argus AF sad shreddy sprocket wheel

[removed account4]

so ...

i bought a bevy of argus af's some older some newer
and 3 of the 4 of them have sprocket wheels that drag
inside the cameras so they chew up the film ...

have any of you in DYI REPAIRLAND ever work on old argus cameras
and have you found a way to make the sprocket wheel roll freely ?

thanks in advance !
john

 

[removed account4]

well ...

i swapped all the backs and got 3 of the 4 of them to wind without shredding ..
i noticed i had 3 backs with a stationary pressure plate and 1 with a plate that is
kind of springy, so .. i let the 3 OK ones be, and then pryed off one of the stationary
plates ( vulcanite glued on the back ) and rolled up a piece of duct tape put the plate inside he camera
then the back on to position it... when i stuck my expired roll of cn400 in it to test ... it did the trick

so, if anyone else has and wants to use one of these weird cameras ... but the sprocket wheels are chewing up the sprocket holes
remove and make the pressure plate well, less of a pressure plate ... now i have to run some expired film through all 4 cameras.
its gonna feel nice to see, even if they are crappy, the photos these early 35mm cameras make.

 

[Matthew Rusbarsky]

It's been a while since I've looked inside an AF but the pressure plate should have nothing to do with it. There are 2 star wheels connected by a shaft. One wheel is molded onto the shaft, the other is screwed. If the wheel that is screwed on becomes loose the teeth of the upper and lower wheels no longer sync and you tear sprocket holes. I'm pretty sure that top wheel has a pin on top that acts as double exposure prevention. Winding on hard while neglecting to push the advance button on top can either tear film or loosen up the star wheel as one wheel wants to turn with the film and one can't.

 

[removed account4]

hi matthew

i can hold the advance button down with the back off, the wheels move freely ..
i have a dummy roll of film i would in the camera with the back off and everything worked perfectly

i also thought the backs wouldn't matter, i was told ( and have read ) they interchange and all is good ..
but ... at least with mine, the plates seemed in different places so they applied pressure against the film
which in turn didn't let the spindles wind freely ...

thanks for your advice !
john

 

[Francis in VT]

jnanian
All the information you might need can be found at the Argus Collectors Group.

http://www.arguscg.org.

Just ask a question and some knowledgeable person will answer it.

Francis in VT

 

[removed account4]

this is most excellent !
thanks francis in vt !

john in ri