Gossen Lunasix

Hello everyone...I recently purchased a Gossen Lunasix that is in

very good shape given its age. It did not come with batteries. I

ordered the Wein MRB625 replacement cells which are rated at the

same 1.35V of the original PX-13 batteries. I allowed the batteries

an hour in the open air to activate them. When I place them in the

meter, my readings are inaccurate when compared with my Maxxum 7.

When I move the battery test switch over, the needle moves but

doesn't even get close to the red battery check area. Are these

batteries no good? I bought the Wein cells so I would not have to

pay to have the device calibrated. Anyone know of a substitute

power source I can use and not have to have my meter calibrated.

Finally, has anyone had experience with having these meters

serviced. Does it cost a great deal? All your input is greatly

appreciated...Thanks.

Hmm. I have a lunasix, but I was lucky to have gotten it with the original mercury batteries in it. If the needle does not reach the red battery check area, it could be that the needle mechanism needs to be adjusted.

 

Also, keep in mind that your lunasix meters differently from your Maxxum. The Lunasix, of course, is incident and even if you switch it to reflected, it has a different angle of sensitivity (I'm not sure what the right term is?) than your Maxxum.

I bought my first Lunasix when Mercury batteries were legal. It worked but didn't agree with my Nikons,. They all agreed with each other. Also, the top end of its low scale didn't agree with the bottom end of its high scale.

 

Batteries weren't the problem. These meters' movements are a little fragile, things happen to them, ...

 

So I took it to Empire, who were near my office and who no longer do meters, and they showed me that it was way off calibration. They calibrated, I paid, all was well.

 

More recently I was given a LunaPro, also known as LunaSix III. A slightly nicer meter, also off calibration on arrival. And I bought a Weston Master V, same story. Do you see what all of my used meters had in common?

 

Well, not all. My Minolta Flash Meter (the original), bought used, was dead on when I got it and still might be if I could afford to keep it in batteries.

 

IMO, all used meters are suspect until proven good. When buying one, assume that it will need service. Bogen will fix most Gossens for a reasonable price, so will Quality Light Metric in Hollywood. QLM will fix nearly any meter.

 

Bogen's on-line (see www.bogenphoto.com) estimates seem to be good. If you send your meter to QLM, call them to get their current address. They've moved a couple of times and web searches will bring up a lot of wrong, formerly right, addresses.

 

Finally, at least for LunaSix meters Bogen's little cylinder with, they say, zener diode, that holds two SR-44 cells seems to be a better solution to the lack of Mercury cells than Wein's overpriced hearing aid batteries. Bogen automatically includes one and a pair of SR-44s in a LunaSix overhaul.

 

The moral? Low purchase price doesn't always mean low price in working order.

 

Cheers,

 

Dan

Joshua there is a PDF manual for the luna six that I found on the internet some time ago and still have. I would say the batteries are flat and given the keeping properties of the zinc air cells, I wouldn't be surprised even if they were new. But before you change the batteries, remove them, hold the metering button down and adjust the zero screw so that the meter's needle lies on the zero line. Then install your batteries, use the battery check, and compare a number of readings to a known good meter. (reflective are better if comparing to a camera meter, set lens to infinity)

 

The adapter from Gossen is about $20 from B&H and recently somebody here posted that Gossen (Bogen?) gave them one for free. I use the adapter with the same stardard silver oxide cells that my Nikon bodies use and I am fortunate enough that the meter is accurate. I wasn't sure if it modifies the voltage. It literally looks just like a spacer.

<a href=http://www.marquis-kyle.com.au/Lunasix3.pdf>Lunasix Manual Here (PDF - 1.1M)</a>

You can answer your own question about the batteries by getting a Radio Shack inexpensive battery tester with two leads. If the voltage is good,the likelihood is that you need to adjust the needle zero point or the galvanometer movement in the Gossen is defective. If the movement is defective, I can't help you,except you won't test by comparing with a camera except ballpark results.

Gossen USA will sevice the meter, install an adapter if necessary, and calibrate the meter. I had that done for my Gossen Luna Pro S and it was worth it.