Leaf shutter cocks but fires immediately -- solution?

Hiya, I have here a Baltica 35mm camera with an Ovus leaf shutter

(probably an East German version of the Prontor) that was working

pretty well (except being a bit slow from 1/5 sec on) until, uhm, it

didn't.

 

I was cocking and firing the shutter many times, noting that while the

speed dial could be turned to "B" and "T", it was impossible to cock

the shutter when set at these. Neither could the dial turned to these

settings when the shutter had been cocked at any of the other speeds.

However, everything else seemed fine, so I cleaned the glass, removed

some dirt and checked out the film advance, all the time playing

around with the shutter.

 

And then... something must have happened.

 

Now the shutter cannot be cocked correctly anymore. I mean, I can move

the lever that cocks the mechanism, but it doesn lock in place. This

causes the shutter to fire immediately after I remove my finger from

this lever. The speeds are still alright and still "B" and "T" cannot

be used, but for all practical purposes the camera is useless now.

 

I cannot figure out what went wrong and how I could fix this. I mean,

I swear I didn't even open the shutter or did anything stupid (I can't

even figure out HOW to open the Ovus)! Has anyone experienced anything

similar and knows a quick cure? I sure would like to get that camera

back in working order, or else it's that big internet auction site for it.

The Ovus could be a clone of the early Compur. You don't cock the shutter to use "B" or "T", and you can't use these settings if the shutter is cocked.

 

I think something broke/got bent in the mechanism when you tried to cock the shutter at "T" or "B". It can probably be repaired, but it will take a couple of hours, and the focus has to be adjusted afterwards.

 

Maybe this page can help:

http://www.daniel.mitchell.name/cameras/index.html

The Ovus looks indeed more like a Compur shutter! Though the fastest speed is 1/200 second, it seems to be very similar in operation and disassembly to the Compur-Rapid shown <b><a href="http://www.davidrichert.com/zeiss_521_16_compur_rapid_shutter.htm" target="_NEW">here</a></b>. I have opened the shutter, but I can't see anything out of the ordinary (my shutter looks like <b><a href="http://www.davidrichert.com/521%2016%20shutter%20rebuild/Ikonta_Repair7web.jpg" target="_NEW">this</a></b> now). Can anyone advise me what part controls the mechanism that keeps the shutter winded/cocked? Pictures and detailed answers would be greatly appreciated.

When setting a (early) Compur-like shutter you move a cocking rack, i.e. an internal ring which tensions a long spring (the other end is attached to the shutter bottom). This cocking rack has several cutouts, one of them should be held back by a detent in the cocked position. This detent is controlled by the shutter release lever. When opening the shutter and moving the release lever you should easily notice which is the detent in question. Maybe its spring is misbend.