25 replies to this topic

[nguyenthien629]

So I got this Bushnell 1500 that is sitting around and won't be able to read 2/3 of the readings under 150 yards away, and very much useless any distance farther than 150 yards. Being a cheapo, I refuse to send it back to Bushnell to possibly be charged more than $200 to get it fixed (not under warranty).

My question is, I have unscrewed just about any screws there are from this brick, and can't still get the internal board off the case. Have anyone open one or know how to get this internal case off?

Any reference will greatly be appreciated. I've attached some pictures of my progress.




Credits goes to mrfrozen, zenman4711, and RamblinRoyce

Here are the steps to fix the "sensor alignment" issue that cost $200+ to fix:


Remove the ring (counter clockwise). Then you can try to remove the front plastic cover. I used a thin flat screw driver to get around the slit between the front plastic cover and the body. This two parts are secured by some sort of soft glue so you don't need to use much force. I found a few seconds exposure from a heat-gun/hair-dryer at low setting will soften up the glue.


Remove the black plastic ring around the laser dome and lens.



Use a hobby knife to separate the glue between around the laser dome (if any) and try to lift up the laser dome glass as shown in the picture.


Use a thin flat screw driver to nudge the laser head (as shown in the picture) toward the clear lens. It might be a little stiff so give it a good moderate nudge. Worst case you may have to work the laser head back to the opposite direction.

Reassemble everything back (I hope you remember how)

--Thien

Edited by nguyenthien629, 17 April 2013 - 06:53 PM.

[mrfrozen]

This is how I fixed mine non functioning 1500 to go from reading max 60 meters to now be as new upp to 800m, do at your own risk.

1. Rip of the front plastic cover you have left in the picture, use force and it will come of.
2. Remove glasscover of the laser in the front, just lift it of with a knife or something.
3. Now you will see the laser a few cm in.
4. Take a small flat screwdriver and put under the laser between the laser and the hole for the battery.
5. Gentle press the laser upwards so that the angle of the laser is more towards the "top" (by top i mean the other glass cover)
6. Put the glasscover back and try before putting it together.
7. DONE

Hope it helps!!

Sorry for my horrible english, please reply if its to unclear

Edited by mrfrozen, 28 August 2012 - 04:34 AM.

[pmveilleux]

It's about time someone replied to this topic, I've had the same question.  I am looking forward to trying this.

Thanks!

[pmveilleux]

mrfrozen,

When you say plastic cover, do you mean the black plastic after the rubber nosing is removed on the front.  I removed the 3 screws between the lenses & the two in the battery compartment.  I also removed the two screws on each side (4 total)  pictured in the upper picture without removing the black rubber body casing.  I did not remove the 4 screws holding the tri pod mount, should I?    i broke the seal around that black piece that seems to slip into the body, that is infront of the lenses and could not remove it.  I tried to pry it but unsuccesful,  I need additonal help?  I really would like to get this one back up to its original distance readings,  

Thanks

[mrfrozen]

pmveilleux, on 30 August 2012 - 05:27 AM, said:

mrfrozen,

When you say plastic cover, do you mean the black plastic after the rubber nosing is removed on the front.  I removed the 3 screws between the lenses & the two in the battery compartment.  I also removed the two screws on each side (4 total)  pictured in the upper picture without removing the black rubber body casing.  I did not remove the 4 screws holding the tri pod mount, should I? i broke the seal around that black piece that seems to slip into the body, that is infront of the lenses and could not remove it.  I tried to pry it but unsuccesful,  I need additonal help?  I really would like to get this one back up to its original distance readings,  

Thanks

Yes, by plastic cover I mean the black plastic after the rubber nosing is removed on the front.
You have removed all the nessessary screws. To remove the plastic I first took one small screwdriver and bend on one side then left it in there, then took another one and bent from the other side and it slowly came of. Note that you must use some force to get it off but it is not a problem because it looks as good as before when the rubber comes back on afterwards.

Edited by mrfrozen, 30 August 2012 - 12:22 PM.

[PutterHo]

wow - I've got 2 1500's in the man cave somewhere for the same issues.  I'll let you know how this goes !!

[mrfrozen]

As there seem to some interest about this I will try to make som pictures explaining this more in detail.

[pmveilleux]

Thanks,

It worked like a charm.  My best reading of a golf flag at my local course was 527 yards like new again, before 120 yards maximum at best.  The laser must over time get mis- aligned getting bounced around in my push cart or riding golf cart,  I'm sure the heat from being in a car in the summer can't help either.  Now the sending laser is re-aligned with the receiver, where the problem was.  i didn't have to send it back to Bushnell either as it is several years old, didn't lose time or money!

[mrfrozen]

Great to hear it working!!

