yashica newbie

[yellowminded]

hi guys!

i'm a very new yashica fan. i have two yashica electro 35's. an older one (with the sculptured recess in the bottom plate) and a relatively newer one (circa 1973). the older one is not working and i am very interested in opening it up to learn how to do basic repair and calibration as described in the yashica-guy website. however, i have no background in electronics whatsoever and am basically ignorant about the tools i might need to work on my yashicas. i was wondering if you guys would help me learn what basic tools (list) i will need to be able to do the following:

1. open up top and and bottom plates to get access to whatever are inside them.
2. clean up the inside of the viewfinder.
3. adjust the infinity setting of the rangefinder.
4. align the asa dial.
5. open up and clean the inside of the lens elements.
6. fix stubborn focusing rings

my newer electro gsn is in a very good shape and looks almost new if not for the very slight fog marks insided the view finder. however, it may also have that metering problem in low light situations. i have just run my first roll of film through it and am waiting for the outcome but i'm somewhat sure that it performs just about right in bright daylight situations but am doubtful about its performance in low light.

i'm planning on getting another gsn in the future and i would like to be prepared. 🙂

i just love the feel of this yashica. a world's difference compared to my yashica fx2. it would be cool to make it work flawless.

thank goodness for this forum!!!

-sherwin

 

[RichardS]

Check the website of Yashica Guy at http://www.yashica-guy.com/
You can probably find out just what models of Electro you have and also get information on making repairs to them.

Dick

 

[jrong]

This guy has a good page on repairs for the Yashica 35 too.
http://homepage.mac.com/mattdenton

Good luck,
Jin

 

[ErnestoJL]

There is another source of information about how to repair those beautifull cameras, it is the Roger Province´s web page. He also included the electronic schematic diagrams for the Electro 35, together with an excellent explanation about how it works, step by step. He didn´t include component values, as they may vary form one batch to another (as it does with the timimg capacitor, and the values for the diaphragm resistors).

Good luck!!!
Ernesto

 

[jon_flanders]

1. open up top and and bottom plates to get access to whatever are inside them.

You will need a small screwdriver and you will need to work over a space that will catch your screws if you drop them.

2. clean up the inside of the viewfinder.

You will need a razor to peel the top of the viewfinder off, and some glue to glue it back on after you clean the viewfinder glass with a q tip and windex. Don't mess with the mirror.

3. adjust the infinity setting of the rangefinder.

Haven't done that, it is not supposed to be too hard.

4. align the asa dial.

I made up a tool to match the two holes by grinding two points on a cheap scraper. Ditto for the winding knob. You can do this with one scraper.


5. open up and clean the inside of the lens elements.

You might be able to grind a scraper to catch the grooves in the outer ring and the outer lens ring. Otherwise you may need a spanner wrench. Check EBay or Microtools.com

6. fix stubborn focusing rings

I'll leave that one to Greyhound Man.

Search for the "pad of death" on this forum for discussions about how to deal with that problem.

 

[yellowminded]

thanks a lot to all those who replied. i appreciate it a lot. i've checked out the yashica-guy website before i posted here. but i found that it's too much information for a beginner. he did not elaborate much on the tools he uses. that tool he used to detach or unscrew the asa dial and the film winder is called Adjustable Snap Ring Pliers right? with replaceable tips? and what are C-clips? matt denton used a different, tweezer-like thingie for this. i think he called it a point spanner. is it one and the same with the spanner wrench? 🙂

guys, i hope you understand my confusion here. i just plainly know next to nothing about this kind of hardware. 🙂

the older yashica electro i have has a really stubborn ring. in fact, it wont move at all. but i'm really not very concerned about that right now. what i want to do is be able to check out that PAD of death. i do not know if its a click or a clunk i'm hearing because it sounds like a loud click that it could be a clunk. 🙂 do i really need to peel off the leather to get to the PAD? that part i still do not understand. and i probably wont understand it until i actually start to take the camera apart. peeling the skin off seems too painful for me because i got a really nice sample. and i'm not sure i could re-cement the skin to its original appearance...