Kowa 6 / 66 stuck or jammed or hung - winder busted, etc - SOLUTION INSIDE!

There is? Never noticed one in the Kowa 6 and Super 66 I've had apart. What brings the winding to a halt, is a pawl dropping into the over-soft slot of an under-engineered spacing wheel. If the crank is used, you get extra leverage, which puts more force on the chewing-gum-like spacer wheel, with a higher likelihood of the wheel teeth bending against the pawl. When that happens your frame spacing goes awry and you'll eventually get overlapped frames. That, to me, is a much more serious fault than making a clutch (if there is one) do what it was designed to do a little more frequently. In fact a slipping clutch would prevent too much force being put on the spacer wheel, and IMO that could only be a good thing!

 

WRT the Pentacon 6. Another good camera when it works. Mine gave great service for a lot longer than my Kowa 6 lasted. It eventually needed a CLA, which was a total PITA. The slow speed adjustment entails carefully 'nipping up' the gear-train assembly to the focal-plane mechanism, within a fraction of a millimetre precision and only a single screw-head to hold it in place while the rest of the camera body is assembled round it. An exercise in total frustration.

 

OTOH, my metal-bodied Mamiya 645s have just soldiered on for decades with only the need for minor attention, plus the replacement of their foam light seals. Perfect frame spacing every time and an instant-return mirror. No lens or shutter jams, and the camera doesn't care if it's wound on or not when you change lenses! Or if you slam the film door closed a bit too hard.

I would consider a ratchet-and-pawl to be a "clutch mechanism", albeit one without the slippage that the automotive variety would employ. It's just semantics.

I like my way of _gently_ advancing the film on a Kowa which helps avoid the strain. Perhaps you prefer another technique. Cool.

Hey, guys. So, I'm stuck - like my camera.

I had the general issue with the locked winder, took the lens off and now I can't even get that back on. It seems like the pins for the shutter are not perfectly lining up to lock in with the body (Kowa Six mm).

I literally just got my film in today, had never seen any issues before with locked up issues, and suddenly, the moment I try to wind the film in, it sticks and everything goes to hell.

If you can help me at least get my lens back on the body properly, i'd be grateful.

Thanks for your time.

Jeez, when will people learn not to touch Kowa Sixes with a bargepole?

I had the general issue with the locked winder, took the lens off and now I can't even get that back on. It seems like the pins for the shutter are not perfectly lining up to lock in with the body

OK. There's a tiny brass pin that needs to be depressed, then the two lugs that cock the lens can be twisted around to the cocked position.

Obviously, the body and lens need their lugs and holes to align before the lens can be mounted. Usually it's the lens at fault, since it's easy to trip the lens while it's off the body.

Also , the 2 cocking pins at the back can look to be in place, but they're not . Make sure you twist the 2 pins firmly

against their stop , if the shutter blades are visible it means it's not completely cocked . Get back to us if this doesn't

work , also include a pic of the back of the lens . Peter , a lover of freak cameras :)

I'm also having problems with the super 66 which I have acquired although I think my problem is different to those I've seen so far...

So at the moment I cannot remove the lens or the back and the mirror is in the up position. The lens is also not cocked. However, when trying to wind on in order to cock both the lens and the body, the winder just turns freely without much resistance.

I've taken the panel of the side to look inside the mechanism to see if I could figure out the issue. I can't see any obvious damage to any of the gears that some people have stated before. The only parts that move is the gear mechanism connecting to the film back that winds the film. The lower gears that are connected to the winder shaft don't engage which from my tinkering seems to be the part that drives the cocking mechanism. While turning there is what looks like a pawl mechanism (might not be a pawl...) attached to the bottom gear which clicks when turning.

I'm not sure if the problem I'm having is that the cocking mechanism has become de-synchronized?

The two gears I have highlighted below is where I think the problem is. The gear pointed to on the right simply doesn't turn when attempting to wind on and I feel like it should on order to drive the gear on the left.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I'm going to see if I can find any of my pics from servicing these cameras . But , first of all , those 2 gears are not

the problem areas . There is a gear on top of your right hand side (red arrow ) gear , this gear is driven by a single toothed

pawl that fails and causes (one of) the winding problems . Peter

The first picture shows the small drive gear that is driven by the winding crank . The second shows the

pawl that engages with that gear and then drives the shutter and film advance . The pawl I repaired by

brazing a carbide tooth from a circular saw blade and then winding a spring to fit (was a bit too much

heat for the little thing) ! Should you take that plate ( held by the 3 screws ) off , check that the spring

is in fact there and working . Hope this gives you a bit more to play with . Peter

The two gears I have highlighted below is where I think the problem is. The gear pointed to on the right simply doesn't turn when attempting to wind on and I feel like it should on order to drive the gear on the left.

