
• The device should always be located on a rigid, smooth, horizontal surface.
• For devices with pillar stands, the microscope holder must not be rotated back too far. If you do this, there is a risk that the microscope could tip over.
• When the microscope is not being used, you should fit the objective cap and cover the microscope with the enclosed dust protective cover.
• If the eyepieces are being stored separately, the protective caps must be fitted to the tube connectors. In most cases, if dust and dirt gets inside the optical unit of a microscope this can cause irreversible errors or damage.
• The best way to store accessories which consist of optical elements, such as, for example, eyepieces and objectives, is in a dry box with desiccant.

Maintenance and cleaning

• In any event, the device must be kept clean and dusted regularly.
• If any moisture should occur, before you wipe down the device you must ensure that the mains power is switched off.
• When glass components become dirty, the best way to clean them is to wipe them gently with a lint-free cloth.
• To wipe oil stains or fingerprints off the lens surface, moisten the lint-free cloth with a mixture of ether and alcohol (70 / 30 ratio) and use this to clean the lens.
• You must be careful when handling ether and alcohol, as these are highly flammable substances. You must therefore keep it away from naked flames and electrical devices which can be switched on and off, and only use it in well-ventilated rooms.
• However organic solutions of this type should not be used to clean other components of the device. This could lead to damage to the paint finish. To do this, it is sufficient to use a neutral cleaning product.
• You could also use the following cleaning products to clean the optical components:
  • Special cleaner for optical lenses
  • Special optical cleaning cloths
  • Bellows
  • Brush

When handled correctly and checked regularly, the microscope should give many years of efficient service. Should repairs still be necessary, please contact your KERN dealer or our Technical Department.

Nomenclature

Basic data

Standard configuration

Model

KERN

| ****

Tube

| ****

Eyepiece

| ****

Field of view

mm

| ****

Objective

Zoom

| ****

Stand

| ****

Illumination

---|---|---|---|---|---|---

OZL 463

| ****

Binocular

| ****

HWF 10x Ø 20 mm

| ****

Ø 28,6 – 4,4

| ****

0,7x – 4,5x

| ****

Pillar

| 1W LED (Reflected); 1W LED (Transmitted)

OZL 464

| ****

Trinocular

| ****

HWF 10x Ø 20 mm

| ****

Ø 28,6 – 4,4

| ****

0,7x – 4,5x

| ****

Pillar

| 1W LED (Reflected); 1W LED (Transmitted)

OZL 465

| ****

Binocular

| ****

HWF 10x Ø 20 mm

| ****

Ø 28,6 – 4,4

| ****

0,7x – 4,5x

| ****

Pillar

| 1W LED (Reflected – ring); 1W LED (Transmitted)

OZL 466

| ****

Trinocular

| ****

HWF 10x Ø 20 mm

| ****

Ø 28,6 – 4,4

| ****

0,7x – 4,5x

| ****

Pillar

| 1W LED (Reflected – ring); 1W LED (Transmitted)

OZL 467

| ****

Binocular

| ****

HWF 10x Ø 20 mm

| ****

Ø 28,6 – 4,4

| ****

0,7x – 4,5x

| Mechani cal| 1W LED (Reflected); 1W LED (Transmitted)

OZL 468

| ****

Trinocular

| ****

HWF 10x Ø 20 mm

| ****

Ø 28,6 – 4,4

| ****

0,7x – 4,5x

| Mechani cal| 1W LED (Reflected); 1W LED (Transmitted)

Assembly

• The first step is to position the microscope stand on a firm, level surface.
• For devices with pillar stand the holder (OZL 463, OZL 464, OZL 465, OZL 466) is already on pillar of the stand, but you must always check whether it is fixed securely and that it is in the correct position (preferably centrally and facing to the front). Please see section 5.5 for more details on adjusting the stand.
• The next step is to place the microscope head on the holder, by passing the objective through the holder ring until the rest of the head is above the ring.
• You must use the small silver adjusting screw on the front of the holder ring to fix the head in place.
• The alignment of the microscope head is left to the user to do and can be adjusted to suit the individual application situations.
• To make it easier to operate the focus wheels or lighting control for example, we recommend that you position the head with the tube connectors centrally to the front. Ideally, the holder and head are then parallel on the central axis of the stand base (see nomenclature on page 6).
• Then you can remove the protective caps from the tube connectors so that you can then fit the eyepieces. When doing this, please be particularly careful that you do not touch the optical lenses with your fingers and that no dust enters the apertures.
• You should also never fit two eyepieces with different magnifications.
• With regard to the use of transmitted light illumination you must make sure that the frosted glass stand insert is fitted in the centre of the stand base, so that the transmitted light can be used correctly.
• Also, when using reflected light (for OZL 463, OZL 464, OZL 467, OZL 468) please make sure, that the according light unit is mounted to the underside of the holder and the connection cable between the holder and upper side of the pillar is plugged in (see nomenclature on page 6).

Additional optional attachments:

• The eye cups supplied with the microscopes can be fitted to the eyepieces.(see section 5.6)
• You can fit a C-mount adapter to the appropriate connection point on the top of the microscope head for trinocular devices (OZL 464, OZL 466, OZL 468). This enables you to fit and use digital cameras (see section 5.9).

Operation and functionality

Getting started
After assembly, if the microscope is ready for use, then you must first establish a power connection using the cable which is connected to the device. Please see section 5.7 for more details on adjusting the lighting.If the device has a camera connection (OZL 464, OZL 466, OZL 468), then for binocular use, you must let the trinocular toggle rod on the left side of the microscope head stay slid-in. For trinocular use (camera connection) see section 5.9. Do not forget to remove the cap from the bottom of the objective, so that you will then be able to see a reflection of the object being observed in the eyepiece. All important functions which relate to the use of the devices in this document are described in the following sections.

Adjusting the interpupillary distance
Different users have different interpupillary distances. So each time a different person uses the microscope, the gap between the two eyepieces must be re-adjusted. While you are looking through the eyepieces, use one hand to holdthe righthand or lefthand prism housing firmly. By rotating outwards or inwards, you can either increase or reduce the interpupillary distance. As soon as the lefthand and righthand visual fields exactly overlap each other, this is the correct interpupillary distance.

Adjusting the magnification
As the KERN OZL-46 series are stereo zoom microscopes, then you adjust the magnification using the two zoom adjustment wheels on the lefthand and righthand side of the microscope head. Chapter 6 “Optical data” gives information on the possible overall magnification which the microscope can produce. It will also include the optional use of different eyepieces and auxiliary objectives.

Dioptre adjustment and focussing
A special feature of stereo microscopes is that they are fitted with an optical unit which has a relatively high depth of field. In order to be able get the most benefit from this feature, each user must synchronise the focussing mechanisms for themselves. The steps to do this are described in the following section.

1. Place the object to be observed on the working surface under the objetive.
2. Put both dioptre adjustment rings into the starting position of 0.
3. Use the zoom control dials to set the smallest possible magnification.
4. Look through the right eyepiece with the right eye and bring the object into focus by using the focus control dials.
5. Now set the largest possible zoom factor.
6. Once again, still only looking through the right eyepiece, bring the object into focus
7. Then set the smallest possible zoom factor again.
8. If the object then does not appear to be in focus, adjust the focus on the dioptre adjustment ring of the right eyepiece.
9. In order to get the highest level of accuracy when adjusting the focus, you should repeat steps 5-8.
10. Afterwards set back to the smallest possible zoom factor.
11. Then look through the left eyepiece with the left eye and use the lefthand dioptre adjustment ring to also adjust the optimum focus of the object.
12. In this way, the object being observed will be in focus at any zoom setting.

Adjusting the stand

Torque of the focus wheels
You adjust the torque of the focus wheels by holding one of the two wheels in place and using the other hand to turn the other wheel.
Depending on the direction of the turn, the torque will be increased or decreased. On one hand, this function can help to make it easier to adjust the focus and on the other hand it can prevent the microscope head from slipping down unintentionally. In this way you can avoid possible damage which could occur if the objective lens and the object being observed should collide.

Height adjustment
With a stereo microscope on a pillar stand (OZL 463, OZL 464, OZL 465, OZL 466), the microscope head can be height adjusted using the focus wheels and in addition, the microscope holder can be fixed at any point on the pillar, depending on the application requirements. The way to fix the position is to use an adjusting screw, which is located directly on the back of the holder. For devices with mechanical stand (OZL 467, OZL 468) this function is not available. Only with help of the focus wheels you can adjust the height setting of the microscope head.

Using eye cups / High Eye Point eyepieces
The eye cups supplied with the microscope can basically be used at all times, as they screen out intrusive light, which is reflected from light sources from the environment onto the eyepiece, and the result is better image quality.
But primarily, if eyepieces with a high eye point (particularly suitable for those who wear glasses) are used, then it may also be useful for users who don’t wear glasses, to fit the eye cups to the eyepieces. These special eyepieces are also called High Eye Point eyepieces. They can be identified by the glasses symbol on the side. They are also marked in the item description by an additional “H” (example: HSWF 10x Ø 23 mm). When fitting the eye cups, make sure that the dioptre setting is not moved. We would therefore advise that you hold the dioptre adjustment ring on an eyepiece with one hand while you fit the eye cup with the other. Before using the microscope, users who wear glasses must remove the eye cups, which you may find on High Eye Point eyepieces. As the eye cups are made of rubber, you must be aware that when you are using them, they can become slightly dirty through grease residues. In order to maintain hygiene, we would therefore recommend that you clean the eye cups regularly (e.g. with a damp cloth).

