I purchased a Gemological Products scope at a great price and as soon as I receive the tracking number I come across a used Gemological Products PortaLab. The photos show that it had been used but well maintained and the only thing missing is the egg crate foam inside (which they replaced with bubble wrap) and the white non reflective tray. The asking price was $2,500 shipped and being that I just purchased a scope I wasn't sure I wanted to shell out that kind of money for the PortaLab also. Threw out an offer of $1,200 and they were willing to sell at $1,400 shipped so I just couldn't help myself. To those of you more familiar with it than I, what should I be looking for the most in inspecting it upon arrival? Thanks.
I have one of these and also have worked on a couple of them for people. Usually the battery is shot and can be thrown away. There are also different varieties depending on when it was made. You just have to look at it and figure out what if anything is broken and or has fallen off of it and replace the mising or broken pieces. The one I bought had the refractometer light source completely missing. It probably is better to have the battery hooked up and some light switches turned on so that the power supply has a load on it when you power it up. Also now that I think about it a push button on one I repaired for a famous gemologist fell apart when I pushed it gently (again the refractometer light source) and I had to replace that. Lots of things to fall off these.
If you want I shall be happy to look at it but I no longer do these things for free.
Jeff Wildman will also be happy to go through it for you for a fee
Great info. Thanks. I found a youtube video of someone, I'm assuming Jeff Wildman, doing a piece by piece breakdown of a PortaLab and when it came to the battery it looked like the battery terminals simply unplugged in which case I could buy a new battery and plug and play. Is this accurate? I will post back when I inspect it.
Another Portalab pops up at eBay last week, it ended at US$331.99 + shipping ($45 to US, $60 to Canada). I didn't bid simply because the microscope head is made by American Optics (not Leica), and the seller claimed he owned the machine but he is "unsure of what this item is or does, could not find much information online... unsure of its functionalities or if it even works due to our lack of knowledge we are selling FOR PARTS WITHOUT OPTION TO RETURN...."
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 11:24 am Posts: 7523 Location: Rome, Italy
I see noprob atall in American Optical pods, they are quite regularly fitted inside most of the portalabs and they are great (i purchased several and currently own one). that said i wouldn't have purchased this portalab for other reasons unless be prepared to do some heavy work in order to restore it. It seems in fact in very bad shape, the diffuser inside the darkfield seems missing and that is a big problem. judging from the overall appearance i would be concerned about fungus on the lenses of the pod etc.....
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum