Pack Your nanoCLEAR AR Unit Properly for Service

When returning your nanoCLEAR AR unit for service, always remember to follow the packing instructions correctly to prevent damage and unnecessary repairs.

Located in the back of the nanoCLEAR AR unit:

  • Remove power cord
  • Remove network data cable
  • Remove data cable from wash module
  • Remove video PC cable
  • Remove high pressure supply hose
  • Remove drain hose to wash module
  • Remove all chemistry inlet tubing and replace with white caps
  • Remove vacuum inlet
  • Remove monitor from stand
  • Remove monitor stand & push monitor plug down the tube that it is housed in

Located in side your nanoCLEAR AR system:

  • Remove black mold stages
  • Remove wash bowl ring
  • Remove chemistry ring
  • Remove chemistry bowl liner and discard
  • Remove chemistry bowl and clean all chemistry from bowl
  • Remove tips and filters and replace with red caps

Lock motion arm into position to prevent movement. If possible, place the motion arm in the chemistry bowl position and lower the arm. When the motion arm reaches the lowest point press STOP COATING BUTTON. Place bubble warp or packing material on either side of motion arm to prevent movement and install the shipping bracket provided.

Placing nanoCLEAR AR system in the special system box:

  • Place tape or the shrink wrap it came with on the front door panel to prevent door from opening during shipping

  • Gently place nanoCLEAR AR system into box making sure it rests inside the foam cut out inside of box
  • Gently place the top foam insert on top of the nanoCLEAR AR system and push into place
  • Close box and remove any labeling on the outside
  • Tape box closed and place the appropriate shipping labels on the outside

When your system has been boxed up and/or you have any questions, please call Optical Dynamics Technical Support at 8000-587-2743.

What Free-Form Is

At Optical Dynamics, we use digital free-from molds to produce customized lenses with improved optics and enhanced visual clarity. As published in Eyecare Business, the following six points are key to understanding the free-form process.

  1. The main difference between digital and traditional surfacing is digital surfacing’s ability to produce more complex surfaces with extreme accuracy.
  2. Digital surfacing can be used to create simple single vision or complex progressive surfaces. The ability of the lens to provide visual comfort and performance is determined by the quality of the design.
  3. Digital surfacing is referred to as direct-to-surface, CNC and free-from. All refer to basically the same process.
  4. The most significant variable involves the process used to calculate the design. Digital surfacing processes require significantly more calibration and control compared to traditional surfacing.
  5. There are two inherent benefits common to nearly all digitally surfaced PALS: reduction of marginal astigmatism and reduction of “rounding errors”.
  6. Remember: all lenses that bend light will have aberrations and spherical surfaces create aberration. Its a matter of how those aberrations are managed that provides a unique benefit to the wearer.

How Does nanoCLEAR AR Perform in Ocean Climates?

We are often asked how nanoCLEAR™ AR performs in humid beach city climates as compared to vacuum AR. Well, nanoCLEAR AR and vaccum AR vacuum AR (whether it’s Crizal™ or some other brand) have very different failure modes. In the better vacuum AR stacks, craze is the root cause of most failures and patient returns. With the nanoCLEAR AR lens, its essentially impossible to induce craze.  As a result, our AR is damaged far less in boiling water and salt water tests than vacuum lenses

With vacuum AR on a plastic lens, the thermal expansion rates are vastly different between the AR and the lens. Since the AR layers are also brittle, they tend to fracture under the stress created when the lens heats up and expands. Once that happens, contaminants work their way into the stack more easily and can cause delamination. Even if delamination is avoided, craze typically causes haze, so once it’s severe enough that will lead to a returned lens as well.

Since our nanoCLEAR AR uses plastic binders and nanoparticles, the thermal expansion rates of the AR and lens can be matched, which eliminates craze failures. That’s not to say we never have failures, all AR can be damaged by patients, however, nanoCLEAR AR performs well in hot, humid coastal regions. Just ask our customers in Miami, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean!

