Minox 35 GL film advance lever

[Arash]

Hello friends
I have a broken film advance lever on my Minox 35 GL
The film can still be advanced with the thumb wheel but the stub from the crank is rather sharp. The camera is in otherwise working condition.
It’s not obvious to me how I can disassemble the top plate and get to the film advance mechanism to remove the broken crank.

Can anyone give me some directions or point to a resource?
Thanks

 

[raid]

Good luck !
I have a Minox GT which I really like using with slide film. Construction of Minox cameras is not top notch. There may exist some people here with broken Minox cameras.

 

[Arash]

Yes, it’s a delightful little camera.
I’ve wanted the GT version for the timer feature.
Still, it would be nice to get this one in order.
Here it is, as far as I was able to disassemble. Getting to the crank seems a but daunting.
Maybe I’ll just file off the sharp bits

 

[Arash]

Well I managed to get to the disc
It is part of a mechanism that moves the counter and not simply a crank lever.
So I had to keep it, but managed to file it down with a rotary tool grinder.
Surprisingly, it is made of metal. It always seemed it was, but when the lever snapped off, I thought it must have been plastic.
How the lever broke instead of the film sprocket holes ripping is a mystery.
Now to put it back together and hope it still runs. Lots of fiddly hairpin wires to get right.
I have not found anything useful on the web.

 

[TenEleven]

Well I managed to get to the disc
It is part of a mechanism that moves the counter and not simply a crank lever.
So I had to keep it, but managed to file it down with a rotary tool grinder.
Surprisingly, it is made of metal. It always seemed it was, but when the lever snapped off, I thought it must have been plastic.
How the lever broke instead of the film sprocket holes ripping is a mystery.
Now to put it back together and hope it still runs. Lots of fiddly hairpin wires to get right.
I have not found anything useful on the web.

Even though I don't use a Minox 35, I think this is useful info to have - thanks for sharing the pictures!

Also, as a side-note in all sorts of other devices (toys, appliances, cameras) these white vinyl gears are famous for shrinking and cracking along the axis. I'd give them a small dab of silicone grease to prevent them from drying out as quickly, hopefully buying you some extra usage time.

 

[doc68]

The same happened to mine.
I got parts of a dead one as a donation body, as a practice run, I tried to disassemble and put the lever back into position, before taking my (otherwise working one) apart.
Unfortunately I could not figure out how to get those little springs (the "ratchet" part) back into place, so I ended up still using the thumbwheel...

Any tips?
PS (edit): I think mine is a GL...

 

[Arash]

I have it put back together.
Winds and fires as many as you like, unless film is loaded, in which case it goes about 5-7 exposures before it gets impossible to move.
This is what led to the broken crank to begin with, so I don’t think it’s an issue with the reassembly.
Really frustrating and i’m not sure how to troubleshoot it.

@doc68
Interesting to know your GL is behaving same as mine. Good to know it wasn’t bone headed action on my part.

Reassembling was tedious.
Best I can offer you regarding the hairpin springs is to pay attention to the orientation as marked with the arrows in this picture.