Unjamming a Minolta XK/XM/X1

I was using my XK yesterday without issue the entire day. After rewinding my last roll of film, I discovered that the film advance lever would not move. It felt as if it had already been wound, but the shutter would not fire. In essence, it was jammed.
Now, this is not the common mirror lock up issue that can be caused by low batteries, or not pushing in the sensor thingy switch on the front of the camera. That is easily resolved by either rotating the battery cover from close to open and back (triggering a switch underneath it), or setting the camera to X.
The fix actually was very easy. I removed the camera's baseplate by removing the two little screws, and pushed a lever to the right with a tooth pick.
I have attached a couple of pictures for reference to help anyone else. Especially seeing that most repair places refuse to touch this camera.

Pic 1 - the base plate of the camera removed. The wind mechanism is on the right, and the lever that needs to be pushed is just underneath the rewind button, which is the silver circle directly underneath the film wind lever.



Pic 2 - a close up of the lever. Pardon the orientation (and the hairy knuckles!) but photobucket is refusing to allow me to rotate the image for some reason! The lever is in the center of the screen, to the right of the rewind button and just above that central gear.



In the above photo you need to push the lever from its top edge across to the central gear below it. The lever is actually lower than that gear. This will release the mechanism and the camera is good to go.
I would think that this principle would apply to many other cameras too, in case you ever face a situation of a jammed film advance lever.

Peace out
Huss

Thank you for this wonderful bit of information. I still use my XK/AES now and then and it often hangs up when I forget to switch it on and rely on the sensor switch. Turning the battery cover usually does the trick but it sounds like you had a different kind of jam. I will save your info just in case.

This guy also address the issue starting at the 5:00 mark.

Yeah...sorry, wrong guy and wrong video.

CMoore said:

This guy also address the issue starting at the 5:00 mark.

Click to expand...

No he doesn't. It is not the same issue and I mentioned that it was not this in my initial post:

"Now, this is not the common mirror lock up issue that can be caused by low batteries, or not pushing in the sensor thingy switch on the front of the camera. That is easily resolved by either rotating the battery cover from close to open and back (triggering a switch underneath it), or setting the camera to X."

RichardJack said:

Thank you for this wonderful bit of information. I still use my XK/AES now and then and it often hangs up when I forget to switch it on and rely on the sensor switch. Turning the battery cover usually does the trick but it sounds like you had a different kind of jam. I will save your info just in case.

Click to expand...

You're welcome Richard. Yes this is not the mirror staying up issue, but the film advance lever jamming.
I posted this here with pictures so perhaps it could help someone in the future if they encounter the same problem.

Sounds a lot like the cure for a jammed SRT 101 I had. A lever that blocks the shutter release from double exposing the frame had become sticky, so I took the bottom plate off, cleaned it with some Detoxit electronic cleaner and the lever was then able to rotate out of the slot when the camera was cocked.

Hey Huss,
I know this thread was from a few years ago but the info is just as relevant to me right now. Do you think you may be able to repost the photos as they seem to have disappeared ... at least to me.
Thanks for sharing your findings.
Ramps

Sorry Ramps, I no longer have the pics. But follow the instructions I detailed and you should be ok.

What??? you lost the negatives?
Thanks mate, will do
Cheers

Perhaps someone else can post a picture or two. I'm sure it would be helpful because the description will not be 100% clear to everyone.

I've created an account specifically to get to the bottom of this.
Here's a photo of the base of an XK (XM)

(http://imgur.com/DQsMxG5) (and in case the imgur embed doesn't work...)


Can Huss or anyone with the knowledge to explain further take my image and draw on what to push or prod?

I found this post after my own XM has jammed something fierce, so my winder is locked, the shutter is jammed open, and the mirror is locked open even after trying the battery compartment mirror release. I've also noticed that only the 1st curtain of the shutter is released and wound if I manually manipulate away the wind advance lock, but not the second curtain.

Hey mate, I'm sure you've already had a crack at this or fixed it yourself but I'm throwing this up for future reference.

The lever is the circle on the left, its a linkage that can be gently pushed out of the way while you actuate the film advance lever.
You can see the locking mechanism in the circle to the right, once you've pushed the locking lug out of the way, moving the film advance lever will rotate that barrel freely.

I found that unfortunately, despite fresh batteries which light up the battery level indicator. I still only get one shutter click and it locks up again.

@Finty, welcome to Photrio and for taking the time to clear up this issue! I'm sure many people will come across this thread in the future and they'll find your contribution very useful.

Do you mean the lever still sticks?