Attaching a picture, put the screwdriver at the white spot and bend towards the arrow.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

Edited by mrfrozen, 31 August 2012 - 11:20 AM.

[hoganfan924]

Wow, awesome thread!  What I love about Golfwrx.  Just did this to my old one and tried it around the house and across the lake.  Seems to be working properly now.  Of course the final test will have to be on the course but it's picking up larger targets out to over 300 yards now and pinseeker is activating on closer smaller stuff like electrical boxes out to over 150 yards.

Keep in mind that you have to replace that green glass cover before tying it out.  that must concentrate the laser.

Thanks again!

HF

[pmveilleux]

Yes, replace the glass!  laws of physics at work.  This i so fantastic!  I must confess I  purchased the 1600 pro a month ago.  I will take out the battery  and leave it idle for now and use the 1500 again!

Thanks again mrfrozen for your guidance.

[mrfrozen]

I wonder how many 1500s that has been thrown away that could be fixed this easily? And the fact that Bushnell is charging 250 dollar for you in states to probably do the exact same thing is just scary to think of (in europe i couldnt even find a repair place).

[pmveilleux]

I know what you mean!  I am always very willing to tinker and see how things work.  I've read so many posts on fix -ya via google of how many problems people have had with this device and no real solutions until now, lots of frustration.

There are several on e-bay right now and some are listed as not working, sounds like this very problem we are discussing and people are willing to just about give them away.

[Augster]

Anyone care to post a step by step picture tutorial on getting to the point to adjust it? I'm going to attempt this tomorrow and this post is the only one I could find on the Internet of folks actually opening it up.

Thanks for the current pictures!

[pmveilleux]

I think you have enough pictures to do the job.  You don"t have to remove the rubber skin or the tripod mount screws.  Concentrate on the front plastic piece.  The actual adjustment is trial and error, but mine worked on the first attempt.  These are delcate instuments. When you look inside and see the laser it  looks like it is attached,  soldered to a circuit board.  The adustment allows the laser to realign itself with the receiver, hence you must move the laser towards the receiver.

Mine is all back together and working fine, I used it yesterday.  Keep in mind you have to disrupt the waterproof seals so you will  have to be more careful in inclemnent weather but at least you will have it working properly again.   Mine is all back togeather otherwise I would supply more pictures, hope this helps.

[zenman4711]

mrfrozen, on 31 August 2012 - 11:20 AM, said:

Great to hear it working!!

Attaching a picture, put the screwdriver at the white spot and bend towards the arrow.

So, after having my Pinseeker 1500 on the sideline for two years now...and having just contacted Bushnell and given the chance to buy a new one, I find this thread on realigning the laser. Which is my issue I hope as my symptoms are just like the ones described. So, quick question for all who have successfully realigned the lasers--is there a maximum/fixed amount of movement you can move the laser to align it properly? Is it push gently until it stops moving? Any help/insight would be greatly appreciated.

Happy Holidays.

Bobby

[SPARKP]

The pinseeker function on my Bushnell Medalist quit working. It will pick up anything but the flag. Any suggestions for it?

[zenman4711]

mrfrozen, on 28 August 2012 - 04:33 AM, said:

This is how I fixed mine non functioning 1500 to go from reading max 60 meters to now be as new upp to 800m, do at your own risk.

1. Rip of the front plastic cover you have left in the picture, use force and it will come of.
2. Remove glasscover of the laser in the front, just lift it of with a knife or something.
3. Now you will see the laser a few cm in.
4. Take a small flat screwdriver and put under the laser between the laser and the hole for the battery.
5. Gentle press the laser upwards so that the angle of the laser is more towards the "top" (by top i mean the other glass cover)
6. Put the glasscover back and try before putting it together.
7. DONE

Hope it helps!!

Sorry for my horrible english, please reply if its to unclear

Ok, so I did this last night and there is one step that is not mentioned in regards to removing the plastc cover which made it VERY hard for me to actually remove. Before you pry the plastic cover off, there is a retaining ring set on top of receiving lens--not the smaller laser lens. It has two small slits and threads into the body of the scope. You can pop pop/pry off thre plastic without unscrewing it but you might (I did) damage the body.

Good luck to anybody trying this.

Edited by zenman4711, 21 December 2012 - 09:48 AM.

[RamblinRoyce]

For those who have bigger issues than adjusting the laser, I completely (almost) disassembled my bushnell 1500.  It stopped working on me after about 3 years, so I'm happy with it's lifetime, especially considering I just kept it in my bag where it banged around in the car, on airplanes during travel, and while in the cart during rounds.  It got jolted and bounced around for 3 years and i golf weekly so it stood up to some abuse.  

