shutter aperture repair

My Synchro-Compur (w/ Schnieder Angulon 6.8/90) has developed a

problem that I have been unable to find a procedure on how to fix.

I've searched the web for repair procedures for these shutters and

have found heaps on CLA. (That's how I came across this forum).

However, my problem is the aperture iris, not the shutter itself.

Several of the iris leaves have come loose from their pins and I no

longer have a nice round circle as I stop the lens down. My

question: How does one get to the iris diaphram? Can it be accessed

from the back by removing the 4 screws from the cup or is it

necessary to remove all the shutter parts and access it from the

front? Are there any tiny things that are going to jump out and crawl

under the carpet that I have to be aware of? My mechanical abilities

are fairly good, but I'd like to be aware of as much as possible

ahead of time. Thanks in advance for any help.

Check with S.K. Grime's Shop: http://www.skgrimes.com/index.htm

 

They're wonderful, advice is good, work is Top-Notch and the pricing is extremely reasonable if you decide to send it in.

 

Cheers,

Tony P.

Charles: I did this once with a larger compur. Once the innards are free from the shell (which may mean unhooking what goes through the side of the shell) you turn it over (guts down) and lift the case up. The leaves with their pins will all come out. They are small (and even smaller on the size you're asking about), and exceedingly difficult to get back into place. My mechanical skills probably qualify as very good, but what is my time worth? Pay Grimes etc. $80 to have it done right or spend an hour or two of my own time on it and have it (maybe) work right. With a compur in particular, lubricating it in the right places with the right amount of lubricant makes a big difference. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone d.i.y unless it's an educational opportunity on a junker to satisfy your curiousity. The available instructional materials I have seen on this are barely helpful.

There are actually plenty of older repair people who will probably do this for you locally. Call around. The going price for a knowledgable CLA on an older shutter is $55-65. If you can't find someone near you, Manny's Camera in LA did a beautiful job on a Synchro-Compur of mine a couple of years ago for about $60.

I dove in and attempted the repair myself, against everyone's advice. The repair was successful and I thought I would post my procedure in case others are willing to attempt it. Dissassembly was fairly straight forward. After removing the shutter assembly from the lensboard and unscrewing the front and rear lens elements, I removed the 4 screws on the back after removing the aperture selection marker from the side. The back then lifted off and revealed the iris diaphram holder. I removed the 3 screws that hold the stationary part of the iris and there they were, all 10 leaves in their disarray. I cleaned the leaves with lighter fluid and then attempted to replace them. I found this very difficult as I attempted to place the remaining 3 leaves under the first 7 until I wet the leaves with lighter fluid to act as a light adhesive. It wicks under the iris leaves and holds them in place, but you can still move them around with toothpicks if need be. Then it was relatively simple to place the leaves uniformly and align the pins with the holes in the stationary cover. Don't attempt to move the iris until the fluid evaporates (took about a half hour). The only problem I had was figuring out where the small spring that holds the cocking mechanism catch went. After studying the mechanism for a while it made sense. I replaced the spring on its pin and viola, everything is working fine.

 

Thanks everyone for your advice, and I hope the above is helpful to someone.