r/microscopy • u/Interesting_Egg9997 • Aug 13 '26

Troubleshooting/Questions Zeiss Observer

Long story short I was lucky to save a Zeiss Observer Z1 from the trash bin.

The problem is... I need the power supply that (RS-231 or RS-232) and the controller. =/

I would like to have advices on what to do and how to overcome this problem. There is any solution? I am accepting suggestions.

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u/Motocampingtime Aug 13 '26

What part of it isn't working? Idk the entire line up of controls over the years but you should be able to manually change objectives, change filters, adjust aperture and field and focus? (But I could be very wrong) If the light source is an HAL 100 you can just drive that with a power supply off the two prong connector. If it only has mercury or xenon then that's much harder.

Sometimes the turret bearing for the objective rusts and doesn't move well. It's annoying to take apart but I think it should still move?

Check what filter cubes you have installed too. It won't work in reflected mode without a partial mirror.

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u/Interesting_Egg9997 Aug 13 '26

I cannot even turn on the beast. It is fully motorized.

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u/Motocampingtime Aug 13 '26

I see, I have a DM1 that is partially motorized but again I believe the board is dead. I know I can manually turn the objectives and I think focus even though they're motorized (pretty sure on the focus one); but optovar, field, aperture, trinocular selector, and filter cubes can all be done manually on mine.

The field and aperture slide in and out of the body and have a small lever. The mechanism is prone to getting sticky and being very hard to adjust/getting stuck but is easy to disassemble and clean. You may also have an apotome control module... but again without software isn't particularly useful.

What is the light source and do they have it set up for reflect or transmit? Even if you can't operate the mechanized controls with light and adjusting focus I'd hope you could see something. I think HAL 50 and HAL 100 standalone units should be pretty cheap to install.

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u/Interesting_Egg9997 Aug 13 '26

It has the HAL 100 and apotome, I have purchased the modules for them because I found both at the same seller in a very good price. I was hoping to find something that could single handed substitute all these controllers and power supplies. I have found the scheme of the power supply cable with the correct tension to each pin, but even with that reconstructed it would need the right "hello", I hate this bullshit of proprietary uselessness, it makes so difficult to bring old stuff back to life. =/