Sporadic frame counter on early Kodak Monitor 620.

Hello: I hope I can pick up some information here. I purchased a Kodak Monitor, #3794, lens #6400. It might be a 1939 model as it doesn't have the CAMEROSITY date code on it, & I've heard that the date codes didn't start until 1940. Anyway, the shutter, a No 1 Supermatic, is good, & the bellows are dark, everything seems good. I loaded it with a trimmed 120 roll of Ilford FP4+ with a 620 take-up reel. It started ok, but I'm suspecting that the film/paper is not, at times, turning the little sprocket that turns the frame counter. I still have to finish the roll, but if my suspicions are correct, the film will run out before the frame counter shows "8". Is there anyone out there in the ether that has experienced this with a Monitor? What did you do to remedy it? I'm thinking that perhaps a spacer, foam or ?, in between the film/paper & the pressure plate, right where the sprockets are, might aide in the film/paper to consistently turn the frame counter. Or not. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks. -Rich Reeder, Mesa, Arizona.

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Have you checked the frame spacing by looking through the red window as you wind the film? If the frame counter doesn't work at all you can move the lever marked "WIND 1-8" to the "WIND" position and look through the red window as you wind to the next picture. Flip the unmarked lever in the viewfinder to use the shutter release on the body or just use the shutter release on the lens.

The frame counting mechanism might need cleaning and lubrication after all these years. It is located under the top plate of the camera and it doesn't appear hard to get to.

A cut-down 120 spool doesn't work at all in my post-WWII Monitor because it is so tight I can't advance the film. I have torn film trying. I have to respool 120 film onto metal 620 spools to use my camera. Even the plastic FPP spools are too tight. A tight supply spool might be part of the problem.

My advice is to respool 120 onto 620 spools. I have never had good luck trimming 120 spools to work in 620 cameras. I have a late Monitor and it is an outstanding picture taker. It is every bit as good as my much more expensive Zeiss Super Ikonta C.