FE Winding/Shutter Issue

[arnold_schmidt]

<p >Hi everyone. I just picked up a Nikon FE from eBay, I didn’t actually intend on buying one but it shipped with a Nikon 55/2.8 Micro which I have been wanting for some time.</p>

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<p >The lens is working well, however the FE has obviously had a bit of hard life and isn’t working quite right at the moment. I was wondering if any more experienced Nikon users could cast some light on why this might be the case.</p>

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<p >There seems to be a total lack of linkage between the winding/shutter cocking mechanism and the winding handle, in other words when I pull back the handle in an attempt to wind on the film and reset the shutter for another cycle nothing happens. The handle moves freely because there is no resistance.</p>

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<p >Otherwise I see the camera as being fine, I put some fresh batteries in it and the metering needle moves freely and provides sensible results based on the set film speed and lens aperture. However due to the lack of resistance in the handle (which doubles as the on/off switch) the meter is running whenever the batteries are in place.</p>

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<p >My friend has another faulty (light leaking) FE which he doesn’t use anymore and he may be willing to pledge some parts to help my cause. Maybe I could extract a crank mechanism from that body and insert it into my own I could get the camera working properly.</p>

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<p >Does anyone have any words of wisdom for me, I’m not hugely fussed if I don’t get any joy from this camera but if there’s a quick fix or something I’m obviously missing it’d be nice to have it running properly once again. Thank you.</p>

[dave_brooks1]

<p>Rewind may be engaged,check the rewind button on baseplate. As I recall, this was an occasional problem with the FE.</p>

[arnold_schmidt]

<p>Interesting suggestion Dave but the wind lever is still slack wherever the rewind button is placed.</p>

[phil_burt]

<p>Robert,<br>

If you drop me a note at: philonweb@bellsouth.net I will send you back a picture of the winding mech, with the bottom plate removed. It is in good detail. Another lister here on Photo.net sent it to me as I have a similar problem with my FE. After the 1st I am going to take the bottom off and see if I can't repair it, might just be something hung up.</p>

<p>phil b</p>

 

[hammer531]

<p>If you go to this web site <a href="http://www.manuals2go.com">www.manuals2go.com</a> , they have copies of the service manual for the FE , not too expensive , lots of diagrams and they are available as a download .</p>

[arnold_schmidt]

<p>Thanks Michael. I have just found <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FVYGuuNYF6QC&pg=PA27&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0#PPA17,M1">http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FVYGuuNYF6QC&pg=PA27&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0#PPA17,M1</a>, a problem similar to mine (loose winding crank) is noted on pg17.</p>