Whatever it is that causes this issue, I hope Victorinox will look into it and fix it. Since this lens problem is becoming a bit of a blemish on the Swisschamp's reputation.
Imagine taking your new SC out in the field, opening the magnifier to inspect an unusual insect on a leaf, and seeing the lens fall out to be lost in the long grass. Then having to be without your shiny new knife - that you've spent weeks or months saving for - while your warranty claim is sorted and your faith in the replacement magnifier (and Victorinox) is tested.
Or worse, you throw it into a drawer and forget about SAKs.
Hi,I'm looking for a SAK grey magnifier unit please to replace a broken transparent newer version.
I can't help you with a part, sorry. Can I ask about the nature of the breakage? Does it have the plastic lens or the glass lens? Did it come already broken on a used knife?
Yes it was broken off at the joint so just a little grey stump! I guess glass but not going to know for sure?
I went through all the 4-1 star reviews on Amazon of the Explorer and Swisschamp to find reports of the lens falling out. Note the frequent disappointment and distrust in current Vic quality. Some purchasers thought the lens was plastic. One even thought the knife was fake.Explorer: 6 reviews of 155 = 1 in 26 "Bought this for my dad and the magnifying glass ended up falling out. Can't return it because it's over 30 day limit."- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3O09PKUECKUDZ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B000IOG3ZO People always want to buy online to pay less than they would at a local store, and then you get this kind of cr*p ... Or, they buy online, and when something's wrong, go to a local dealer to get them to fix it. Had a long talk about this with the owner of a small local outdoorshop a few weeks ago.Two consecutive failures here:"This knife used to be the best knife Victorinox made. They have changed the design of the magnifier. It is now the worst. The new lens is now plastic instead of glass and it falls out after a few uses. I replaced the first one because it failed immediately. Amazon would not let me return the second one because it failed after the return window closed. Do not buy this knife!!!! Also the picture being used by Amazon is misleading because it pictures the previous version of the Knife that had the glass lens. I ended up purchasing a used knife , with the glass lens, on Ebay. I had my previous Knife for more than 20 years and used it daily. Was a great product."- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3NT7KJHW9A85/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B000IOG3ZO I thought the new lens was the glass one, and again Amazon ... "Bought my Explorer 2.5 years ago at Amazon. Was cleaning it earlier this year and when I pulled out the magnifier I noticed the plastic lens was completely gone. I also noticed that the "warrantee" by Swiss stipulates that "normal wear and tear" is not covered. Plus the [repair or replace] process on their website is confusing so I didn't even bother to request service. Overall, I might buy another Swiss knife but with the expectation that if parts break I'd just have to buy another one to replace it. Manufacturer warrantees just aren't what they used to be. And getting service and replacement isn't worth the hassle involved even though I have proof of purchase, they could easily claim the loss of the lens was just "normal wear and tear". Oh, one more thing; even though their ad indicates they are "made in …" that doesn't mean they are actually assembled in "...". Truth is, now a days you can't trust anyone to give you the straight dope on any of their products."- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R33AFIILYL2LUN/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00OWC9BCU I'm quite sure the lens falling out will not be considered as "normal wear and tear" by Victorinox. But it's easy to complain about warrantees when you don't even bother using them . And I'm also quite sure that Victorinox products are still being made in Switzerland ... "The lens of the magnifying glass was already detached when I opened the box. I am very disappointed since I expected a very good quality from this company."- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2MTF718HZKCPE/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00OWC9BCU "The redesigned magnifing lens is garbage. The lens looks to fall out and get lost. There old design worked for 35 years till I shattered the Philips driver trying to break loose a lisence plate screw. Finally lost the new lens at scout camp this summer after having the knife for less than s year."- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R331AC6G08GR12/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00OWC9BCUNot a failure, but Vic offers to swap out the plastic lens for the grey one:"The knife shown in the image is not the one that you will get if you order this item. Victorinox has made what they call a "running change". They have replaced the 8x magnifying lens surrounded with gray plastic by a 5x lens surrounded by clear plastic. Not only is this new lens flimsier and more likely to break off, but also it will be harder to start a fire with it in an emergency survival situation. Definitely this change is a change for the worse. I don't why Victorinox made this change except to save a few bucks in manufacturing the knife? Luckily, I called Victorinox customer support and they are aware of this problem and said that they will gladly switch out the clear plastic-surrounded lens with a gray-plastic surrounded lens if I send the knife to their Repairs department."- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2FUVLWCH2682E/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B000IOG3ZO I would be surprissed if Victorinox would do this, I mean, repair the knife by putting in an "old" grey plastic lens holder .Swisschamp lens falling out. 8 of 1,070 reviews = 1 in 134 "I bought this knife as sold by Amazon in December 2018 and I received a knockoff. If I bought from a third party seller, I would realize I might be getting a knockoff, but I expect Amazon to do a better job getting the real thing. The first clue was that the magnifying "glass" fell off as soon as I opened it. And it was a cloudy piece of plastic, not glass. I am expecting a replacement from Amazon, so I'll update if that one is better."- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R24LCC9UJO7F54/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0007QCP3M"I already own this item for 30 years. I wanted an extra one. The plastic frame around the magnifier is flimsy clear plastic. My old one has a tough resin type plastic frame. The first time I used the magnifier on this new one, the lens popped out. Returned."- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3GEJ6Q0LNX26/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0007QCP3M "I was given a Swiss Champ knife about 15 years ago and have literally used it many times every single day. The springs eventually broke, I lost the corkscrew screwdriver, the side panels both came off a few years ago, and I have still been using it every day since. I finally decided to buy another one and was ecstatic when I opened a brand new one. BUT...when I opened the magnifying lens the first time, the lens came out of the holder. I've used the lens probably 10,000 times (without exaggerating) from the old one and it is still intact.I am waiting for a replacement, and if everything works I will change my rating to where it should be: 5 stars. I'm not getting my hopes up, though, because nothing seems to be made as well as it used to be made."- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2ZWW24K9SD9FZ/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0007QCP3M "I thought this was pretty cool, and it's what my husband wanted for his birthday.The magnifying glass broke within the first month he had it. I hope it's just a glitch, and the rest of it will work and last as long as his other knife did."- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1VG9URDUZB3IL/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0007QCP3M "I had a classic red Swiss Champ for around 30 years. Time did its job on my knife so I wanted to buy a new one. All is perfect and quality is fine BUT the magnifying glass is really a joke on this new models. The first time I used the magnifying glass the lens popped out. I will not return it because I live in another country and the shipping cost is very high. I used to be very happy and confortable with the Victorinox knife quality but I'm very disappointed with this issue."- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1CMR0HYSFX1HO/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0007QCP3M "Great Knife. I would have given it 5 stars but the magnifying lens is not secure and has popped out.Likely I was able to reinsert it but be careful when using that feature."- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R375AV9MA7P933/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0007QCP3M"Everything works great except the magnifying glass broke out in my pocket somehow. All in all a versatile tool which I use a lot."- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1W95UWTIO2NGH/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0007QCP3M "Overall, I really want to love this model from Victorinox. But, a day after having it, the magnifying lens fell out of its deployment arm/holder. Should just return it, but too much of a hassle for me. Other than that, all the other tools are great and work well. From all it's stampings and markings, it seems to be the real thing. Just this one fail slipped through their quality control checks."- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RBHL4A8XZW24V/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0007QCP3M
These are just my thoughts on some of the comments above, I still think it might only be a low precentage of SAK's with the magnifier that have this problem since they sell a lot of them (read: A LOT !!!). But it's clear Victorinox should address this problem .
Since we're discussing it anyway, what are everybody's glue recommendations?
The frame integrity seems to be acceptable for the application. But, the tolerances look to be the culprit in the popped out lenses. As many stated, a bit of epoxy or cyanoacrylate glue is a great solution. Seems Vic could start doing this at the factory. I ended up using 3 dots of cyanoacrylate(preference thing), though two is sufficient from what has been written so far.
How do I tell if my Explorer has the glass or plastic lens?
Look at the attached Victorinox documents. There are some differences in the shape of the holder, the spring and the associated Phillips screwdriver.
Very interesting PDF's my friend, thanks for sharing them .
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