Gossen Lunasix

I received one of these as a gift from the seller of my Leica M6 last
night. Unfortunately there was a battery inside that has probably not
seen the light of day since the item was purchased back in 1959! I
managed to get the battery cover off and there is some corrosion, but
not as bad as I thought. I have seen much worse. Hopefully I can find a
replacement cell, but if not, it's not a train smash.

It came in a case complete with German manual, but as my German is
schiese, can anyone explain how it operates? There are two buttons on
the right, one dark grey, one light grey. If I press the dark grey one
it seems to open the cover to the measuring cell, so I imagine that is
the one used to activate a reading. What's the lighter one for?

Also, what is the sliding button on the rear of the meter near the
battery compartment for?

 

Okay, I have a Luna Pro, but some things are the same as on the Six.

The sliding switch on the bottom near the battery compartment is the
"battery check" switch. There should be a red mark on the dial -- probably
about 2/3 of the way up. If the needle doesn't make this mark when you
slide the switch, you need to change batteries ;-))

I don't know what batteries the Six uses, but I'll describe the Pro's.
They're button-cells (not coins). O/A diameter is 15mm, O/A thickness is
6mm. There's a 13mm diameter protrusion on the top that's 2mm high and a
similar one on the bottom that's only 1mm. If your batteries match this,
then they're PX 625 or PX13.

Can't help you with the side buttons.

Norm

 

Thanks anyway, Norm. Yes, the cell I need is a 625 and fortunately they
are still available here. I will be picking one up on my way home this
evening.

I'm just hoping the spill from the previous cell hasn't damaged the
circuitry beyond reasonable repair. It looks like a nice meter
nonetheless.

 

El Thu, 10 Nov 2005 10:15:51 +0200, DD escribió:

Your is the original model. The dark button is for low light levels, and
activates the scale on the top (from 1 to 12), and the light one
activates the scale on the bottom (from 11 to 21). The meter was
originally intended for mercury cells, not available now. You can use SR44
cells, but the meter should be recalibrated (you can do it yourself, if
you are handy and have a precise light meter or a camera with it) , or an
adapter must be used to lower the voltage from 1.55 volts to 1.35 volts.
There are some information about that in internet. Google for "mercury
cell replacement". I think also the manual in english can be downloaded
from some place. Hope this helps.

 

Hallo DD,
You can download the manual from
http://www.gossen-photo.de/english/index.html
Gretings,
Hans

 

Google "Gossen Lunasix manual" produces several links to the manual in
English. The one listed here appears to be the one you describe.

http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/instructionmanuals.html

 

Do you mean that 625 mercury batteries are still available in S.A. ?

Or are you talking about 625 alkaline batteries??

Cheers

NF




I will be picking one up on my way home this

 

Hell, I didn't bother to check. I think it would be alkaline. Anyway,
the damn thing doesn't work even with the new battery. The meter must
have suffered some kind of internal damage. Now if I could figure out a
way of opening it up to check I would be happy, but there are no visible
screws on it other than the calibration screw in the back. IS that a
calibration screw?

 

Thanks for that!

 

Not exactly: it is used to match the needle to zero with no battery. You
have to peel off the thin metalic plate in the rear to gain access to four
screws to open it. It is a tricky part. Unscrew the four srees, and once
you have opened it, mind not to loose a small ball and a tiny spring (used
to the click stop) in the incident-reflected switch. The meter has five
adjustable resistors inside, used to calibrate it. Two of them are used to
adjust the lower and the upper part of the low scale, other two for the
high scale, and the other one for the battery check.If you need more
details I will be happy to try to help you, if my poor English is enough
to it!.
I bought a meter like yours for near to nothing, and after
calibrating it and several minor repairs, it works perfectly. It is
extremely accurate and very sensitive, not bad for a 40 years old meter!.

 

Javier, thanks so much for the information. There's nothing wrong with
your English, by the way. It's better than some of the English I have
seen written by some people who only know English!

I will probably open it up tonight and see what's going on in there.
Will let you know if I need any more advice.

BTW, this meter was bought brand new in Johannesburg in 1959 for the sum
of £9! I have the original receipt! Very nice looking meter, I must say.

 

Keep in mind you probably have the Lunasix "first version" and Javier
may be giving detailed info on the much more common Lunasix III. Maybe
the adjustments are identical, but maybe not... Move cautiously!

 

Sorry, I do have the "first version", with the two separated buttons, not
the slightly newer with the two buttons combined in one, or the later
lunasix 3. Regards