Lighting control
The microscopes in the OZL-46 series have an adjustable reflected and transmitted light illumination. The power supply is guaranteed by connecting the mains cable and pressing the main switch on the central rear section of the stand base. The control knob to the right of the main switch is responsible for the adjustment of the light intensity of the transmitted illumination. The same functions belong to the control knob to the left of the main switch according to the reflected illumination. For devices with integrated ring illumination (OZL 465, OZL 466) this control element is located at the front of the objective housing.

Using external illumination units
If, when using a microscope in its standard version, the lighting is not suitable for the application, then it often makes sense to fit an external lighting unit to overcome this problem. The lighting units which are suitable for devices of the OZL-46 series, are gooseneck lighting units (see figure). These are available as LED as well as halogen versions and also have an on/off switch or different controller.

Using goose neck lighting units

Depending on the requirements, a goose neck lighting unit is placed next to, in front of or behind the microscope. For halogen lighting units, the light source is in the housing of the unit and is emitted through one or several optical fibre cables. For LED units, on the other hand, it us usually at the end of the cable. These cables are flexible and therefore offer a large number of positioning options, so that the object being observed is perfectly illuminated.

Fitting and adjusting a camera (OZL 464, OZL 466, OZL 468)

You can connect special microscope cameras to trinocular devices in the OZL-46 series, so that you can digitally record images or sequences of objects being observed. The connection for this is on the top side of the microscope head. When the trinocular toggle rod is pulled out, the beam path, which normally emits on the righthand eyepiece, is diverted in the tube, so that it can be used for the camera adapter connection. This means that when the device is used in trinocular mode, you will see one image in the left eyepiece and one on the monitor of the microscope camera. This means that the 3D effect is lost.

WARNING:
To fit a microscope camera properly, you must use an adapter with a C-mount thread, which needs to be attached to the camera connection point.

In total there are three focusable adapters to choose from (see figure below). The difference between these adapters is that they have different integrated magnification (0.3x, 0.5x, 1.0x). The camera and adapter are then united using the C-mount thread.

C-mount adapter
The image which is shown on the camera connected to the device can often have a different level of focus compared with the image on the eyepiece. In order to be able to bring both images into focus, the focus can be adjusted by those adapters when turning the attached black plastic ring.

Using additional accessories Auxiliary objectives

In order to make the magnification series of one of the stereo zoom microscopes described here even more flexible, there is the option of using appropriate auxiliary objectives.
You can choose from four different achromatic corrected objectives (0.5x, 0.75x, 1.5x, 2.0x), depending on what is required.
You can fit these objectives by simply screwing them onto the thread of the objective housing which is located at the bottom of the microscope head.
When you are doing this, you must avoid touching the objective lenses with your fingers or leaving any dust between the standard objective and the auxiliary objective.

Changing the bulb LED

• The devices in the OZL-46 range with lighting are all fitted with LED bulbs.
• Due to the long service life of an LED lighting system, for these microscopes it will not be necessary to simply change a bulb.
• Problems with the lighting unit would therefore, in most cases, be caused by defects in the electrical system. If this is the case, then our Technical Service will be able to help.

Optical data

Features

Troubleshooting

Electrical system

not connected or not connected correctly
The bulb is not fitted
The bulb has blown
The fuse has blown
The brightness control is set to the lowest level
The bulb has blown| The wrong bulb has been used
The input voltage was too high
The bulb flickers| The bulb is not correctly fitted
The lamp is worn out
The bulb brightness is not sufficient| The wrong bulb has been used
The input voltage is too low

Optical unit

The magnifications of the eyepieces do not match
There is dirt in the visual field| There is dirt on the object being observed
There is dirt on the eyepiece surface
The image is unclear| There is dirt on the objective surface
The focus wheels are jammed| The torque of the focus wheels is set too high
The microscope head slips down while you are viewing the object| The torque of the focus wheels is set too low
Eyes get tired easily| The dioptre adjustment is not correct
The brightness adjustment is not correct

Service

If, after studying the user manual, you still have questions about commissioning or using the microscope, or if unforeseen problems should arise, please get in touch with your dealer. The device may only be opened by trained service engineers who have been authorized by KERN.

Disposal

The packaging is made of environmentally-friendly materials, which you can dispose of at your local recycling center. Disposal of the storage box and device must be carried out by the operator in accordance with all national or regional laws in force in the location of use.

Further information

The illustrations may differ slightly from the product.

The descriptions and illustrations in this user manual are subject to change without notice. Further developments on the device may lead to these changes. All language versions contain a non-binding translation. The original German document is the binding version.

References

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