Project Nikon F/FTn/F36

farlymac

farlymac

PF McFarland
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I never thought of myself as the type who would own an F. Maybe as a collection piece, but not to shoot. My likes were for the F2, and I'm really happy with it. But I saw this lonely F/FTn with motor drive sitting in an antique shop, with a sticker that said "Non-operational", and the price was reasonable for a parts camera.

Well, I take that as a challenge. So I get it home and start to look into it's faults.

It's got a bit of desilvering on the prism peak, but then that imparts a nice vertical alignment line in the view, so maybe I'll be able to keep my horizons straight. I take the finder off, and discover the battery cap is missing. But the contacts in the well aren't corroded, so that's a good sign.

The battery compartment on the cordless pack is corroded, so that's going to take a bit of work. All the dials on the F36 drive move as they should.

The lens, a Nikkor-H 2.0/50 looks really nice, with snappy blades, and a smooth focusing ring. No dents in the filter ring either. And no fungus or dust inside.

Now on to the body. The first thing I noticed was that the mirror flips up when you wind the shutter. That just blows. Then when I tried the MLU, the mirror didn't go up. But upon winding the shutter, the release then jammed. Double blows. Then I noticed something very small poking it's red head out of one of the holes in the camera base plate for the motor pins. I pushed it aside, and the shutter release then was unjammed. So, I've got loose parts running around inside the base plate. Securing that screw may or may not fix the mirror problem, but I'm betting it's highly related.

Will keep advised on further developements. If nothing else, it will be a great display camera. Or I could get a standard back, and actually use the thing.

PF
 
If I remember rightly, the F36 is hard to work on but you seem to be good at this. It's been many years since I took apart an F but it's modular, coming apart in chunks like wind system and mirror box. F's had to be adapted to work on an F36 and that took a special baseplate that is now valuable and hard to find. It has several extra holes and a lever to let pins from the F36 act on the camera. Battery packs are not hard to find and I prefer the Jacobson model. The little electrical connector for the original pack is hard to find so hang onto that. Good Luck. Joe
 
Thanks for the encouragement, guys. Since I've got a cold at the moment, working on the camera has been out of the question for a couple of days. However, that loose screw managed to make it's way out of the camera, so now all I have to do is consult the repair manual to see where it goes. And I took some time between dozing on the couch to read the Nikon/Nikkormat Handbook today, to familiarize myself with the workings of the camera and drive. Seems I have the earlier version of the battery pack/handle without the support screw to keep you from bending the grip. It also takes the two-prong cable plug. I had worries that the body might not be synced to the moter, as it's black, and the motor has a chrome base, but after looking around, that seems to be pretty common. And the body isn't one of the later "Apollo" versions, but the serial number is in the 7 million series. I'm looking forward to putting in some work on this one.

PF
 
There are two actuator pistons (for lack of a better word) which are fund on the top of the F36 which each have a fine flat head screw threaded into the face of each. Those are adjusted and shimmed with VERY thin washers - to adjust the timing of the motor drive. These each interface with the two holes found in the modified baseplate of the F body. Inside that plate there is a see-saw rocker, I forget the exact operation, but this rocker and its timing are critical in order to allow the motor to advance at the right time, and then to fire the shutter. I love those cameras, just don't have one anymore ( film costs too much to burn thru it with a motordrive, even if it is the coolest one ever made)

Good luck with your restoration!
 
Thanks, jBrian. Though a lot of references mention the syncing, they don't tell how it's done, so now I know. If I do bring this one back to life, I'll likely put a standard back on it, and use the drive sparingly.

PF
 
I love the F36s great fun I've got three of them I've found that a bit of trial and error trying different bodies you can normally get them to work only had to adjust one of them to get it working. I only use them on slow single shot as I think its a bit rough to ask a 50 year old camera to work so hard.
 
Update One 20130311

Update One 20130311

Once I get started on something, I hate to stop in the middle, so I spent some quality time with the F/F36 rig yesterday, into today (damn DST).

The mirror problem was cured by replacing the loose screw in it's proper place, and locking it down with some Weldbond. Did some general cleaning on the body, took the A screen out and cleaned it, and checked all the mechanical functions. Set the FTn finder aside for later.

Then I tore into the F36 drive. Cleaned up some corrosion on the contactors in the battery pack. I broke one terminal board in half (that PC stuff does get brittle with age), and fixed that by soldering on wires to replace the board traces that were pretty much eaten through anyway. Still didn't have any power, so I opened it up again, and found a wire that had corroded and broken off the two-bladed plug terminal. Cleaned that up, and resoldered it, and had 12.88vdc at the plug. But all I get out of the drive is the sound of a relay click. Looks like I may have to get that standard back after all.

I promise photos when this is all done.

PF
 
Update Two 20130311

Update Two 20130311

As promised, photos of the repairs so far. The full set and three videos can be seen at the link on the bottom of this group.


917_2 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Nikon F with FTn finder, F36 Drive, and Attachable Battery Pack



920_2 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Screw replaced and locked with Weldbond



967_2 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Oops!



971_2 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Replacing PC traces with wires



978_2 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Broken connection

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7699588@N07/sets/72157632970674493/

Any ideas as the what the problem may be with the drive "click"?

PF
 
Update 3 20130313

Update 3 20130313

I dove into the drive, hoping to not lose any screws. And haven't heard anything from all my connections (they must be laughing their arses off while I flail about on the workbench). Added 23 more photos to the link at the bottom of the previous post.

Here are three of them.


993_2 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Back Cover Latch Assembly Parts



998_2 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Top Of F-36 Drive Exposed



999_2 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Bottom Of F-36 Drive Exposed

Still can't figure out why the motor doesn't work. Maybe it's just dead. Plan B is looking better every minute.

PF
 
You may need to get a circuit diagram. The full manual is available occasionally on ebay. Seems to me there may be a diode or two in the circuit. Maybe they are blown. Or the insulation has failed in the motor. Have you tried applying direct voltage to the motor, to confirm that it works?
 
That would be a thing to try, Vic, if I had a wiring diagram. I did find a repair manual online for $36. Not in the budget this month.

PF
 
Here you are:

188928_10151574311204783_1515060971_n.jpg
 
Thanks, Vick. You are a prince! I got the chassis opened up today, and jumpered up the motor with a 9v battery. It runs, but that battery got really hot. I checked the diode too, and it's okay. Uploaded 13 more photos, and a video of the motor test rig. I did clean off all the contacts, and did a partial reassembly to see if it would run, but still no joy in Mudville. I didn't see any broken connections. There's enough Moly-coat inside there to last another fifty years. And oh yeah, a black back would be nice. Let me know what you want for it.

PF


012_2 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Exposure Counter Detail



019_2 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Drive Train Front View



020_2 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Drive Train Back View
 
farlymac said:
I dove into the drive, hoping to not lose any screws. And haven't heard anything from all my connections (they must be laughing their arses off while I flail about on the workbench). Added 23 more photos to the link at the bottom of the previous post.

Here are three of them.


993_2 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Back Cover Latch Assembly Parts



998_2 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Top Of F-36 Drive Exposed



999_2 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Bottom Of F-36 Drive Exposed

Still can't figure out why the motor doesn't work. Maybe it's just dead. Plan B is looking better every minute.

PF
Click to expand...

I'm attempting a fix at the moment..how did you remove the latch assembly? I'm struggling with this.
 
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