Leica M3 SS jammed just before shutter cocks

[redtec989]

Hello, I have a Leica M3 SS that was given to me recently but it has a fault, the shutter seems to be jammed. The film advance lever wont move the shutter mechanism and I cannot move the sprocket wheel shaft with my fingers to manually cock it. When attemping to use the film advance, the mechanism is not rock solid and there is a little bit of give as if there is something soft blocking the winding gears from moving like dried grease. Upon removal of the bottom metal plate I have examined the position and condition of the gears in comparison with a working leica M2 and determined that there is no foreign matter in these gears and the jam occured right at the end of the shutter cocking cycle just before the mechanism "slots into place". I also carefully examined the light felt at the back of the baffle which is known to come off and cause problems and this looks totally intact. The camera has the black seal in place so has never been CLA'd, could this just be a case of dried lubricant on the drive shaft assembly or adjacent gears? Or could this have something to do with malfuntion of the stop discs and levers?

Thanks,
Alex

 

[_goodtimez]

Hi. You could start by removing the bottom plate held by a few screws and see what is going on.
Then you may have to remove the top plate.
I don't think this is only a matter of dry lub.

 

[WJJ3]

there's more light baffles than can be seen by looking from the back or bottom. I bet its one of those wrapped up in the shutter. I was getting some ghosted frames with my M3 so I took it in for service. The technician told me the ghosting was beimg caused by a baffle that was partway detatched, and I was lucky it wasnt already jammed in the shutter.

 

[redtec989]

Thank you both for replying. If it is indeed the light trap felt jamming the shutter, since the cocking procedure has not been fully carried out, is there a way of 'uncocking' the shutter, unwinding it so as to let the debris either fall out or for it to be located to be removed with tweasers?

 

[icebear]

Don't try to force anything, you will only rip or bend parts. This is job for a professional to take it apart and CLA properly. It will be as good as new afterwards and you can enjoy it for the next 50 years.

 

[Robert Lai]

If you activate the rewind lever, it usually releases the tension on the winding mechanism (in order to allow you to rewind the film).
Check the back door to be sure that a chip of film hasn't jammed the shutter.

 

[redtec989]

What makes me think it had something to do with the winding gearing at the top of the camera is that when I wind my M2 to the same position that the M3 is jammed at and then let the lever bounce back, when i start to wind again theres that bit of springyness in the lever that makes it return, but with the M3 its as if its already engaged, theres no spring-back at all. Sorry for my crude descriptions haha

 

[Dektol Dan]

Techy Time

Techy Time

I had same issue, but was gummy old grease/lube, but can be folded shutter as mention. Mr. Ye fixed mine for reasonable price.

 

[nobbylon]

Alex, turn the shutter brake 1/4 turn and try again.

 

[redtec989]

Clockwise or anti-clockwise?

 

[Mute-on]

My M2 jammed solid from a piece of felt strip winding around the shutter curtain.
Required disassembly and fixed with CLA.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nobbylon]

Clockwise or anti-clockwise?

makes no difference. The main thing is to move it from it's current position. I've had this on 2 M's in the past and adjusting the curtain brake cured the problem. After it unlocks you can then adjust the brake properly. Worth a try.

 

[johannielscom]

John's suggestion is worth a try.

I've worked on a few M3 DSs in the past and there's a small intermediate gear in the wind assembly that needs to 'stand' between stroke 1 and stroke 2, that sometimes gets its teeth stripped. It a USD 20 part (DAG Camera) and easy to install but it will take lots of fiddling to get it set just right so that it will actually allow both strokes to do their job. There's a spring washer on top of it that needs to be set just right as well (correct lubricant and all), too tight and the strokes feel grungy, too loose and the gear won't stand between stroke 1 and stroke 2.

Still it can be a DIY job, if you take half a day and a bucket of patience...

Good luck!

 

[redtec989]

Shutter brake adjusting didnt work, but the screw was very stiff. Turning clockwise and anti clockwise both had no affect. I have yet to remove the top plate to examine the winding mechanism. If i can unwind the shutter slowly and in a controlled way i may be able to examine and hopefully remove any light felt.