Just an observation.

That mechanism shown by the OP looks far too clean to be in a camera that's been working. It looks to me as if the camera has been previously stripped and cleaned. There's no grease or gear 'dust' anywhere to be seen.

My suspicion would be that the previous owner has attempted repair and failed, or stripped the mechanism and incorrectly re-assembled it.

If this camera is a recent acquisition, then simply put it back together and pack it off whence it came for a refund. If that's not possible, then resell it for whatever you can get for it.

Buy a Kowa 6; buy a lifetime of grief. Because that camera and/or lens will almost certainly spend more time in repair than in operation.

The first picture shows the small drive gear that is driven by the winding crank . The second shows the

pawl that engages with that gear and then drives the shutter and film advance . The pawl I repaired by

brazing a carbide tooth from a circular saw blade and then winding a spring to fit (was a bit too much

heat for the little thing) ! Should you take that plate ( held by the 3 screws ) off , check that the spring

is in fact there and working . Hope this gives you a bit more to play with . Peter

Thanks for these pictures Peter, I understand what you were saying now. I've taken off the mechanism to get to the pawl and I can see the Achilles heel now, the pawl just slips when trying to engage with the gear. Check the picture below for the condition of the pawl, I can't see exactly where damage has been caused but it does seem really small. The only other thing I can see is that my spring is attached differently to yours, I don't know if that's significant? But I suppose there's not much that can be done without fixing the pawl as you have...

Mine was so completely screwed up that the small tab was actually bending away . I can't say if yours is all that bad or not .

Is it possible for you to try and turn that gear by hand to see if you can complete the lens cocking operation , Peter

Mine was so completely screwed up that the small tab was actually bending away . I can't say if yours is all that bad or not .

Is it possible for you to try and turn that gear by hand to see if you can complete the lens cocking operation , Peter

Oh really, seems like you did a good job fixing the pawl though. After re-assembling the winding mechanism I found that somehow the pawl had stopped slipping as much and I did manage to get it to cock and fire once. After that though it started slipping again. It's frustrating that this tiny part is the only problem with an other wise functional winding mechanism (from how it seems).

I can get the pawl to engage and wind on with a little bit of assistance by applying a bit of pressure onto the pawl so it stops slipping. I wonder if a stronger spring attached to the pawl would stop the slipping problem.

A possibility , but you may have to bend it yourself ( not that hard if you find the wire gauge you need). It might be

worth contacting "Ross Yerkes" in California , he may have or offer a repair for that part . Peter

Or do you know a welder that works with small stuff .

^ Great observation "Joe" :) . Is that plate you mention with the 2 screws actually adjustable ? My experiences with

the 2 damaged ones I got had such mangled teeth that an adjustment wasn't even considered , nice to learn

something new every day . So do you believe there's a possibility he could adjust that plate for a better engagement

of the pawl tooth ? Peter

Is that plate you mention with the 2 screws actually adjustable ?

It's been a while since I bothered to fruitlessly poke about inside a Kowa 6/66, but that plate rings some sort of bell. Plus there are repairer's scratch marks at one end of it, so I guess there's some movement in it when those screws are loosened.

So do you believe there's a possibility he could adjust that plate for a better engagement

of the pawl tooth ?

Maybe. What is there to lose?

Thanks for the ideas joe and peter. I had wondered what exactly the purpose of the plate was, I'll see if I can adjust that to achieve any success.

I think I'll try replacing the spring for the pawl with something a little stronger to stop it from slipping so easily. The spring in place looks a bit mangled. I'm not sure if applying some extra lubrication on some of mechanisms might help too. I'll report back on progress (if any...).

Good luck! But I'd thoroughly check any lens(es) that came with the camera before spending a load of time on the body.

Those Seiko/Kowa leaf shutters are a pile of donkey poo as well.