Protect Your Investment with the Q-2100 Extended Warranty & Recertification Programs

Q-2100R Extended Warranty/Maintenance Contract*

  • Includes parts, labor, ground shipping and loaner program (Main and/or Post)
  • If unit does not need to be serviced during the 1-year period, the extended warranty allows for the return of the Main and Post units to Optical Dynamics for preventative maintenance, including cleaning and inspection
  • 50% discount on cast lenses through RTE (+$18 w/AR), during down time due to repair

Q-2100R Recertification Program* Extended Warranty

  • Return the Q2100R (Main and Post) to Optical Dynamics and we will recertify the equipment; includes replacement of lamps and filters and ensures the machine is in proper working order
  • Includes a 1-year extended warranty on parts, labor and ground shipping.
  • 50% discount on cast lenses through RTE (+$18 w/AR), during down time due to repair
  • Loaner program may be purchased at a discounted price

*     Does not include hepa filter, spin bowls, germicidal lamps, actinic lamps, post cure lamps, main logo panels, post logo panels, consumables or expedited shipment. This warranty will be void in its entirety as to any parts or equipment covered hereunder in the event of damage caused by abuse. All repairs necessitated by damages excluded from this warranty will be charged to the customer

**    Does not include spin bowls (upper & lower), hepa filters, foam pre-filter for hepa, wash nozzles, wash filter, suction cup seal ring, syringe cap o-ring, plastic deck plate, arm sneeze guard & strobe lamp, consumables, expedited shipment or preventative maintenance on PC or wash module This warranty will be void in its entirety as to any parts or equipment covered hereunder in the event of damage caused by abuse. All repairs necessitated by damages excluded from this warranty will be charged to the customer

***    Includes free software upgrades only; new product software upgrades must be purchased

Call 800-797-2743 for more information

 

What does the message, SERVICE REQUIRED PRESS HELP, mean?

Topic: You are getting ready to process a job or you have tried to process a job and the lenses didn’t cure properly when you notice that a message line has appeared on the upper left side of your Post Cure menu screen that reads SERVICE REQUIRED PRESS HELP.

The Reason Why: Your Post Cure Unit controls all of the functions for the Main Chamber.  It runs checks on the lamps, lamp intensity, filament power as well as the temperature of the heating oven from the time the unit it is turned on until you turn the unit off.  The System also monitors the current coming into your system and keeps track of the age of your lamps and air filter.  If there is something that the system checks that is out of calibration the SERVICE REQUIRED PRESS HELP line will appear in the upper left portion of the main menu screen.

The Fix: When you press the HELP button located next to the main menu screen you will get a screen that looks like this:

01         OK       Post Cure Temperature

02         OK       Light Intensity

03         OK       Lamp Power

04         OK       Filament Heat Power

05         OK       Lamp On Time

06         OK       Post Cure Heaters

07         OK       Lamp Temperature

08         OK       Line Voltage

09         OK       Communications

Any error detected will be highlighted and will have SERVICE in place of OK.

Example:  03      SERVICE   Lamp Power

If SERVICE appears, select the item that indicates service required and press the encoder to get specific instructions regarding the error and how to proceed in troubleshooting.

The instructions may guide you as to how to repair this issue or it may guide you to call the Technical Support Team at Optical Dynamics (1800-587-2743 Ext. 276 or 283)

Quick Do’s & Dont’s for Selling to Men

Eyecare Professional, by Bob Phibbs

  • DON’T leave us alone. While you may think that giving us some space is good, don’t leave us completely alone or we’ll walk away! Its too overwhelming
  • DO take us by the hand (figuratively). Don’t assume that we know what we want or that we know what we’re looking at. If it’s an item we’re not familiar with buying then we need some guidance. Show us around and point things out.
  • men shoppingDON’T hover. While we want your guidance and your help, take the cure if we need a little space. Help us narrow down our choices first but if we want to take some time to mull it over on our own, back off or you might spook us. Its fine to check back in every few minutes to see if we need additional assistance, but don’t hover or make us feel pressured.
  • DO, point out fashion trends. We don’t necessarily want to be on the cutting edge of trends…but we still want to look good and stylish. If we feel like it makes us look like Brad Pitt that matters to us. We might even want to know if it was featured in a magazine. We are vain – we just don’t make it obvious
  • DON’T ask or assume our budget. If you ask for our budget, you allow us to limit ourselves. You will dumb down our choices and ultimately you’ll loose out. Show us the merchandise first, then talk price.

Celebrate Our Independence!

4th of July“Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought fourth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Abraham Lincoln”

Those who won our independence believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty.” Louis. D Brandeis

“Where liberty dwells, there is my country.” Benjamin Franklin

Are You Dispensing blueVIEW?

blueVIEW defenseOptical Dynamics newest lens material is blueVIEW defense, sunglasses for your indoor world.

