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Message |
    
Strep
Tinkerer
Username: Strep
Post Number: 1
Registered: 12-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 29, 2006 - 11:57 am: | 
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Hello!
I recently bought a Rollei 35S silver.
It appears to be in mint condition, exept for the shutter.
When I press the shutter release, the shutter opens but does not close again until i pull the wind lever. This happens at all shutter speeds, including B.
I don't have that much experience when i comes to dismantling vintage cameras, but in case a repair is possible, I would very much like to know if it 's a simple enough one to be worth trying on my own.
Thanks
Erik |
Reiner
Tinkerer
Username: Reiner
Post Number: 27
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 29, 2006 - 10:40 pm: |
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The shutter of your Rollei 35 S is probably sticky because of dried lubricants. This is quite common and easily repairable for someone who is experienced in this issue. It is very easy to clean it once the top cap is off. The problem is to lift the top cap without leaving scars. Please do a keyword search for "Rollei 35". You will find at least one description how to lift off the top cap. For many of this special screws a friction tool or just a stripe of thin rubber like dental dam would be the best fit especially for the big screw on top of the advance lever. Pay attention: if you attack this screw with unsuitable tools the screw will break easily. A friction tool is better than a spanner because is takes the tension from the screw thread.
Once you have the top cap off you will find the shutter escapement under the top cap easily reachable on top between the finder and the lens. Give it a good and perhaps repeated cleaning with some drops of lighter fluid. You should provisorily screw the advance lever directly onto the open camera. So you operate the camera with the top cap off. Pay attention that the big cog wheel of the advance mechanism does not fall or lift off. Then the camera looses the tension in it's advance mechanism and it's synchronism.
When cleaned give it some days to completely dry out before you remount the top cap. Sometimes the bearings of the shutter need a tiny bit of lubrication. In this case apply a thin synthetic oil with the tip of a small watchmakers screw driver.
I have cured many Rollei 35s and I can answer on your questions. Unfortunately I will be without internet connection for some days and I can not answer before the evening of the 1st of january (european time).
I have added a picture of an open Rollei 35. The shuter escapement is just in front of the black plastic cog wheel (which is sometimes a brass cog wheel). |
Reiner
Tinkerer
Username: Reiner
Post Number: 28
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 29, 2006 - 10:43 pm: |
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Here is the attachment.
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Strep
Tinkerer
Username: Strep
Post Number: 2
Registered: 12-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, December 30, 2006 - 04:43 pm: |
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Great thanks for all the info Reiner, it was very helpful.
OK, I got the top hood off the camera.
I have tried cleaning the shutter cogwheels, but it does not seem to make any difference, except now the shutter speed control is easier to operate.
I fear that the problem might be something more serious.
When the film advance lever is turned it offers what I perceive as a healthy resistance, but at the very end of the motion it snaps and loses resistance. Is this normal?
If not, could it be some kind of shutter return spring that slips or fails to latch on to something?
The shutter has never closed on it's own, regardless of shutter speed, so i'm starting to think that something is loose inside the camera.
Anyone? |
Reiner
Tinkerer
Username: Reiner
Post Number: 29
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 01, 2007 - 08:20 am: |
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Hi Strep,
the behavior of your film advance lever seems to be quite normal in my eyes. I have tested it at 4 Rollei 35s which I have currently at hand. Two of them loose resistance at the very end of the motion and two of them do not. I think it is related to the tension of the return spring of the advance mechanism. This spring is the big spring under the black coghweel. If there is few tension it behaves like yours. In my eyes it should not have more tension than neccessary. So it should be ok.
Note: at the Rollei 35 the shutter blades are within the collapsable lens whereas the shutter itself is within the the camera body. Concerning your problem I have an idea but I am not shure if it is the key to this issue. Cock your camera, fix the lens in the expanded position, choose a long speed, take off the back of your camera, look into the backside of the lens and fire. You should see a small boomerang shaped lever with a pin on it which is operated by an other small lever. The boomerang shaped lever is the one which controls the opening and closing of the shutter blades.
If everything would be ok the lever should snap back in it's original position at the end of the cycle. If the shutter blades do not close again the shutter is not able to complete the cycle. You might complete the cycle by carefully forcing the boomerang shaped lever to complete it's travel. If this is the culprit a carefull (!) lubrication of the axis of the lever which operates the boomerag shaped lever is advised.
There are also some parts of the mechanism under the bottom plate. You might remove it and clean and carefully lubricate some parts there. |
Strep
Tinkerer
Username: Strep
Post Number: 3
Registered: 12-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 03, 2007 - 04:00 pm: |
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Thank you!
The problem seems to be with the boomerang shaped lever, or more specificly the small pin that operates it.
When the shutter is activated the pin is supposed to just slide by, right? But instead it just gets stuck against the boomerang lever.
When i manipulate the small pin with a pen or a screwdriver, the shutter blades close like they should - quick and whithout any signs of stickyness.
I have tried lubrication, but it seems like either the boomerang's spring is too weak or the one for the operating pin is too strong.
Or maybe i just need to lubricate them more thoroughly
Here is a picture of the boomerang lever after the shutter is fired. |
Reiner
Tinkerer
Username: Reiner
Post Number: 30
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 - 04:04 am: |
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Hi Erik,
I am quite optimistic that we can get this issue fixed. Currently I have not the time to write a more detailed note and do not remember the details exactly since it is a long time ago that I did it but you should unscrew the bottom plate of the camera - not the bottom plate that is part of the back door but the internal one.
There are two covers: a smaller one which covers the transport spindle - leave that at place - and a bigger one which is to be unscrewed. Underneath you will find some more mechanics and you will have limited access to some deeper camera internals. Operate the camera repeatedly (pay attention that the big transport wheel on the open top does not fall off) and carefully lube all axes which are in effect during the shutter cycle with a thin synthetic oil. |
Reiner
Tinkerer
Username: Reiner
Post Number: 32
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 15, 2007 - 02:09 pm: |
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Please have a look at the image below of a Rollei 35 with open bottom. On the left you see the cover on the winding roll. A little further right is a crooked yellowish lever or a hook. This hook does the shutter cocking. With some force of the thumbnail it is possible to cock the shutter without winding. In the gap below the hook there is a shaft of a lever rotating during the shutter run. This shaft should be lubricated too. Furthermore you might carefully lubricate other shafts you see at the camera's bottom. It is important that the flat silver disk in the middle of the camera bottom is slightly tightened.
Hope this helps.
 |
Dvimages
Tinkerer
Username: Dvimages
Post Number: 1
Registered: 01-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 07:32 am: |
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Hi, I wondered if you could help me with problem rollei 35S. I can't get the focus to rotate when I pull lens out and lock it in position. It refuses to budge at all.
Thanks,
Scott |
M_currie
Tinkerer
Username: M_currie
Post Number: 30
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 08:57 pm: |
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At some point I found a source for the Rollei 35 service manual, and the owner's manual. I downloaded them, and now apparently the original site from which they came has disappeared. I posted on photo.net that I had them and have had a number of requests. Rather than continuing to send email attachments of big files, I have uploaded them to an online storage site. If you are interested, here are the links. Grab while you can.
For the owner's manual, http://www.box.net/public/1oj1nagj8e
For the repair manual, http://www.box.net/public/RT1alecn4t |
