Jammed Nikkormat FTn shutter

[breathstealer]

I'm trying to rescue this Nikkormat FTn that decided to stop working while I was advancing a frame a while back. My grandfather loaned it to me as my first camera, and replaced it with a loaner FM2 after it died. The other day, he told me I could rip it open just to have a look like I did with a dead Yashica of his, and that if I couldn't save it that was no problem. He's more or less quit photography, and he pragmatically pointed out that 1) I didn't really need it 2) it'd cost an absurd amount to repair. All the same, I still want to get it working.

Here's what I've discovered so far. Clearly I don't know much about camera repair.

This is one of the actual problems I've diagnosed. Hopefully someone here knows what that spring is supposed to do.

Here's the main problem. Silver thing one is attached to the shutter release, as shown in the first picture. It jams up against the crank assembly as indicated by the arrow, so it needs to be levered up into place after every shot.

Silver thing 2 (the bottom of the 2 seems to have disappeared) prevents winding more than once per exposure, I guess. In its lowered position (as shown), it allows free turning of the crank. After winding, it pops up into the hole just above it (with silver things on either side), pushed by the spring visible in the middle. This prevents the crank from rotating, but it also constricts vertical movement. As can be seen from how it interacts with silver thing 1, this means that the shutter release is jammed in an upper position. I can still trip the shutter, but I need to use tweezers to pull 2 out and down in order to put it in pre-winding position.


I realize I'm just about the least qualified person on earth to attempt this repair, but if this doesn't work at least I don't have much to lose. Any ideas on how to proceed?

 

[retro]

I've never worked on an FTN Nikkomat. I have worked on
the FM/FE cameras.

I have 2 guesses:

1. One possibility is that you have a broken cocking spring
or lever that has broken and fallen down into the camera
innards. That could be what that gear was connected to
which is now by itself.

2. The bottom of the camera (under the bottom cover) should
have a cocking rack. It is involved with the cocking of the shutter
and there may be a problem there (though not too likely).

 

[radiocemetery]

Never having had a Nikkormat apart, here is my guess😉. Based on your second picture of the spring disconnected, it appears that the spring may belong in the unoccupied hole in the silver lever or device that appears in the picture to the right of the spring. Seems as if the spring is in close proximity to the silver lever, and the people at Nikon are not likely to have specified a hole in that piece unless they intended to put something in it. I am just guessing and that silver piece has some function with the rest of the mechanism that you seem to be having trouble with. Also, it looks as if the loop in the right end of the spring has been spread out so as not to make a more complete loop. Perhaps that end of the spring has become stretched out. A close examination of the silver piece at the hole may reveal some evidence or wear if the spring was indeed in the hole.

Well, good luck, and don't give up.

Steve

 

[Harry Lime]

Take a look here

http://www.ss-it.de/arcticwolf/nikon/service.htm

 

[breathstealer]

1. One possibility is that you have a broken cocking spring
or lever that has broken and fallen down into the camera
innards. That could be what that gear was connected to
which is now by itself.

2. The bottom of the camera (under the bottom cover) should
have a cocking rack. It is involved with the cocking of the shutter
and there may be a problem there (though not too likely).

1. Doesn't look like there's anything in there that doesn't belong. I flipped the camera over a couple times to get at the stuff under the bottom plate and there's no rattling.

2. Cocking rack underneath looks smooth and functional.

The problem can usually be cleared by manually moving the cocking rack components (under the bottom cover) with the edge of a screwdriver. However, I suspect your attempted repair has exacerbated the problem beyond a home repair. This was not unusual with the Nikkormats.

The cocking rack components move fine manually as long as part 2 isn't engaged. Cocking also works if I slip the lever back on top, with the same caveat. Looks to me like the problem is on the top of the camera.

And yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if I messed up things further. But I figured that I'd never learn without some hands-on experience, and here was a camera that was more or less expendable.

Never having had a Nikkormat apart, here is my guess😉. Based on your second picture of the spring disconnected, it appears that the spring may belong in the unoccupied hole in the silver lever or device that appears in the picture to the right of the spring. Seems as if the spring is in close proximity to the silver lever, and the people at Nikon are not likely to have specified a hole in that piece unless they intended to put something in it. I am just guessing and that silver piece has some function with the rest of the mechanism that you seem to be having trouble with. Also, it looks as if the loop in the right end of the spring has been spread out so as not to make a more complete loop. Perhaps that end of the spring has become stretched out. A close examination of the silver piece at the hole may reveal some evidence or wear if the spring was indeed in the hole.

That's actually a pretty good guess. That piece seems to regulate the distance the cocking lever can travel, but it flops about limply in a way that doesn't really match with the careful alignment of the other parts. I'll have a look again - I think this could be it.

Take a look here

Already did. Not only was the repair manual terrifying, it also didn't really show the relevant parts in detail - I saw the spring in question, but not what it was connected to, for example.

Thanks for your help, everyone. I'll have another crack at it this afternoon.