Optical Dynamics’ indoor lens with advanced spectral filtration protects against visual discomfort and possible damage from exposure to HEV and blue spectrum light waves.  Infused with an array of organic pigments, blueVIEW defense helps block and absorb a varying level of violet and blue light across a 400-500nm spectrum. blueVIEW people pic

This design provides 100% attenuation in the UV spectrum and gradually allows more light to pass as the waves lengthen for balanced protection. blueVIEW defense filters all types of blue light encountered in everyday indoor activities, while enhancing visual acuity, reducing eye strain, and retaining natural color perception.

Once you experience the comfort of blueVIEW defense you’ll never want to be inside without them again.

Call today about blueVIEW defense monomer for your Q-2100 Digital Lens System 800-797-2743 today!

The AR Process

Traditional AR coating is applied by a method know as vacuum AR. This process typically requires a very large capital expenditure, clean room, highly skilled production staff and takes from 4 to 10 plus hours to complete. This process begins with the lens moving through a multi step cleaning bath to ensure proper adhesion of the AR layers. Once cleaned, each lens is inserted into a spring retainer and married up with other lenses for a specific coating process. The lens retainers are moved to a degassing oven for surface optimization. From here, lenses are placed into a metal collate and set inside the vacuum AR coater. According to a recent article in Vision Care Product News, “a pump then removes the atmosphere and recreates a vacuum, where an ion-assisted gun helps cleanse the lenses even further prepping them for the treatment layers to be applied. The collate starts to rotate and an electronic beam gun focuses onto a crucible holding a series of different compounds. As the beam reaches its peak, a shutter plate swings to the side allowing the evaporated material to be dispersed and reach the lenses.” Most of these AR treatments involved oxide metals for the low index layers and materials such as tantalum and titanium for the high index layers. After the layers are processed, a final step is completed for the hydrophobic and oleophoic finish. The lenses are then shipped to the corresponding optical location and dispensed to patients. From order to delivery, the typical optical location must wait 3 to 7 business days before they can notify their patient of their eyeglass arrival.

Due to the cost and technical aspects involved with traditional AR coating, the majority of independent optical professional do not have the production volume necessary for profitability. In response, Optical Dynamics’ Research and Development team created the revolutionary nanoCLEAR AR system. This small table top unit works in conjunction with the Q-2100 Digital Lens system and employs a nanocomposite AR coating. Since this system processes films at atmospheric temperatures and pressures, the required hardware is greatly simplified reducing overall cost, training and production time

The nanoCLEAR AR process begins with the operator setting the four digital free form molds into the AR unit. The nanoCLEAR AR system pressure washes the molds for optimal cleanliness. The use of spin coat technology is then employed with the system laying down a scratch coat followed by the nanocomposite AR coating in mold. The digital molds are removed from the AR unit and a mold cavity is formed. The cavity is filled with either the clear or photochromic UV-curable monomer doped with nanoparticles. This allows us to engineer the refractive index and strength of the nanoAR films while maintaining the flexibility inherent to most polymers. Once the mold cavities are filled, they are cured in the main and post chambers. During the curing process the nanoCLEAR AR bonds with the lens material to produce an AR lens. The process is completed with a hydrophobic and oleophic top coat. In under 90-minutes, you have a pair of nanoCLEAR AR lenses to dispense to your patients.

Digital Lens Technology, a Greener Alternative to Traditional Lens Surfacing

The Q-2100 Digital Lens System is a green alternative as compared to traditional lens surfacing. With the Q-2100 lenses are produced direct from the bottle of liquid lens material to the finished Rx. No longer must one inventory hundreds of lens blanks to be processed to the finished prescription. A single bottle of lens material is all the operator needs to make any Rx within a broad range. Whether you need a plus lens, a minus lens, a progressive or a flattop you produce what you need in the quantity you need it.

hite background.More importantly, the digital casting process eliminates the large amount of waste typically associated with traditional lens surfacing.  Lenses are not made into thick semi-finished “hockey pucks” to be ground and polish to the finished Rx. This eliminates all the polishing slurry and lens material waste that needs to be filtered, cleaned, and properly disposed as part of the existing lens manufacturing process. When optical practices process lenses in house, the traditional transportation by-products in the channel of distribution are also reduced.

“Optical Dynamics digital lens fabrication system is a greener alternative to traditional lens manufacturing,” states Michael Yager, VP of Sales. “Our system is environmentally friendly, has a very low carbon footprint, low power consumption and can be safely operated in an eyecare professional’s environment. At Optical Dynamics we continue to search for the best alternatives for all our new product designs,” added Yager.

The Q-2100 Digital Lens System occupies little space, is clean, quite and self diagnostic. With the additional benefit of producing free form quality lenses the system is an ideal choice for the progressive optical practice.