Unfortunately, all of the abuse also caused it to stop working a few months ago and it had a loud rattling noise when I shook it... obviously not good.  I've since purchased a Nikon Diablo and it does the job well.  The key difference with the Nikon Diablo is that it provides a continuous feedback of yardages instead of a single reading like the Bushnell 1500.  So you can scan around with the Diablo and it will give you yardages of the flag, then the tree behind it, then the front of the green... all by just moving the sight around.  Though it took time getting used to, it works much better then having to push a button, wait for a reading, then get an erroneous reading of trees behind the flag, then pushing the button again for another reading... ya can just keep moving the Diablo bit by bit until ya know you've got the flag (by knowing it should be within a certain range).  

After fiddling with the Bushnell and removing all of the rubber, screws, and faceplate as detailed above.... I still couldn't get to the rattling noise and I couldn't remove the Rangefinder main unit / guts out of its shell... but I knew there had to be a way.  Since the shell / housing is a molded one-piece plastic that houses the innards, you have to remove the eyepiece to get it out.  

To remove the eyepiece, get some channeloks, vise grips, large pliers that will fit around the eyepiece at the base and around the optical eyepiece that you actually look through which moves in/out. Since I was trying desperately to take it apart, I took off the rubber, the screws and the eyepiece apart piece by piece... but i'm not sure you need to take off all of the screws / rubber or not. The key is to use the pliers / vise grips and wrap them around the base of the eyepiece (the focusing ring), the largest ring surrounding the eyepiece, and give it a firm counter-clockwise turn beyond it's normal stopping point. I recommend using a thin cloth or other material to try and protect the eyepiece from scratches.  All of the components of the eyepiece can be disassembled with firm counter-clockwise torques.  Again, it doesn't take much and shouldn't require more torque than opening a bottled water or gatorade.  

Once you get the eyepiece off and mainly the ring around the base, you can slide the innards out from the shell. Also, If handling the Optics/Lenses, I recommend wearing Rubber Gloves to try and prevent oils/grease from contaminating them.  Also, it's good practice to wear rubber gloves when working on any electronics.

PERFORM AT YOUR OWN RISK.  

If requested, I guess I could make the effort to take some pictures and provide more detail.

... On mine, the rattling noise came from a small 1cm diameter lens that focuses the feedback optics into the laser detector.  The plastic housing that holds this lens (with a screw) split apart and the lens was just rattling around where the laser feedback detector/sensor resides.  

...

Edited by Asleep, 08 June 2013 - 10:51 AM.
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[nguyenthien629]

Wow, somehow got no notification/update that are new replies are in my own thread. Anyway, thanks for everyone input. I was able to fix my 1500 (Good thing I didn't throw it away). In return, I have updated with pictures and steps to show the fix.

[The General]

Great thread. Bushnell wants to charge me 155 to repair my misaligned 1500. Thanks for the tips.

[the4hornes]

I love to see threads like this. Thanks for the info.

[jhy1281]

i worked on mine last night, still no reading past 200 yards... and, i had to work the laser opposite direction of the picture posted above. but solid DIY instructions! thanks! more tinkering to follow!!

[zebrasinamerica]

wish i would have seen this a few weeks back when i chucked my 1500 and picked up a neo, I do however like the neo much more bit it would have saved me a few bucks and i like to tinker with stuff

[Bishop]

I got 2 TE 1500s. One works but is slowly starting to not pick up distances over 150 yds. Its performance is getting progressively worse. It sounds like the same symptoms as others who did this repair. Im planning on realigning the laser as described soon.

My question for anyone is regarding my 2nd unit. When I push the button to get a reading the display just "freezes". It shows the pinseeker logo, the cross hairs, and the digits for the distance read "1888 Y M". And on the bottom it shows "+18*  > 888". That all shows up when I press the button, and it just locks up, or "freezes" for lack of a better term. It seems like it shows everything the read out is capable of displaying all at once. Then the screen goes blank after the 20 or so seconds without hitting the button, just like its supposed to.

Also, there seems to be a very slight rattle when shaken. Other than that the unit looks brand new.

Has anyone had similar issues? Any suggestions? If I dont get any replys, Im thinking of atleast trying the laser adjustment to see if that might fix it. Any help is appreciated.

[Bishop]

Adjusted the laser as described and got it picking up flags at 280+ yds. And there wasnt any wind so the flags were laying down, which anyone with a laser knows, makes it more difficult. I picked up a large American flag at 429 yds as well. After reading the instructions and looking at the pictures it was fairly simple. So thank you to everyone who posted information. Now all I need is some help with my other 1500. Im fairly sure its problems are not laser alignment issues. Im going to operate on it in the near future and Ill post the results if I can bring it back to life.