Sanders McNew
Rolleiflex User
The bottom of the right-hand shutter curtain in my IIIa (as you look into the body through the lens mount) seems to have come loose. Is this a DIY repair or am I doomed to the repair shop?
Sanders McNew
Rolleiflex User
I should add that when I say the bottom corner has come loose, I mean that the right edge of the shutter is not perpendicular. Instead, it angles so that it opens a sliver at the bottom, and the curtain is wrinkled because it is not perpendicular. The curtain itself seems supple and intact -- it's just that the edge of the shutter is out of square, and the amount of the angle varies as it moves back and forth. It looks as if the upper edge is in place, but that whatever holds the bottom corner on the track has come loose.
I apologize if this makes little sense -- I am a newcomer to Leica cameras and haven't yet mastered the mechanics.
Sanders
I apologize if this makes little sense -- I am a newcomer to Leica cameras and haven't yet mastered the mechanics.
Sanders
colyn
ישו משיח
Sanders McNew said:
The shutter tape has come unglued from its drum which will require a strip down.
You'll need to send it out for the repair since it will require re-tensioning of the curtains afterward.
The repairman will also do a CLA while it is stripped.
Sanders McNew
Rolleiflex User
Colyn, thanks for the reply. I found a diagram online. If I am not mistaken, the drum ends are at the outboard edges of the shutter, while the inboard edges -- the edges that form the opening -- are attached to something called "laths." If this is correct, then it is the lath that is the problem. The shutter curtain fabric does not appear to have come loose. Rather, the bottom of the lath (if that is the right word) seems to have come unattached from whatever it is that holds it in place and pulls it across the focal plane when the shutter fires. Does this make sense?
Vickko
Veteran
Colyn is generally correct.
It isn't beyond a DIY job if you have the skills.
...Vick
It isn't beyond a DIY job if you have the skills.
...Vick
colyn
ישו משיח
Sanders McNew said:
The lathe is the metal bar that is glued and stitched under the leading edge of the shutter curtain. It is attached to the shutter drum via a thin strip of material called the shutter tape which is glued to the drum on one end and looped over and stitched and glued to the lathe.
On older Leicas it is common for the glue to come loose from the drum. In rare situations it will tear from the lathe. Most likely though it has come unglued from the drum end which will require service.