Almost there

[RF-doyle]

OK, so I got my battery compartment sorted out, fashioned up a battery adapter that works well. Red/Yellow lights work well, nice and bright. Battery check lights up, etc...

However, my shutter does not open. I notice from the photos of everyone elses Electro 35 that what I think is the self timer seems to be in the set position. For example, when looking at the front of the camera, the self timer lever is more toward, say the 2:30 position. I notice this is the opposite side from everyone elses.

I figured that since no battery was in place, it wouldn't fire. However, I now have a battery in and it doesn't fire the self timer. Is there a trick to this? All controls seem normal and everything seems to operate normally, but I suspect the cocked self timer may be holding the shutter closed. Can anyone give me any pointers or let me know the proper procedure to initiate the self timer?

 

[Frontman]

There is obviously a mechanical problem, as an Electro 35 shutter will work even without a battery in the camera. It's hard to say exactly what the problem could be, it could be a pad problem, or something stuck either in the winding mechanism, or the shutter mechanism.

 

[RF-doyle]

OK, so I found a similar thread here which seems to be the same issue. It looks like the best bet is to simply remove the self timer mechanism.

On an unrelated note, I put a new PX28 battery in about 1am and everything was strong and working fine (with the exception of the shutter) but now at 8am, the battery is very low. The Battery Check won't even light and when pressing the shutter release, I can see the yellow light show up faintly. Is there some issue that could drain a new battery so quickly?

Or is it simply a matter of, you get what you pay for? I really like the camera and would love to get it working.

 

[Austintatious]

Contact this RFF member, b1bmsgt, with a PM. Russ knows his way around the Electro.

Charles

 

[RF-doyle]

So with the help of others and information gathered here (thank you) I successfully opened up the front lens element and removed the self timer mechanism. During the process I discovered that my hands are simply too big for such small detail😀 but I persevered and got things sorted. After removing the ST, I tested it while open and the shutter would still not fire. I ever so gently moved two of the blades with a small screwdriver just to see if they would budge. They did a little and I suppose that was enough to do it as they fire correctly now.

I put everything back together and got a new battery to put in temporarily, confirming that the shutter fired and stayed open for various times depending on the chosen aperture. I will try to open the top portion tonight to check the POD condition, but I do get a pretty solid clunk when winding so hopefully, it's in decent shape.

Thanks all for the guidance.