Try a few drops of isopropyl alcohol and work it around a bit. The lube has probably become sticky and this should free it up. If it does free-up, get some very light machine oil and put ONE drop on the contact surfaces.

Finty said:

Hey mate, I'm sure you've already had a crack at this or fixed it yourself but I'm throwing this up for future reference.

The lever is the circle on the left, its a linkage that can be gently pushed out of the way while you actuate the film advance lever.
You can see the locking mechanism in the circle to the right, once you've pushed the locking lug out of the way, moving the film advance lever will rotate that barrel freely.

I found that unfortunately, despite fresh batteries which light up the battery level indicator. I still only get one shutter click and it locks up again.

Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for following up!

Unfortunately I had already tried that and found it can only alow the winding and release of the 2nd curtain - The 1st curtain doesn't wind along with it, and the aperture tab in the bottom of the mirror box, and the mirror remain engaged and locked up.

Strangely, it also won't allow the shutter button to actually be pressed down - I have to set off the shutter by flicking the tiny lever underneath (directly above the 'push left' peice, to the right of the gear, in the shadow of the film advance release). Basically, something is very wrong

I've been looking into the few remaining professionals who service XK's/XM's/X1's since this is well beyond my knowledge and experience, but thanks for helping anyway!

Superirish said:

(My Spiel)

Click to expand...

A small update, I was able to release the mirror and the aperture engagement tab in the mirrorbox by opening up the Shutter Brake Block Plate (the larger plate on my earlier picture), and opening the advance lock pointed out by @Finty to rewind and release the shutter once. The Mirror and advance just followed suit and released themselves without the brake in place. I had the battery cap also in the 'Open' position so the mirror reset would trigger automatically.

That said, it wasn't a permanent solution - The shutter wind will still lock without manipulating that little lock under the baseplate, and if I fire again the mirror and aperture lock up again (so I had to repeat the steps above to unlock it).

I still have to get a professional to service it, but at least now the springs and gears aren't under any tension from the locked up issue!

I'm adding my desperate final attempt to release the mirror and shutter here for anyone else who wants to have them released at all costs.

Disclaimer: This is not a 'quick fix'. It is just to release tension on the shutter/mirror so it can sit on a shelf for a while before you can afford to send it off for a professional camera repair. I am not a repair expert.

With that out of the way;

(http://imgur.com/a/74TZMvl)

Step 1:
Following on where you've taken off the baseplate, unscrew the plate marked in blue with the 3 screws marked in red. Be careful not to drop the screws down into the camera, as the are tiny. The bottom left screw by the tripod mount is longer than the upper 2, as a sidenote. With the screws away, lift the plate upwards and to the left as there are 2 hooks connected to it underneath (they connect to the gears under the plate to the right, don't mess with that). Don't pull the plate hard as there are 3 wires soldered to it. You can unsolder them if you like, but it's not required if you are careful. The pieces underneath are lubricated, so don't touch those if you can.



Step 2:
With the plate away, flick the tab marked in red to the right. It should be moveable with next to no force, I did it with my screwdriver with a small piece of resistance. This will drop down the mirror, and if the shutter is locked open, will also release that with a click. This occurs regardless of whether the battery compartment is open or closed. Once you're happy this has been done, we can get to reinstalling. Don't flick or touch anything else, you don't need to.


Step 3:
To reinstall the blue plate, slide it in reverse to how you took it out. I.E., slide it in downwards and to the right. Take care to enter the connected metal hooks (marked in striped red) back underneath the gear on the right (marked in striped green). You'll probably move some lower gears on the right in the process, but for the time being that doesn't matter as we are only releasing tension, not trying to get it working again. Once the plate is snugly back in (DO NOT FORCE), reposition the wires back as they were and then rescrew. Again, the longest screw goes in the bottom left hole, next to the tripod mount. Be exceedingly cautious putting the 2 upper screws back in, as they can fall into the hole of the plate and you'll have to pull out the plate again to restart. I moved the screws into place from the top of the camera to their positions avoid the risk.


Once reinstalled, you're done! Screw back in the baseplate. NEVER WIND YOUR CAMERA AGAIN. Don't press the shutter button either, if for some reason the shutter didn't release. Put it on a shelf, save up your money, and seek one of the few professionals who service XK's in the US listed here: https://earthsunfilm.com/repair-services/. Be honest with your pro of choice and tell them you did this so they are aware.

Or better still, don't do any of this and go to a professional immediately.

Thanks for you effort and report. I'm sure it will help someone out, and stimulate discussion & ideas. I have a "stuck" XK somewhere, that I'll find sooner or later, and try to "fix" it. If I'm lucky, it will be an easy fix -- AKA, NOT REALLY broke.