Hasselblad 500 EL/M - mirror up, can't unjam

[hycday]

Hello everyone,

I found 3 Hasselblad 500 EL/M in the attic. I bought a 9v battery adapter to make them work.

One of the three works wonderfully, I put the battery and it works great.

The other two, however, there is nothing going on. Mirrors are up and switches on the right side position is in position "o" (not L, not T) and selectors to "O" (not AS / A / S or SR). Everything should run but nothing happens.

I read that it was possible to uncock/unjammed them by turning a screw inside, lens side.

On the camera that works, I can do it, turning the screw until the mirror goes down and locks, without forcing.

But on both models that do not work, I turn the screw, the mirror goes down but as soon as I release the screwdriver, mirrors back pronto.

Therefore impossible to re-arm the camera, despite having followed the manipulation described here: www.dmin-dmax.fr/photoe2b.htm or here http://www.david-odess.com/faq.html#q18 (even if it is not the exact same issue, i.e. the body of the cameras don't have any lense attached)

Are there experts in the area that would be able to advise me?

Can the failures come from an internal spring that prevents the mirror to hang on the bottom?

Or a problem in the power supply level? or with the 'shooting button' ?

I noticed a small difference: watching the body of the camera (without lens / or film) from the back (so like if I was looking through the lens), with the 2 devices that do not work, on the right side there is a bit of an apparent gear, while for the device that is working, the gear is inside the body and I see no teeth but only a flat portion.

In advance, please excuse my english, not a native speaker.

Thank you in advance for any help !!

hycday

 

[hycday]

Thank you for your answer. So it's not something I can try to do by myself I guess ? Are you aware of any listing where I can find such pro CLA (as I live in Europe), or should I try to see local camera shops and ask ?

Just out of curiosity, what are/is the main problem that cause the mirror to go up as soon as I release the screwdriver from the screw on the front, lense side ?

 

[John Koehrer]

Something like a malfunctioning latch would act like that.
I'd agree w/mr 19 about needing service. Sitting in an attic for years allow the grease to
set so various bits stick from old lube.

 

[Terry Breedlove]

This guy worked on my lens of for me he is super nice. He is in America but maybe he knows someone closer

http://www.david-odess.com

 

[hycday]

so I checked indeed the fuse...(I used the one from the working Hasselblad) and for one of defective cameras (let's call it Hassy A) the mirror start moving, motor rolling and now when I press the fire button, I here a click. Nothing moves however.
I opened it following this link (https://wkb.home.xs4all.nl/Hasselblad/Naked-Blad/) up to the point where I see the green thing that looks like a battery and the gears on the body (above the motor unit).
On two gears (biggest one on the left, and medium one on the right), I see arrows marked, and they are aligned. The mirror is up, and when I look at the back of the body, I don't see any gear anymore, just a flat surface of metal. So There must be something preventing the system to move when pressing the fire button.
edit : I just tried something, in AS/A mode it works perfectly, I can shoot, everything goes back automatically etc, but in O/SR modes, it will only shoot once then if with a screwdriver I just nicely push the gear on the right (medium size), it rearms the camera and I can shoot again.

On the other Hasselblad (Hassy B), I am working on it, trying to figure out what part is messing around..

 

[hycday]

Thanks for explanation regarding the solenoid !
For Hassy A, attached a video explaining a bit more what issue I have now. But basically, it works for AS/A modes, not for O/S/SR where I need to touch the gear, or sometimes if the hasselblad is bended or else it would work. No idea how to fix that, but I'm almost there ! I will not remove anything from the body part, as indeed, I could mess some critical alignment (wasnt aware of that 71.4mm thing, thanks for telling, love to learn new stuff). But what would you recommend to make it work ? it's as if I have to give a really small bump so that the gear turns (ps : sorry for filming it vertically.....)


For Hassy B, I took a picture attached, seems like two red wires were out, no idea where to put them. I think in the middle, but not sure. And once back, it's not that easy to put everything back (I tried to, without putting the 2 wires back, just to see) ! I did it once to try, but forgot the removal part of the solenoid -_- (classic, I know, even if I saw this same mistake in the link above, and I was like "pff how can someone forget that" and yet I did...). So now, once I get these two wires back, I hope it will work !

Will post evolution for Hassy B, and wait for any advices for Hassy A !

Thanks again all !

 

[frank]

I read somewhere on the internet (so it must be true, right?) that the electrics on that camera can handle up to 12 volts, so 9 shouldn't be a problem.

 

[frank]

Well besides the fact that a 9v has no capacity. You will be eating them up like candy. Do what you want, but I wouldn't fool with them. I can solder up a nice pack out 5 eneloop triple A's in about 45 minutes. Plenty of capacity, they hold their charge, and are cheap.

Just looked up the mAh capacities of AAA (1000) and 9v batteries (500), and was surprised. Thanks!

 

[hycday]

Yes agree on the AAA, 9V are shitty in all ways, still dont get their use in the electric world but I use them here for 'testing purpose'. As soon as I get them working I will definitely do a nice pack of AAA !
As for the lever not cented, can you please provide more details, I am not sure to what you are referencing at (not an english native...).
Again, thanks for your precious help, you are a true helper here !

 

[JOR]

There is a well-respected Hasselblad service establishment in Paris, Les Victor, 5 Passage Piver, 75011 Paris, France. tel 01 48 05 11 12

 

[hycday]

So until I can build myself a 5aaa envelop, I checked Hassy A again, and this is the part (dunno the name), that isn't going back to the left, and therefore is blocking sometimes one gear when on O/S/SR modes (when on AS/A, this part is pushed to the left, therefore, no issue) :

Im sure it's something silly, that needs to be a bit greased, or rescrewed, not more.

For Hassy B, I will check with a real service, such as the one mentionned by JOR (thanks for that btw) since I can't get it to work even though I fixed the two red cables, I think it's the motor unit since the rest is turning, mirrors up/down perfectly well now.

edit : For Hassy B, I managed to have the solenoid work (see at 5th second in the video), and simulated its effect on the mirror at 11th second, however, the rest where the motor should turn the gears to bring down the mirror doesnt seem to work...yet (?)

 

[hycday]

So...I have been working on Hassy B all last days...
I ended up opening completely the motor unit, played with the electronics, resoldered all the wires, tested the solenoid and...worked ! tested the motor and..worked ! now, the game was to put everything back inside, I did it many times before understanding all the links (solenoid needs to be carefully put so that it would trigger a gear and a small switch needs to be VERY carefully put as well so that it would stop the motor from turning when the mirror is down. all that done, I can now say that my cameras are working !!!
I have really happy to have done this as I learned a lot how it works from the inside !
Thanks for your support and great help !

 

[hycday]

Now it's time to build these 5 aaa envelops and respect these beasts