Quick & Dirty Fix for Bessa L advance slip

[ettlinger]

Bessa-L advance slip is common. The camera is not worth sending to a repair shop. Don't put in garbage. The problem is the tension on the take up spindle. Open the back and using a butane lighter, needle nose pliers and a paper clip. Heat the paper clip and melt a small hole near the top of the spindle and push the paper clip. The little bit of melted plastic puts pressure on the spindle and the shaft below. It works. Would not do on camera worth more than $50. I do not know how long it lasts but if it starts to slip again, out comes the butane lighter and paper clip. Sometimes the best fix on a plastic camera is to melt it a little. I will not be responsible for burnt fingers or homes set on fire.

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

How did you even come up with this? I have never disassembled a bessa l but this seems pretty extreme. I would probably take it apart first to fix before I would burn a hole into it to force plastic as a tensioner. But I guess tis would be useful if you are away and without time or tools.

 

[ettlinger]

I could not find any successful repairs except sending away and paying more money than the camera is worth. The melted hole is very small and above the film area of the take up spool. There is a spring or coil of wire between the advance shaft and the plastic take up spool that is to provide the tension to the spool. Either over time or bad luck the take up spool does not have the tension to coil the film. There was a thread showing someone dissembling a bessa to solve the problem. He gave up.

 

[AgX]

There should be a train of gears between the the advance mechanism and the take-up spool, designed to make the take-up spool twist as much as needed to take up advanced film when yet empty.
To enable the take-up spool to turn less when it is getting filled, and thicker in diameter, a friction mechanism is located somewhere between advance mechanism and the spool, likely near the latter. Getting that friction reestablished should be the solution.

But as the original friction device failed anyway, why not trying an alternative method?

 

[ettlinger]

The Bessa L has a design problem. The friction is between the spool and the advance shaft. Any friction device will eventually, through use, slip more.
The take up spool is not connected or driven by the advance shaft directly. Just the friction between the advance shaft and the metal coil which is between the advance shaft and the take up spool. This is not a Leica.

 

[AgX]

Maybe I'm wrong on the typical path of forces and cameras may employ different routes for actuating advance sprocket and take-up spool. (I know of different linkage to the shutter cocking and for film rewinding.)

The advance sprocket must rotate for a fixed amount of "unrollment". The take-up spool must yield the same unrollment. As its diameter increases there must be a way to decrease the degree of rotation of the take-up spool. A friction device just before the take-up spool is the most simple solution, and it comes up for any tolerence in mechanics and film thickness.

 

[traveler_101]

I find the topic interesting, but following it s very difficult without an illustration provided. I like that the OP found some sort of solution without recourse to additional parts . . .

To the OP or anyone else: I have the Bessa-T; I've not had any problems with it, but is this problem likely/possibly going to afflict my am era as well?

 

[rockpowered]

How is your repair holding up?. Do you have a photo of where you made the hole. I was thinking of trying it but drilling a hole instead and adding a threaded screw to adjust tension

 

[fullframe35]

How is your repair holding up?. Do you have a photo of where you made the hole. I was thinking of trying it but drilling a hole instead and adding a threaded screw to adjust tension

I used the hot-poker (actually, a hot mini-screwdriver) approach and then used a small pointy screw to hit the next level. It seems to be working. I make the hole about a sixteenth of an inch from the top of the takeup spool.
The other problem I had with this camera was its balkiness during film advance. It would freeze up on me. I removed the bottom and put some gun oil in there and it worked fine, then the next problem to crop up was the take-up fun. Despite all the trouble it's caused, I really like the camera -- especially the fact that you can meter with your face off the camera. You've got to be able to frame almost intuitively, but I'm having fun trying to compose with a 50mm lens and no viewfinder and going with depth-of-field focusing.

 

[hasselbladuser]

I have a bessa L with the same problem. But since I am not an experienced repair man, but want to learn, I was wondering if you could make a photo of your fix and post it here? I would be very grateful for that !