Help with FED shutter / timer problem

[Sjoukje]

Hi

I've been lurking as a guest for ages and have now finally joined up as a member. I mainly use a Zorki 4K along with a FED 5B, various Zenits and some other Russian cameras. I recently bought a cheap FED 4B to hopefully use a donor to repair a FED 3B I have.

The 3B is in really nice condition but the shutter will not 'cock' as the delayed timer is stuck in the 'fire' position. The camera is missing the delayed action lever and the film counter is loose on the shaft (spring washers missing !) so I think that someone may have had a look already. The camera was given to me like this.

The 4B is not so 'pretty', the light meter does not work, the RF is very dull, but the self timer works OK and the shutter sounds, and looks, very healthy. As there are plenty of much nicer 4B's out there I wanted to use this one as a donor.

Is it worth trying to free the jammed self timer or can I swap the whole self timer mechanism ?

Assuming they are the same, would it be easier to swap the complete shutter assembly ?

Many thanks

 

[wolves3012]

The shutter doesn't come out as an assembly just like that. Plus, I think, there are differences. It may not be impossible to swap things over but it would be more trouble than it's worth. If you're stuck for parts like spring washers I can probably find you some. I've never had need to remove the timers but they do come off as a unit and it's quite likely the two are interchangeable.

 

[fidget]

Sorry to hear of your FSU problems (challanges).
Before you do anything too drastic, you could consider disabling the self timer on the FED3b.
If you look carefully at the bottom of the film advance sprocket you "should" see a short pin running from a lever which is part of the self timer...to the spring strip at the base of the shutter crate. This is one of two pins (the other, nearer, is from the shutter button). Remove the strip (best not to turn the camera upside down whilst the strip is off!) take out the pin and carefully replace the strip.....self timer neutered! Who needs one anyway?.....

BTW, welcome to the forum...

 

[Sjoukje]

Many thanks for the advice. I got the screwdrivers out at the weekend and decided to try the 'neutering' first. Result - one 3b firing happily and now with a working frame counter.

Unfortunately I could not replace the missing self-timer lever as for some reason the screw did not want to do up, and I've learn the hard way when to stop trying. So I put it back on the 4b for another day and covered the 'hole' with a piece of black electrical tape to stop any possible light leaks.

The plan is now to put a film through it to make sure that it all works OK.

I take your point, I rarely use a self-timer, but it would be nice to get it all back working again, maybe when it next comes apart for a CLA ?

Many thanks again.