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Machineboy
Tinkerer Username: Machineboy
Post Number: 7 Registered: 01-2008
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 01:43 pm: |
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Hot on the heels of my Yashica GSN repair finished yesterday, I got an old Yashica electro 35 (the original, first model) in the mail today. The electrical signals seem to work. Battery light and over/slow lights light up. But the shutter doesn't open, even without a battery. I removed the lens assembly to get to the shutter, and noticed one of the latches not releasing when the shutter button triggers. But even when manually flicking this latch, the shutter is still not moving. I put a video here for you guys to see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJmxZ1EB-oY When I press the shutter button, the two long pieces don't move. It seems like the latch at the bottom is not moving. I'm not sure if this should move? After the next wind I push this little latch so that the two long pieces are free, but the shutter is still dead. Has anyone any experience with shutter problems on the Yashica electro 35? Is there something obviously wrong here? |
Wernerjb
Tinkerer Username: Wernerjb
Post Number: 242 Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 02:10 pm: |
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What abut the blades (not visible in your video), any movement there? |
Machineboy
Tinkerer Username: Machineboy
Post Number: 8 Registered: 01-2008
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 02:26 pm: |
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There is no movement on the blades that I can tell. |
Wernerjb
Tinkerer Username: Wernerjb
Post Number: 243 Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 03:27 pm: |
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Then the blades are probably gummed up and cling together so that they cannot open. Sometimes however they open when you lightly tick them with a wooden toothpick. But this is just a test to exclude other problems, even if they open your problem is not solved, as the blades have to be cleaned, from both sides if possible. In not so severe cases cleaning them from the front is enough to make the shutter open and close again for a while. Cleaning is done at best with cotton swabs and lighter fluid. You have to use the liquid sparingly in order to prevent flooding the whole mechanism. Softly (otherwise you can unhook them, putting them back requires a total deconstruction of the shutter assembly!) wiping the blades over and over again can also be done by pieces of soft tissue held between tweezers, in any case you have to make sure that the shutter stays free from any lints or cotton fibres. |
Machineboy
Tinkerer Username: Machineboy
Post Number: 9 Registered: 01-2008
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - 01:09 pm: |
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Wernerjb: You were right, the shutter blades were stuck. I'm not sure if there was a mechanical issue or they were gummed up. I cleaned them lightly with ronsonol and cotton buds, and then used your toothpick tap trick, and they suddenly snapped. Now they seem to work like they should, even if I had two ugly accidents on reassembly, slipping the screwdriver down into the shutter blades, leaving two nasty marks. The shutter still opens and closes, so it seems to still be in order. Note to other electro 35 repairers, it's easy to misalign the aperture on reassembly. Be careful to note where the little rod is which controls the aperture. It needs to match up with the actual aperture you have set the lens barrel ring to. Also, it's easy to tighten the aperture ring if you use too much force. Mine is still stiff, but it moves fairly smoothly. Now my second electro 35 fires, but I think it might have some electrical issues as well. The infamous pad of death looked pretty shot, I should probably try the microsurgery route one day. Anyway, thanks for the help! |
Golfmania
Tinkerer Username: Golfmania
Post Number: 3 Registered: 10-2008
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 - 07:15 am: |
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on mine, the shutter opens but never shut. where to check? |
Sevo
Tinkerer Username: Sevo
Post Number: 10 Registered: 09-2008
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 - 08:48 am: |
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The most likely cause is the well-known "pad of death", or rather one of its many side effects. Gummed-up grease on the shutter blade or gears is the next most likely culprit. Sometimes you'll see both at once, when some previous owner reacted to the pad-related shutter failures by drowning the shutter in large amounts of low quality oil. |
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