Widelux slow speed (1/15s) slippery

[ffttklackdedeng]

Finally, the user Widelux (F8) arrived today. Unfortunately, it's not trouble free, the main issue being that the 1/15s gear sometimes starts turning very fast and then suddenly catches on to its normal speed during the turn. Sometimes it slips just a small part (like 10 degrees), sometimes half of the way. Sometimes it starts smooth and slow (as it should) and works fine all the way. Once it catches on it seems to run very even for that 'frame' (haven't tested with film yet).

I understand that each time on the Widelux has its own 'brake' mechanism so the other two speeds should not be affected.

Does anyone of you know what could be the cause of the slipping? Brake gears worn down? But then it should run very uneven every time, or not? So maybe just some screw not tight?

Is there anyone in Europe (EU) who is working on these?

I'm torn between returning or keeping, the F8s don't pass by often and I was searching for one for quite a long time (and the price was lower than expected).

Thank you for any comments!

 

[motosacto]

If the rest of the camera is in good shape, it's worth fixing. I do not have any info on European repair folks. If you're willing to ship the camera to the U.S., I can recommend Precision Camera Works. They did a nice job on my Widelux F6.

 

[ffttklackdedeng]

Thank you very much, motosacto! I think I will try to see under the top cover first (before sending across the ocean), maybe I can see what's going wrong..

 

[ffttklackdedeng]

Hello again

Hello again

After looking at the heart of the machine, my main suspect is the clutch on the gear for the 1/15s. This gear has a slip functionality (sorry for not knowing the correct wording, I try my best) so when winding the camera the brake is not engaged.

Might be easier to explain with a picture: imagine the yellow gear a tiny bit to the left so the big yellow gear pairs with the small orange one (which is what happens when the 1/15s is selected). Shutter is triggered, the big turret turns. The big orange gear will transmit the movement to the small green one (which you can't see in the picture but it's under the big green one you see), the big green will transmit to the blue one which has the brake on top.

When the shutter is cocked, the turret is also turned but in the other direction. Then after the big yellow to small orange transition, the big orange gear does not move. So there is the clutch which prevents the user from working against the rather strong 1/15s brake. Seems to work fine but (!) it doesn't engage immediately when the shutter is tripped (that is my assumption until now, it's hard to really see it in realtime since everything moves so fast).

I would like to look inside the clutch in the big/small orange gear (which is easy to take out of the complete gear) but don't really know anything about this sort of things and wouldn't like to ruin anything. If anyone knows about how to go on I would be very happy to hear about your ideas! Thanks alot and sorry for the long post..

 

[ffttklackdedeng]

O.k, my last post on this topic: yes it was the clutch / freewheel part, and opening it up was easy with a very small screwdriver. I've cleaned it (and described the whole process of getting there on my home page) and now the 1/15s runs with the correct speed from the very beginning.