Super Ikonta A shutter dissasembly.

[darin_cozine]

<p>I have a Super Ikonta A 531 that I purchased on a whim. (the kind with the flip-up rangefinder)</p>

<p>I have already removes the front half of the front element (a tessar on this one), cleaned the haze off, lubed the focus, and cleaned the rangefinder inside and out,readjusted the infinity focus. <br>

The one thing that bugs me is the shutter slow speeds are way off, almost to the point of getting stuck. I<br>

I am familiar with cleaning and lubing shutters, but the front assembly does not look straightforward to disassemble. I could just leave it and not use the slow speeds, but it nags at me.</p>

<p>Does anyone have good instructions on disassembling the super ikonta?</p>

[winfried_buechsenschuetz1]

<p>I am not sure whether the Ikonta A531 shutter is more or less identical to that of the 6x9 Ikontas. If so, you can follow the instructions for disassembly of a Moskva5 shutter which is a close copy.<br>

http://www3.telus.net/public/rpnchbck/Moskva5.html<br>

After removal of the gears of the rotating prism, usually the rangefinder needs some readjustment. This is not very diffcult, I think the procedure is also described somewhere in the web. <br>

Just a warning: Do NOT remove the slow speed escapement from the shutter assembly if you do not have a device to adjust shutter speeds. The slow speeds are adjusted by re-positioning the speed escapement with its oversized holes. Also, fast speeds may be somewhat off after re-assembly of the escapement. In many cases, some drops of lighter fluid on the gears do the trick. Do NOT use too much lighter fluid, it might transport smudge on the shutter blades. </p>

<p> </p>

[thirteenthumbs]

<p>Looking up the Ikonta A 531 several listings show a Compur shutter with Camerapedia showing a Compur, Compur Rapid, or Synchro Compur shutter. The internal view of the Moskva5 shutter is identical to a Compur shutter of the era.</p>

<p><br /> The Compur shutters use a spiral torsion spring, mainspring, for delay timing. With the delay escapement assembly out of the shutter pressing the operating lever at the right will cause the retard sector to disengage from the gearing releasing the mainspring. The tension has to be reset and tested. When adjusting the escapement the position of the left, double screw, end is positioned for the 1 second time, the right end is positioned for the 1/25 second time. If the mainspring has been reset 1 tooth turn on the gearing toward increase in tension or lowering the tension when meshing the retard pallet will determine if the escapement will position so that both speeds are correct. Some Compur shutters have a small lever at the right that is used to adjust the fast speeds.</p>

<p><br /> Which shutter does your camera have?</p>

[darin_cozine]

<p>Mine is has the Compur-Rapid. The A model is nearly identical to the C model. And looks to be very close to the Moskva externally as well. So thank you for the link! That is exactly what I needed.</p>

[thirteenthumbs]

<p>Although the service manual in this link http://benoit.suaudeau.perso.neuf.fr/manuels_rep/obturateurs/Compur-shutter-repair-manual.html is for newer shutters than yours the differences are not that great. I had a vintage Compur Rapid that I found the shutter blades, controller, and aperture ( bottom side of the main plate) matched one shutter with the top side of the main plate matching another. Using the diagrams of both and their servicing instructions, which assume you know how to do servicing and only need the special adjustments, and the lubrication guide, I put the shutter back into tolerance at all speeds. </p>

[darin_cozine]

<p>Good news. I have the shutter dissasembled. The blades are clean and snappy.<br>

However the slow speed escapement is worse than I thought. Doesnt seem like the main spring had enough force to work the gears. I have the escapement soaking right now. I will try it again when i know its clean. <br>

<br />From the lube diagrams, it looks like only the teeth of the gears need to be lubed. Not the shafts? </p>