Not your typical Hasselblad 500 EL/M Jamming Issue‏!

[Ira Rush]

After what seems like forever, my trusty old EL/M has jammed.

Now it’s not the usual… “Well I was trying to take a lens off, before I wound it” scenario… as the EL/M is cocked automatically, that is assuming fresh batteries and something other than this bizarre incident.

So here is what happened… I was exercising my EL/M, without a lens, shooting in “A” mode (continuous firing) with an A-16 back.

Normally after the last shot, the motor stops and you can’t fire any more. What happened however in this situation was this… it went past 16 shots, the motor went crazy, the mirror stayed up, rear shutter panels were up and it was not cocked as seen by the front shaft pin as it was not lined up with the dot.

Turned the LOT switch to “L” to lock it, motor stopped whining away. Removed the magazine, and with a small jewelers screwdriver, tried to turn the slotted screw clockwise, it wouldn’t budge. Turned the LOT lever to “O”, put the mode selector on “O”, (single frame), the motor turned on and whined away, turned the screw clockwise (this time it worked) until the click and stopped, and it was cocked. Motor stopped whining away.

Turned the LOT lever back to “L”, made sure it was cocked, it was, mirror was down, and yes the shaft pin was lined up with the dot. Everything seemed fine at least I thought so!

Decided to test further, with lens still removed, put on another A-16 back, but this time with old outdated film. Put LOT lever to “O”, the body into “A” mode, kept my finger on the trigger, motor sounded fine, watched the magazine counter move properly for about 6-7 frames, then it jammed again. Motor whined on and on. Turned the LOT lever to L, motor stopped.

I removed the magazine, put the body on “O” setting, put the mode selector to “O” also, (no motor sound this time) tried rotating that slotted screw, it turns but does not click into place.

Now, I don’t know if this means anything, but I also noticed, that the magazine seemed to move up and down, very, very slightly while the motor was running and film was advancing. Never noticed that before!

So here is where it stands,

No motor sound at all, mirror is up, rear shutter curtains are down, camera in any mode, be it “A”, “AS”, “O” the same thing. … Nothing, no motor sound, nothing.

Changed the shutter release from the top spot to the bottom, thinking perhaps it was a magnetic issue, nothing, tried to release from the multi pin side socket… nothing! Changed batteries, changed fuse, nothing

Mirror is up, body is not cocked, no motor sound, and camera seems dead.

Now I know there is a technique out there on the web that has you removing more screws (the bonnet I think it’s called) turning, twisting and removing more screws etc., etc. Doesn’t seem overly complicated to do, and is supposed to unjam a body, but I am wondering if my situation is a motor issue or something more severe.

With the low prices of a used EL/M or even an EL/X, fixing this one may be silly… but if it’s a simple fix that I am overlooking I may want to give it a try.

So, anyone out there ever have this situation happen, and if you did what did you do?

(Also, I vaguely remember that there is actually a way to use the EL/M mechanically, without batteries and I am wondering if that may help.)

Thanks in advance

 

[mikebarger]

This body deserves a CLA. If you buy a different body how do you know it won't give you problems after some amount of use? If you speed the money for a CLA, you've got a good solid workhorse and you know the history.

As I accumulated Hassy stuff I bought items like this pretty cheap, sent it off to David Odess before I even played with it for a CLA. One time I spent more than I expected on a back, but three other backs, three lens, two C or C/M and one ELM body I've ended up with a good working equipment with a 6 month warranty.

My 2 cents, I'd send it off to David Odess, or your favorite repairman, and have him give it a look.

Mike

 

[Sirius Glass]

This body deserves a CLA. If you buy a different body how do you know it won't give you problems after some amount of use? If you speed the money for a CLA, you've got a good solid workhorse and you know the history.

As I accumulated Hassy stuff I bought items like this pretty cheap, sent it off to David Odess before I even played with it for a CLA. One time I spent more than I expected on a back, but three other backs, thress lens, two C or C/M and one ELM body I've ended up with a good working equipment with a 6 month warranty.

My 2 cents, I'd send it off to David Odess, or your favorite repairman, and have him give it a look.

Mike

What he said.

http://www.david-odess.com/

Steve

 

[Ira Rush]

This body deserves a CLA. .....

Mike

Thanks Mike,

Yes, under any other circumstance I would agree 1000%, but , this had a CLA about 2, maybe 3 years ago!

Makes me wonder what they did

Something else is going on I think...Maybe I'll try another place...

but in the meantime, any one else have any ideas?

 

[mikebarger]

Ira,

I know your looking for different information, so don't take this as arguing, but I suspect (from experience) there are more below average camera repairmen out there than above average.

Mike

 

[Ira Rush]

Ira,

I know your looking for different information, so don't take this as arguing, but I suspect (from experience) there are more below average camera repairmen out there than above average.

Mike

Mike,

This time I do agree 1000%

Believe me, I am not taking anything as an argument, I know exactly what you mean.
I agree David O. is excellent.

Did not use him last CLA (my mistake)

But without beating a dead horse (or in this case a dead Hassy ) just maybe I am hoping that I am overlooking something simple.
(Then again, I still believe Digital is a passing fade )

Once again, thanks

 

[BobNewYork]

I'd agree that there are repair people and there are repair people. It's tough to blame "the repair person", however, if the problem arose 2 - 3 years after the CLA. I was once told by an auto mechanic after several "bring backs" that the problem was "the nut behind the wheel." Embarrassingly, turned out he was entirely correct!!!!

Bob H

 

[mikebarger]

True Bob, David will tell you he can make mistakes, and something unforeseen can break just after a camera is in for the repair of something else. He may have some examples on his website.

But I do think the "good" repairmen, whatever the craft, catch a lot of the unforeseen things that the average or below average guy would miss.

Ira, I hope it is something simple but looking at my EL/M I can't figure out what it might be from your description above.

Mike

 

[Q.G.]

It's hard to tell what is causing this. Could be a bent lever somewhere. Could be something else.
I don't know if there is an easy fix, and what it would be if there is one.

The camera 'kicking' the magazine is not that unusual, if only slightly. A sign of troubles if it is quite noticeable.

The technique described on the web to unjam a 'hard jam', involves moving the front key away from the lens, so it can be taken off. It as such does not unjam a camera.
And a jammed EL(...), with everything hooked up to that motor through gear trains, with levers to 'operate' the different release modes, is quite different from a jammed C(...).

And alas, there is absolutely no way to use an EL(...) mechanically, bypassing the motor.

A good repair shop should be able to give you a quote for a repair, on which to base the decision of either repair or replacement. EL/Ms do not cost much. But a 'new' used one may have issues that need attention too.