I found a Hensoldt magnifier online from a vendor for $60.
They are selling them with the reticle removed.
I inquired about them and they said that they removed the reticle, but did not purge the tube with a gas.
My understanding it that the gas helps prevent fogging.
I have been looking for one of these magnifiers for sometime, but I’m hesitant because of this.
I’m a welder and have easy access to CO2.
Is it feasible for me to purge the tube myself?
How does one do this?
is CO2 anhydrous?
if it is, could you fill an empty clear plastic bag like a trash bag, and supply a constant feed of CO2, then disassemble and reassemble the optic in there?
it probably wouldn’t be perfect but better than not trying at all, right???
I don’t know.
I think argon is, but the shop i work at doesn’t use straight argon.
I found a magnifier on GB for $35.
It still has the reticle in it and sealed in it’s original package.
I placed the bid.
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Poly,
I wouldn’t use CO2 but being a welder you should have access to Argon too…correct?
Argon is great because it is inert, CO2 is bad because it is so reactive. CO2 mixes with moisture and will make Carbonic Acid which is corrosive.
Argon is heavier than air (N2) which would make it easier to use.
But maybe it’s just me…
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I wouldn’t use CO2 but being a welder you should have access to Argon too…correct?
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Whatever they mix with Argon, it is probably inert too. Maybe helium, nitrogen, etc. It might be listed on the bottle, take a look and let me know. It may just have a mixture name or number, if so, let me know that too and I can get one of our engineers to look it up.
Argon would be good, mainly because it is heavier than air. You can basically just stand the opened magnifier up like a cup, purge it out, and just keep it facing up while you put it back to gether. Still got to move kind of quick though.
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It would be 75% CO2 and 25% Argon.
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That’s crummy.
You could use helium, which is available to blow balloons up but it leaks out very easily.
Another option would be to go into a low humidity space, like a walk-in cooler or freezer. Not as good as a dry gas purge but not terrible for a quick fix and to see if you like the magnifier.
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Don’t they usually use nitrogen to purge optics? Have any of that lying around?
Yes.
But other gases work as well.
Looks like I’ll just be getting a new Hensoldt with the reticle still in it.
If i can get access to straight argon I’ll scrub the reticle and purge the tube.
If not, I don’t think the reticle will bother me too much.
Yes, the military has a special apparatus (can’t remember the nomenclature) and it uses a nitrogen purge.
If it were me, I would use nitrogen, easier to come by, and reacts less to to temperature and depending on where you get it from has very little water in it. I work on aircraft and we only use nitrogen for all our servicing needs, tires, struts, the occasional actuator, and hydraulic head-pressure.
I just order one sealed in the wrapper.
I don’t think the reticle will bug me too much.
I’d rather have a new one, then one that someone took the reticle out and never purged it when it was reassembled.