Compound Shutter Slow Speeds
sheldon_...@hotmail.com
I just picked up a very clean Turner Reich triple convertible in a
Compound shutter. The shutter was firing only at the fastest speed, so
I took the face of the shutter off to discover that the lever arm, and
the pneumatic air retard piston, that governs the speeds, was stuck. I
applied some pressure and it freed up. I then removed the cylinder and
piston, cleaned and replaced them.
The shutter is working again, but the slow speeds are SLOW - too slow.
The piston is moving freely in the cylinder, so what should I look at?
Should I put a TINY bit of very light oil on the piston, or that I big
NO-NO? Or would I be better off lightly oiling the joints/pivot points
on the piston-lever-governor arm?
Thanks in advance.
Sheldon
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Alexander Kraus
the chamber and then piston can't move at all. Don't use any oil at all. A
tiny bit at the wrong spot and you can start dismantling and cleaning the
shutter!
There are two possibilities: 1) Take out the piston and polish it carefully
and do the same with the inside of the tube.
2.) Decrease the tension of the counterbalance spring (goes from 1 o'clock
down towards the region of the cocking lever). This can be done either by
(slight!) bending or sometimes the shutter has an excenter screw at 1
o'clock to adjust the tension.
This procedure isn't as bad as it sounds ;-) However, you should get
yourself a device to test the shutter speeds (e.g. from Calumet ~$75) in
order to mark the speeds on the dial.
Good luck!
Alex
<sheldon_...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:8cm3da$34r$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
Richard Knoppow
>Hello All.
>
>I just picked up a very clean Turner Reich triple convertible in a
>Compound shutter. The shutter was firing only at the fastest speed, so
>I took the face of the shutter off to discover that the lever arm, and
>the pneumatic air retard piston, that governs the speeds, was stuck. I
>applied some pressure and it freed up. I then removed the cylinder and
>piston, cleaned and replaced them.
>
>The shutter is working again, but the slow speeds are SLOW - too slow.
>The piston is moving freely in the cylinder, so what should I look at?
>Should I put a TINY bit of very light oil on the piston, or that I big
>NO-NO? Or would I be better off lightly oiling the joints/pivot points
>on the piston-lever-governor arm?
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Sheldon
>
>
NO OIL!!! You can adjust the slow speeds by adjusting how much the
end caps on the air cylinder are tightened down. The air leak is
around the paper gaskets inside the caps. Loosen the caps and tighten
them till they just stop. Then fire the shutter. It will probably go
too fast. Tighten the right side cap (as you face the shutter) finger
tight and check again. It should go a bit slower. Then tighten the
left side cap finger tight and test. If its still too fast (it
probably will be) tighten it again but only with your fingers. You
should find some combination of tightness of both sides which will
result in the slow speeds being quite accurate.
>Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
>Before you buy.
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, Ca.
dick...@ix.netcom.com
Alexander Kraus
Richard Knoppow <dick...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:38eed8df....@news.mindspring.com...
[...]
> NO OIL!!! You can adjust the slow speeds by adjusting how much the
Although this method sure works to some extend, it is not the way Compound
shutters are meant to work. Normally both caps are as tight as possible and
the air squeezes between the wall of the tube and the piston into the other
chamber as the piston moves. A loose end cap would be a source of inaccuracy
as it might get more or less tightened just by handling the shutter.
Moreover, dust might get sucked into the tube and alter the speeds.
Usually old Compound shutters are to FAST at their long speeds, not too
slow. In the case your suggestion won't work at all. The reason for this is
that the counterbalance spring looses a little bit of its tension over the
years.
Regards,
Alex
Richard Knoppow
I've had success adjusting some Compounds this way in the past. Your
post caused me to open an old one to look at the mechanism again. I
think you are probably right about the spring. In the shutter I looked
at (a very old one) this spring is a flat, rather husky one which
bears on a cam attached through some levers to the air-brake. It has
an obvious adjustment kink in it. It would appear that the shutters
were originally adjusted by some combination of adjustment of this
spring and shaping of the speed cam.
I do not have a manual for Compound shutters. I am sure they exist
but none of the sources of reprinted manuals seem to have them.
Compound shutters were made for something like seventy years so one
would think manuals are available somewhere.
sheldon_...@hotmail.com
I thought that the oil would be a bad idea, so I held off on that. I
took off the shutter face again and monkyed around some more - fixing
the flash synch etc, and the slow speeds problem has seemed to worked
its self out with repeated cycling of the shutter.
Thanks again!
Sheldon
skgrimes
Compound shutters. I routinely repair these and find that they are much more difficult to repair
after they have been subjected to amateur (and yes, I grant that these efforts are sometimes
successful) repair techniques.
SKG
--
S.K. GRIMES -- FEINMECHANIK -- MACHINE WORK FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
153 Hamlet Ave (5th floor) Woonsocket, RI 02895
+ Lenses mounted into shutters.
+ Shutters repaired, restored.
+ For more info-- http://www.skgrimes.com.
(updated 3-4-00) (New Spanner Wrench)
mailto:skgr...@skgrimes.com
<sheldon_...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:8cm3da$34r$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> Hello All.
>
> I just picked up a very clean Turner Reich triple convertible in a
> Compound shutter. The shutter was firing only at the fastest speed, so
> I took the face of the shutter off to discover that the lever arm, and
> the pneumatic air retard piston, that governs the speeds, was stuck. I
> applied some pressure and it freed up. I then removed the cylinder and
> piston, cleaned and replaced them.
>
> The shutter is working again, but the slow speeds are SLOW - too slow.
> The piston is moving freely in the cylinder, so what should I look at?
> Should I put a TINY bit of very light oil on the piston, or that I big
> NO-NO? Or would I be better off lightly oiling the joints/pivot points
> on the piston-lever-governor arm?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>