Resetting Winter Vario to Zero?

I have a Winter variometer that works great except that at rest it
reads high (+1.5). While that makes me feel good in flight, I'd rather
zero the thing out. The question is how to do this.

I have been told two different ways to do this;

1) Find the zero adjustment - I removed the face plate but cannot find
the adjustment. Any ideas?

2) One person mentioned that over time the needle looses weight.
Because these devices are so sensitive the needle reads high. The idea
then is to add back the lost weight. This person recommended a small
dab of finger nail polish.

The last choice is to send it back to the factory which I would rather
avoid.

Thanks.

I think the nail polish idea has merit.

If you want to go with the mechanical adjustment, you will need to
remove the glass face and then unscrew the small plate covering the
base of the needle. Once this plate is removed, you will see a
serrated circular adjustment ring which you can rotate to adjust zero.
You need to be careful with this plate, as a small movement makes a
significant adjustment to zero.

ContestID67 wrote:
I have a Winter variometer that works great except that at rest it
reads high (+1.5). While that makes me feel good in flight, I'd rather
zero the thing out. The question is how to do this.

I have been told two different ways to do this;

1) Find the zero adjustment - I removed the face plate but cannot find
the adjustment. Any ideas?

2) One person mentioned that over time the needle looses weight.
Because these devices are so sensitive the needle reads high. The idea
then is to add back the lost weight. This person recommended a small
dab of finger nail polish.

The last choice is to send it back to the factory which I would rather
avoid.

Thanks.

I think the nail polish idea has merit.

If you want to go with the mechanical adjustment, you will need to
remove the glass face and then unscrew the small plate covering the
base of the needle. Once this plate is removed, you will see a
serrated circular adjustment ring which you can rotate to adjust zero.
You need to be careful with this plate, as a small movement makes a
significant adjustment to zero.

ContestID67 wrote:
I have a Winter variometer that works great except that at rest it
reads high (+1.5). While that makes me feel good in flight, I'd rather
zero the thing out. The question is how to do this.

I have been told two different ways to do this;

1) Find the zero adjustment - I removed the face plate but cannot find
the adjustment. Any ideas?

2) One person mentioned that over time the needle looses weight.
Because these devices are so sensitive the needle reads high. The idea
then is to add back the lost weight. This person recommended a small
dab of finger nail polish.

The last choice is to send it back to the factory which I would rather
avoid.

Thanks.

ContestID67 wrote:
I have a Winter variometer that works great except that at rest it
reads high (+1.5). While that makes me feel good in flight, I'd rather
zero the thing out. The question is how to do this.

I have been told two different ways to do this;

1) Find the zero adjustment - I removed the face plate but cannot find
the adjustment. Any ideas?

2) One person mentioned that over time the needle looses weight.
Because these devices are so sensitive the needle reads high. The idea
then is to add back the lost weight. This person recommended a small
dab of finger nail polish.

The last choice is to send it back to the factory which I would rather
avoid.

Thanks.

Reply.
Use a SMALL dab of epoxy to rebalance. anything that dries changes
weight as it dries.
DO NOT turn zeroing plate.
Good luck UH

I was given the following information via email.

"I have tried both methods of re-zeroing a winter vario. The
adjustment wheel's behind the little winter emblem...loosen the small
screw and it will rotate out of the way and you can get to it. But, it
is easy to bend things you should not bend. I prefer the small (very
small!!!) drop of clear fingernail polish. Get the brush almost dry
before you touch the needle. It doesn't take much. After it dries,
recheck the zero...as the evaporation of the solvent in the polish will
change the finished weight."

Another piece of information via email.

"Adjustment screw is used to get spring balance to zero needle when
face is up. Then equal flow gives same reading up and down. They
actually have balance arms on opposite side of needle to balance, but
adjusting these usually leads to breaking the .003 diameter pivots.
Wanna guess how I know all this?"

Found an old usenet thread on the same subject.

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.a...205f0c 9e254a

To add some more details to this thread for historic purposes, I wanted
to let you know how I built a tool to remove the ring holding the glass
to the front.

I found some scrap aluminum that was as thin as the slot in the ring.
A steel ruler would work also but the aluminum is softer and less
likely to mar the face of the vario.

I sandwiched the thin aluminum between two pieces of pine board,
holding it together with small C clamps. Allow the aluminum to stick
out from between the boards by no more than 1mm (1/16"), or 1/2 the
depth of the slot. This combination gives some mass to the "tool" and
the wood won't mar the face of the vario.

Take the tool in one hand, the vario in the other (over something soft
just in case it drops), engage the slots, and turn the tool CCW.

Worked like a champ.

"ContestID67" wrote in news:1143413733.258492.60400
@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

I have a Winter variometer that works great except that at rest it
reads high (+1.5). While that makes me feel good in flight, I'd rather
zero the thing out. The question is how to do this.

I have been told two different ways to do this;

1) Find the zero adjustment - I removed the face plate but cannot find
the adjustment. Any ideas?

2) One person mentioned that over time the needle looses weight.
Because these devices are so sensitive the needle reads high. The idea
then is to add back the lost weight. This person recommended a small
dab of finger nail polish.

The last choice is to send it back to the factory which I would rather
avoid.

Thanks.



Had this issue last summer - turned screw - easy - no problems.

--
Roger Kelly
to reply replace the IP address above with ceressenior.com

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To give you an update on my process and success.

I used nail polish. On the Winter there is a cover (with the model and
serial number) which can be swung out of the way after loosing a screw.
I put the nail polish under that. The reasoning was that 1) the cover
will hide the polish and 2) placing a weight closer to the center
requires more weight to do the job (shorter moment arm). Thus, I have
more control over what I am doing.

It did take several coats as each coat dries and looses weight. The
trick was to determine if what I added was correct. I did the
following;

1) Added some nail polish with a toothpick to make the needle go to
zero.
2) CAREFULLY blow into the static and/or TE probe line fittings to
reset the needle.
NEVER BLOW DIRECTLY INTO THE INSTRUMENT as this is a very delicate
instrument. What I did was hold the vario facing me, then cupped my
hand behind the vario, the GENTLY blew into my hand. This deflected a
bit of air into the probe line fitting and deflected the needle. Hold
the vario as it will be in flight, face held vertical.
3) Let the nail polish dry and use step 2 again to see if the needle
rests at zero.
4) Repeat these steps as necessary.

Good luck.

- John