| Author |
Message |
Zombola
New member
Username: Zombola
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2010
| | Posted on Monday, July 12, 2010 - 06:46 am: | 
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Hi I'm completley new to this.
My friends bought me a gorgeous vintage brownie 8mm movie camera for my birthday. 1 of the lenses is missing but two are still in tact. Aside from that it is very clean and looks to be in good nick.
I have wound it up and it still spins but not at a regular pace, it seems to slow down then speed back up.
I didn't want to open it up without knowing what I was doing. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks
Ash |
Chiccolini
New member
Username: Chiccolini
Post Number: 104
Registered: 06-2009
| | Posted on Monday, July 12, 2010 - 10:09 am: |
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One of two things.
1) it has been sitting for years in a half wound up condition and the spring is now "set" so it slows down when it reaches some point(s) when running/unwinding. Nothing to do about that unless you want to install a new spring.
2) it needs a re-greasing. The inner works may run smoothly when the spring is all wound up but the old grease may provide too much resistance when the spring has used up most of its winding up energy. If the camera sort of vibrates or shakes at some points while running then the spring needs cleaning/regreasing also. The old grease sort of "dries" and becomes "sticky". Then the coils of spring stick to itself so, while in use and unwinding, the coils of spring suddenly "slips" past itself when, as it unwinds, it overcomes the sticky resistance of old grease causing the sudden "jump" or shake. |
Zombola
New member
Username: Zombola
Post Number: 2
Registered: 07-2010
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 - 12:51 am: |
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Hey Chiccolini,
Thanks very much for you reply. I just wound out up quite a way and it runs smoothly for about a 40 seconds and then the irregular timing kicks in, there is a deffinite judder when this happens and it starts to vibrate. I'd say its exactly what you have described about the old grease.
Could you tell me what kind of grease I could use? Also, is there anything I should know when taking it apart to re-grease?
Thanks very much
Ash |
Chiccolini
New member
Username: Chiccolini
Post Number: 105
Registered: 06-2009
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 - 05:55 am: |
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I took one of these apart in 1972 but, as you might guess, I don't remember anything about it.  Basically, I don't try to fix these because, as the technicians say, "economically unfeasible to repair" or it is not worth it.
Movie cameras use heavier grease than on regular cameras so some stuff like they use to grease car joints would probably work fine. |
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