OT repairing glasses

Jul 05, 2020 Last reply: 6 years ago 30 Replies

I have some glasses from a "designer" range



The arm has broken. The glasses are otherwise in good condition



It looks perfect possible to undo the screw and screw on a replacement arm



But will I get an optician to do it? (unfortunately, I no longer live near the one I bought them from)



I realise that I can just go and ask, but am expecting to be fobbed off, so wanted to know if anybody has any idea



TIA



tim


Only if their supplier of ?designer? frames is prepared to supply spares. Given the turnover in designs I can?t imagine that it makes any economic sense for suppliers to provide a spares service. So, my guess is ?no?.

Suck it up and buy yourself a new pair. ;-)

Tim

It all depends on how "designer" the arms are. The arms on my designer glasses, my cheaper prescription reading glasses and pound shop emergency reading glasses are almost identical. All have screw on arms and look physically interchangeable.

If traditional type arms perhaps the OP should look at pound shop or supermarket reading glasses as a source of replacement arm - or if a near match replace both arms.

Look very closely at the end of the screw opposite the head. I've ocassionaly seen that hit by a center punch to stop the screw coming out.

Most tend not to charge for small repairs, gets people through the door and if those people are treated well, might do more business with them. The biggest problem may well be getting a replacement arm, not convinced that the arm hinges are "standard" but I guess they might be.

It's entirely possible to remove the screw holding the arm on - they have a nasty habit of removing themselves! As long as you can get a new arm (and you may have to buy a whole new frame) it should be straightforward to swap over. I used to work in an opticians and we never charged for re- fitting screws - too much admin for a trivial amount of money, and it helped keep the customers happy. Most would drop some money in the charity box. It used to be the case that Specsavers used non-standard fittings, but everything else was straightforward. There are only two or three companies making frames - even the designer ones.

If you do get fobbed off, try another optician, preferably an independent one if you can find one.

Mike

Oh the screws definitely come out

them working lose and having to be refitted is a common problem that I suffer

9 times out of 10 you'll still have the screw, but once I lost the screw.

finding the right size to go back in is a bugger :-(

Yes I know :-)

well that's the unknown

that's unlikely to be cost effective

Usually they are priced with lenses and if you try to unbundle the lens the discount is minimal

I've taken advantage of this the world over

No-one ever charges

Couldn't find an optician in Indian suburb I was in, had to call in at the mobile phone shop to get them fixed

oops!

tim

tim... laid this down on his screen :

Put a tiny blob of Locktite on them.

traditionally coat them with nail varnish then put them in

Be careful, some loctite I've used in the past destroys some plastics.

They are mostly from China. No chance IME So you are down to superglue and bits of tube/heat shrink tubes.

Ask Rick at OneStopGlasses! Excellent service. Has supplied two pairs of glasses to me this year - so far.

We deal with a guy who will fix just about anything, he'll solder metal stuff and pin / glue plastic. It's not always perfect but acceptable and only a few quid.

Or if you know the exact model it might be possible to get a replacement arm.

There is a dental UV setting glue, which is supposed to be be very good. Yet to try though.

Look on Amazon for their very cheap range of reading glasses and try to identify a similar arm and fixing to yours, buy them ~£5 and fit to your existing glasses.

unfortunately:

none of my prescriptions has my pupil distance on it - I can get a close approximation with a ruler.

They also don't fill in all the boxes for left eye. I presume that means "same as right" rather than "no correction"

though at only 15 pounds what's the risk?

tim

A good, straight on photo with a ruler held appropriately isn't a bad approximation. Or if you have an old pair, the separation can be measured, I believe.

The possible problem with that is being able to tell if the arms are held on with a screw - some very cheap glasses have other methods of fixing the hinge. There are also different hinge arrangements.

With the ever changing designs they normally say, oh, that is no longer made, we may be able to make some up similar for a handful of dosh. What has in fact broken on them? Brian

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