Kiev 4a simple CLA, pointers?

fidget

Lemon magnet
Local time
9:02 PM
Joined
Jul 30, 2005
Messages
1,357
Hi, most of my RFing has been with FEDs and some Zorkis which I have CLA’d myself with some success. Only one is damaged (left hand thread trick) and all others are just fine. My first FSU RF was a Kiev 4 which jammed the shutter after 4 shots and then sat in a box whilst I had a fling with FED/Zorki models, very nice too!
I had a tentative peek inside my Kiev and found a couple of chunks of glass had jammed the mechanism, removed these, a light lube of what I could see and viola! (I was lucky). This Kiev is a pleasure to use and quite a different experience to the FED/Zorkis.
So thrilled was I that I just-had-to-have (you all know how this works) the meterless version. Bagged a nice 71 example on the bay, It arrived looking v smart but with "weak" slow speed shutter and slightly varying faster shutter times when the speed is first selected.
My past successes in CLA land have cornered me into thinking that I can do a simple reccy and CLA in this Kiev. The “how to get in” is covered in other links, but can anyone offer advice on what to look for when inside? (no not the address of a pro fixer!).

PS also got another KIEV 4 some time back which intermittently changes the shutter speed without any help from me:confused: Dunno what to do with this, it’s slipping nearer to the spares bin!
 
Last edited:
captainslack said:
Have you found the Kiev Survial Site?

http://www3.telus.net/public/rpnchbck/
I had to strip my Kiev 2 down to the metal because it had sand in it. The Kiev Survival Site made it possible.

In addition, as a suggestion, I keep a bunch of index cards at hand and tape the misc screws, spings, shims onto the cards with notes and diagrams of where they came from and how to re-install them. That way when a project gets put aside for a few weeks you will have some idea where that little washer came from.
 
kmack said:
I had to strip my Kiev 2 down to the metal because it had sand in it. The Kiev Survival Site made it possible.

In addition, as a suggestion, I keep a bunch of index cards at hand and tape the misc screws, spings, shims onto the cards with notes and diagrams of where they came from and how to re-install them. That way when a project gets put aside for a few weeks you will have some idea where that little washer came from.

Yes, I do a similar thing, I pop groups of parts into numbered film cans with little notes as to where they came from.

thanks captainslack, I'll look at the site. Part of the job is to cure these minor problems, guess I'll open it up and learn how it works. This was how I got to learn and like the FED/Zorki arrangement. The thing is, the Kiev is way more sophisticated, by comparison the FED/Zorki mechanics have all the complexity of a knife and fork.
 
an interesting thing about earlier Kievs (II, III and their "a" versions")
Unlike the 4 and 4a you need to remove the top cover FIRST if you want to remove the shutter cover. Indeed, the fourth screw (upper right one) that holds it is somehow blocked by the top cover and you can't remove it unless it's "unlocked".
 
Fidget

Could you clarify the
@@@
PS also got another KIEV 4 some time back which intermittently changes the shutter speed without any help from me Dunno what to do with this, it’s slipping nearer to the spares bin!
@@@
Is the shitter speed erratic or is the speed indication moving on wind on or ...?

Noel
 
Xmas said:
Fidget

Could you clarify the
@@@
PS also got another KIEV 4 some time back which intermittently changes the shutter speed without any help from me Dunno what to do with this, it’s slipping nearer to the spares bin!
@@@
Is the shitter speed erratic or is the speed indication moving on wind on or ...?

Noel

Hi Noel, the "shutter" (but I like your description better!) speed works for the speed selected and seems right. Intermittently the whole speed selector dial comes to rest after a release at a speed other than the one I started with, I think it's always a slower speed. If clocked and fired it will work at the new speed. Very strange.
I'm happy to open my 4a as I believe that a general clean and lube might completely cure the shutter irregularities, but this 4.....don't really know where to start. The mechanics of this camera are excellent (otherwise) leading me to believe that it's not worked for a long time.
Maybe if i get some CLA experience in Kiev land, I will have a go, or better, sell it as spares...
Have you got one with a similar fault?
 
Back
Top Bottom