Leica IIIf - advance slipping

[TheHub]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]My IIIf has developed a problem, the advance has started slipping. After taking a shot, I turn the advance knob, but it doesn't always catch; the advance knobs spins very smoothly without any tension. After about 3 turns I can feel it catch and it advances properly (I can hear the film moving and feel the tension.)

Can anyone tell me what the problem is? Is something broken? Can I squirt some lighter fluid in and fix it?[/FONT]

 

[Solinar]

Just a wild guess - Is the advance/rewind lever by the speed dial fully engaged into the advance position?

 

[TheHub]

Yes it is. When it "slips" it feels like it's in rewind mode, but after three turns it "catches" and advances properly.

 

[HuubL]

Yes, I've got exactly the same with my IIIf. I found it depends a bit on how you hold the camera during advancing. I think I'm going to send mine in for a CLA, although everything else runs smoothly.

 

[TheHub]

I had it CLAd last summer. That's why I'm worried it may be a gear problem. I really hope not.

 

[john neal]

Sounds like you have a problem in the release / rewind area. The wind knob screws onto its shaft with a standard right hand thread, so it's unlikely that the knob can turn without the shaft.

When the shaft turns, there are two "dogs" one on the wind shaft, one on the shutter sindle that engage with each other. If that is not happening straight away, it could be that there is a piece of film lodged somewhere that is preventing the shutter spindle from rising back to it's proper position when you take your finger off the shutter button - or the return spring is either weak, or loose.

If you have a small screwdriver, take off the bottom plate, and then remove the small plate that carries the film loading diagram - this will let you see what's happening at the bottom of the release spindle. My bet is that you will see something there that will lead you to the answer. If the spring is loose, tighten the screws, if not look to see if it is returning the release rod all the way into the body. Weak springs can play havoc with all kinds of things in LTM bodies - new ones are available from DAG in the USA.

 

[TheHub]

Thanks for the advice. I took the plate off but all the screws are tight and I couldn't really make any sense of its inner workings 🙁

Funny, I took it out today for some exercise and shot 2 rolls of film without any problems 😕 'B' has acting up a little however, so I think it warrants having a CLA done.

 

[john neal]

Sounds like the return spring - that would get fixed in a CLA