Kiev 4 upper curtain drum locked

[zorroflores]

I kindly request the help of the experts on the Kiev 4.

I was cleaning the shutter module assembly, separate from the rest of the camera, looking into some uneven firing. At some point I rolled by hand the upper curtain drum beyond the point where is normally cocked and as a result the drum is now locked.

I tried to free it by moving the gear train that goes between the winding knob and the drum but somehow, somewhere there is a blockage, can anyone suggest where to look for or indicate a method to free it?

May be I should try to disassemble the drum and free the blockage form there on. I suspect that I managed to unsynchronize the drum from the winding knob cocked position.

Thanks in advance for your help

[Valkir1987]

May be I should try to disassemble the drum and free the blockage form there on. I suspect that I managed to unsynchronize the drum from the winding knob cocked position.

I can not recommend this, re assembling is very hard to do. Check the winding button, if the upper curtain will wind further, but not unwind there might be a problem with the setting of its gears. I just picked a parts shutter and tried the same and it indeed locks up in position, I shall try to fix it. But I can recommend you to have it repaired properly by Oleg or Fedka.

[Xmas]

Try rotating the escapments, really gently just in case one of them has jammed.

If this clears the fault I'd suggest replaceing the wind on knob and only use this for operating the shutter, damage is possible otherwise.

Stripping the shutter module is not recommended...

Nole

[zorroflores]

Valkir1987, Noel, Daniel,

Thanks a lot for your advice; it looks like I am in a dead-end as for my own repair.
I will try a disassembly since I have nothing to lose and next would be to look for the very cheap donor cameras. I really enjoy the challenge of repairing so my last resort would be an expert service (although I am sure will result in a much better performance).

Valkir, if you succeed in unlock your sample, let me know.
Daniel, yes, I know the KSS, I reached the point of module disassembly with its guidance.

Thanks again for any more suggestion you can provide.

Carlos Flores

[zorroflores]

Three bodies for 38 USD incluide shipping!, I can even make it by selling the scrap by the pound! (ok, a bit exagerated) , are they really in bad shape to make one from the 3?, I mean beyond a miracle or two?

[Valkir1987]

I've found the source of the problem, you are waiting for the parts body's. But while you are waiting you may try this to free up the shutter, it worked for my part shutter as well. When you move the upper drum to far it is locked up again by a silver wheel with a chrome screw on top, this wheel is connected to the great black gear.

I added some pictures below, they might help getting it running again! Succes!

[ruben]

Hi Zorro,
I am no expert in fixing, but it seems to me you may have dis-synchronized the shutter. If this diagnose is correct, then you are confronting the grandma of the hardest issues.

Buying 3 parts bodies from Alex will not be of help, unless you contact him and make sure at least one of them has a working shutter. Or you can negotiate with him a special price for a single parts Kiev with a working shutter. I do not recommend any of these for replacing a whole shutter mechanism. No parts Kievs from Alex is supposed to have a good working shutter.

I have heard from Mike that Oleg is very bussy by now, but you may try by yourself instead of hearing about it.

Therefore the quickest solution for me, if I were in your shoes, is first of all a coffee, for free, then buying a nice metered Kiev from the sixties, in exchange of us$ 45 (before shipment), and afterwards you decide if you exchange the shutters or keep your new kiev as your shooter.

Later you may send your stucked shutter to Oleg if there is something else you have for him or you want to purchase from him, in order to justify the price of shipping both ways.

Regarding Oleg, again if i were in your shoes, after getting my new metered kiev, I would exchange the shutters and send him both the stucked old shutter and the metered Kiev top casting for him to insert a new cell and calibrate the meter altogether. This would make a lot of sense.

Cheers,
Ruben

ps
any way it will be a bad policy to discharge a vendetta on the stucked kiev, a la Antonio Banderas.

[zorroflores]

Valkir 1987,

Success here too!, thanks a lot, the pictures made the process very clear. At first the drum did not want to move, until I rotated the winding knob at the same time that I moved the little levers.

It feels great to be out of the hole that one self falls in... there is always one hand to help, I appreciatte it very much.

Daniel,

About those 3 bodies, I have not ordered them yet but when I succeed with this first one maybe I will give a try, mmmmhh..

Next step is general cleaning, then retensioning the curtains, then lubricating and reassembly and who knows, it maybe even work..


Ruben,

I had the coffee already, it helped in calming down and not screaming or destroying something else; at the end Valkir1987 brought the solution, another day, another learning.

I will try to put in shape this Kiev, it is the challange that I find rewarding, more that just buying a nice camera (ok I am of this kind of nut..)

Best regards from Mexico and thanks again everyone.

Carlos Flores

[ruben]

Hi Carlos and Valkir !

Great achievement indeed, therefore: Que viva Zapata !

Valkir; I notice you are just 19 and I cannot express my joy for seeing you and other very young members dissecting Kievs as little toys. A big honour for our forum.

Cheers,
Ruben