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Wm_nilliam
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Username: Wm_nilliam

Post Number: 1
Registered: 05-2011

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Posted on Wednesday, June 12, 2013 - 02:33 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

The focus ring on my Aires Viscount started slipping shortly after I got it but it would catch again and accurately move the helix and rf mechanism. Midway through my first roll of film though, it came totally loose and now does nothing. Does anyone know how to get at the helix on one of these things? The 15 shots I got before it went south are gorgeous.
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John_shriver
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Username: John_shriver

Post Number: 109
Registered: 12-2006

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Posted on Wednesday, June 12, 2013 - 07:58 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

See my posting here:

https://kyp.hauslendale.com/classics/forum/messages/2/24705.html?1339815512

Once you have the shutter off, you will be able to get to the loose screws. But you will need to re-collimate.
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Wm_nilliam
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Username: Wm_nilliam

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Posted on Thursday, June 20, 2013 - 02:13 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Okay... If I know anything about helicoids, it's that you don't take them apart without paying close attention and marking the starting points. Now I know why they say to do that. The shutter came out pretty easily and I tightened the loose screws at the focus ring but it kept binding at about the 5 foot mark so I took out the screws and removed the focus ring. While I was messing around twisting the helix back and forth to see if some cleaning and lubrication might be needed, it came apart. Several hours later,
I've got the camera back together and the focus ring is nice and smooth but I seem to have disabled the rangefinder in the process so I guess I'll be pulling it back apart again. Any tips on the re-collimation procedure?
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Wm_nilliam
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Username: Wm_nilliam

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Posted on Sunday, June 23, 2013 - 02:22 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

The second disassembly went much quicker than the first one as did reassembly and with a piece of ground glass, a loupe and a faraway tree, I managed to re-collimate sufficiently that the distance scale, the rf patch, and the film plane image are in decent agreement throughout the focus range. I'll run a roll through it and see if I want to post some triumphal images or go back in for round three. Thanks John, for the helpful advice.
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John_shriver
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Username: John_shriver

Post Number: 111
Registered: 12-2006

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Posted on Sunday, June 23, 2013 - 07:13 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

The helical grease on these cameras was prone to turning to glue. Was definitely the case with mine. Glad to help, it may take a few tries to get everything calibrated. It's a nice lens and a nice viewfinder/rangefinder, worth the effort.
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Jagstang
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Username: Jagstang

Post Number: 23
Registered: 01-2013

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Posted on Tuesday, June 25, 2013 - 05:56 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

I just bought one of these for myself. It came with the box, manual, and a beat up case. The looks and feel of it won me over and for $10 I wasn't about to say no. It looks and work nice except the focus is stuck at infinity. I take it the entire lens/shutter assembly needs to come apart to clean this out?
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Wm_nilliam
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Username: Wm_nilliam

Post Number: 4
Registered: 05-2011

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Posted on Wednesday, June 26, 2013 - 12:21 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Well, it doesn't need to come apart entirely, the shutter, lens, and rangefinder strut pulled out as a unit once I got the front element off and undid a series of screws. John says in the above link the disassembly is "totally obvious"... I'm a little dense maybe but I'd say it was just pretty intuitive. I'd recommend noting the position of the aperture/shutter speed rings before taking them off, (watch out for that little ball bearing for the click stops) a general mindfulness and paying attention... particularly when unscrewing the helix! You can save yourself several hours of REALLY tedious trial and error on that one. It's doable though and worth doing.
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Wm_nilliam
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Username: Wm_nilliam

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Registered: 05-2011

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Posted on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 - 11:27 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Okay, it took me three weeks but I think I've finally figured out how to shrink my files down to the required 450X450. Here some triumphal images from the helix re-lube and re-collimation.(Which only took me a couple days.)success!palm treemorrison bridgejimmy d.... A bit tiny to be"triumphal" but you get the general idea.
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Msiegel
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Username: Msiegel

Post Number: 353
Registered: 03-2008

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Posted on Wednesday, July 17, 2013 - 03:51 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Hi,
very fine.
Thanks for posting those. It's great to see the final results of a repair - the pictures taken with the camera.
Best regards
Martin
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Br1078lum
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Username: Br1078lum

Post Number: 607
Registered: 11-2010

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Posted on Wednesday, July 17, 2013 - 10:08 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Glad you got it all sorted out. Pics look fine.

PF

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