Rolleiflex T1 – Shutter only fires when at infinity?

Bit of an odd one here - was wondering if anyone had any experience with this oddity. My newly acquired T1 seems to be running fine (all shutter speeds work correctly, half after every stop etc) but only when the lens part is close to the body. as soon as i focus closer (away from infinity), the shutter blades stop working. The mechanism fires, but the blades don't work.

Any ideas?

This happened with a T I had a while back. Whatever it is, either a lever or shaft, which extends from the main body into the lens carriage, and cocks the shutter when you wind on, isn't extending far enough forward for some reason. So it only engages when the focus is at or near infinity, i.e. with the lens carriage fully retracted back towards the body. You either have to remember to wind back the focus every time between shots (which I didn't) or get it professionally fixed (which I eventually did).

Edit - you say the mechanism fires? Mine didn't, but I still think it's not cocking properly for the reason given.

This happened with a T I had a while back. Whatever it is, either a lever or shaft, which extends from the main body into the lens carriage, and cocks the shutter when you wind on, isn't extending far enough forward for some reason. So it only engages when the focus is at or near infinity, i.e. with the lens carriage fully retracted back towards the body. You either have to remember to wind back the focus every time between shots (which I didn't) or get it professionally fixed (which I eventually did).

Very interesting. I hadn't actually thought about focussing after the shutter was cocked but that works. What a pain, but at least I have a workaround now. Thanks John.

Failure to cock the shutter with the lens panel racked out from infinity is quite likely due to accumulated wear in the shutter cocking linkages.

There is an adjuster to rectify this problem but it requires disassembly of the film winding crank and side panel to gain access. With the panel off, taking care not to lose some un-anchored small parts, focus knob set to infinity, a lock screw and adjustment collar is accessible through a hole in the wind crank mounting plate. Slackening the lock screw and nudging the notched collar by its edges clockwise with a screwdriver tip will tighten up the cocking action but must not be overtightened. This is a DIY job strictly for persons with experience of precision mechanical repairs.