Ansco Speedex - brewing basketcase or no?

[rogueguineapig]

Hey folks,


sometime lurker, first time poster here.
My uncle gave me an Ansco Speedex, which is in pretty decent shape. The bellows only have one small pin hole which I think
can be repaired easily. Additionally, the shutter and cocking mechanism work like a charm.

On the other hand... the focus ring was frozen, and I managed to dissemble it and then get a lot of the Agfa green goop out.
The focus ring now works.
The dissembly of the whole thing was quite messy, but I did get it back together....I did it from the front, which gave me access to the
shutter mechanism, but not the aperture.

In the process of letting some goo-gone seep into the lens assembly, I got the aperture selector loose...and that's when the trouble started.
I was able to move the little pointer, but then the aperture iris partially froze, leaving it in the state as seen in the pix below. Moving it around
made no change...the aperture is only partially working.

Additionally, I cannot get the silver outer ring (which controls shutter speed?) to move. It's frozen solid. Or maybe I'm trying to actuate the wrong thing!

Anyway... anyone have any experience or advice with these? I'd love to try this bad boy out as a broke student, but I'm
not sure it can be salvaged, and from eBay prices I can kind of surmise that paying for a pro repair job isn't really worth it.
My uncle bought it as a shelf-queen for kicks, so it's not heavily laden with sentiment, but I'd still like to use it.

Pix below, any ideas, comments, or suggestions appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[gone]

It looks like one, or some, of the aperture blades have come loose judging by your third picture. Those are the shiny crescent things at the bottom of the pic inside the lens assy. It may have been that way when you got it, or it happened afterwards. The whole shutter will have to come apart to fix that, and its a real PITA. Myself, I have not had any luck w/ that. In fact, I have a camera just like yours sitting in a drawer that has that very same problem. I hate to throw it away because its a beauty, as yours is, and the lenses are really good, but I don't have the patience or the working knowledge to get those aperture blades back in place. Maybe you will have better luck.

I'm not sure why the shutter speed ring isn't moving. Probably bcause some little arm needs to be put back in place correctly. If you take your time and study it out you should be able to resolve that, but the aperture blades are a separate, and harder to fix, issue

 

[shutterfinger]

1. slide the standard back into the camera.
2. open the camera back.
3. using a lens spanner wrench unscrew the shutter retaining ring from the rear of the shutter, its the part with the notches in it in picture #3, then set the lens/shutter combination off the camera.
4. look at the back of the shutter, are there 3 or 4 screws around the outside perimeter of the shutter? there probably are as I don't see any in picture #4 on the main plate.
5. Aperture blades are very thin and stick together with any trace of oil or grease on them. If they have no broken pins or broken blades they lay on the fixed plate in a counterclockwise pattern until all blades are in place and at the full open position then the operating lever ring lays on engaging the exposed pins then assembles to the main case if the case separates otherwise the main plate lifts out then the operating ring lifts out.
Aperture blades frequently have different ends so pay close attention to how they are currently installed before removing them.
Goo gone is nasty stuff, have fun removing its oily residue as it is a PITA.

As far as that stuck speed ring remove the screw holding it to the top plate, separate, clean, coat with a trace of lightweight grease and reassemble.

Finally remove the lens cells before doing any thing else after reading this post.

 

[rogueguineapig]

I definitely will listen to Shutterfinger!

questions:
on the step #1... by "The Standard" you mean the lens assembly? Collapse the camera before working on it?

"Remove the Cell Lens" ...this is the back lens inside the baffles, correct? The one in the picture of the aperture?

The "Speed ring" as you call it... would that be this:
The silver outer ring? This rotates to the pointer, correct? The pointer always stays vertical but the ring adjusts?
I did dissemble it and clean it...it seems stuck like crazy...

(All these pictures are pre-cleaning, I went in and thoroughly removed the goop)

 

[shutterfinger]

The front standard is the plate that the shutter is attached to.
The lens cells are the lens glass front and rear of the shutter.
The speed ring will be the outer, moveable ring with the front plate having the indicator and remaining stationary.
Shutters usually assemble at T but may have to be turned to get all the levers and pins to align into the dial plate. If it will not turn it is not aligned properly.
Pay attention to parts position and location when taking the shutter apart. Taking pictures works best.
The main plate must be removed to access the aperture blades, screws for the main plate may be on the rear of the shutter.

 

[John Koehrer]

Another thing that can happen with an aperture flush cleaned is the solvent can cause the blades to freeze from
solvent residue. The solvent MAY be released by another application. I wouldn't use Goo Gone but Naptha or lighter fluid.
When the blades do loosen watch them open & close. You can watch the solvent evaporate.
The blades can free up and seem loose but can also stick again. Just repeat the process. Over and over and over......etc.

 

[AgX]

Another thing that can happen with an aperture flush cleaned is the solvent can cause the blades to freeze from solvent residue. The solvent MAY be released by another application.

I don't understand: how can a solvent that just freed stuck blades make them freeze?

I guess you mean that after freeing the shutter and spooling off the goo added solvent could resolve dried lubricant in some recess, that after finishing work will creep between the blades and by evaporation of the solvent make them stick again.

Am I right?

 

[shutterfinger]

I guess you mean that after freeing the shutter and spooling off the goo added solvent could resolve dried lubricant in some recess, that after finishing work will creep between the blades and by evaporation of the solvent make them stick again.

That and as shutters operate even with good lubrication micro fine particles of metal come off the moving parts. The amount of micro fine particles increases as lubricants dry up and the shutter is continued to be used. Flushing with Naphtha or other degreaser loosens these micro fine particles and redeposits them in the recesses like where the aperture pins go and other recesses where a quick flow of degreaser does not exists. The micro fine metal particles may be only 1 micron in size but will be retained in the grease or oil that dries on the edges of the moving parts and builds up over time. Solvents do not turn the dried grease and oil into solution, they release it from the metal parts and it is often in clumps that easily sticks in other places out of the main solvent flow.
How severe all this is depends on age, use, type of lubricant, frequency of servicing and storage conditions.

 

[John Koehrer]

I don't understand: how can a solvent that just freed stuck blades make them freeze?

I guess you mean that after freeing the shutter and spooling off the goo added solvent could resolve dried lubricant in some recess, that after finishing work will creep between the blades and by evaporation of the solvent make them stick again.

Am I right?

Yes, shutterfinger has an excellent description.
But Goo Gone leaves a residue even if it's left on an exposed surface. It's made to remove residue after a tape or stick on label has been removed.
Maybe they're not supposed to leave residue but both Alcohol and Naptha will stick blades together if they're not thoroughly dried.