Zeiss Ikonta B 532/16 Compur Rapid Aperture Repair

All,
Sorry for the cross-post with Yahoo Camera-Fix but I wanted the widest audience possible.

I have a Zeiss 532/16 that had a Compur Rapid sticky shutter & a Tessar 2.8
lens. In fooling with the shutter before disassembly one or more of the
aperture blades apparently came loose so that when the aperture was stopped up or down, the opening began moving more & more from the center of the shutter to one side and & the opening size was no longer accurate. I disassembled the shutter & removed the aperture blades as there was nothing else at this point that could be done.

After much study & purchase of the Compur factory repair manual I believe I
understand how the reassembled aperture should look & function. My problem is that nothing, including the manual explains how to accomplish this task. With 10 separate aperture blades, studs on each end of each blade, & the studs being on opposite sides of each blade, I have been physically unable to keep them all in place to sandwich the plates together.

There must be a way to do this? Maybe a jig that was used? I may not have the sturdiest hands, but without a method, this seems impossible?

This is like trying to rebuild an automobile engine using instructions that only
show you exploded views of the engine but no accompanying explanations. I have never seen a "hobby" where there is so little detailed information available?

Seems that an expert pro camera repairman could make more money selling detailed instruction then just repairing camera? He would also then make money on the backend form people who just could not complete the task. Is it that maybe no one does this work? Once the aperture is non operable, the shutter is just replaced by another?

Anyone have any instructions on how to accomplish this?

Thanks!
Bruce Varner

There has been a thread here about an overhoal of a Rolleicord.
Look in the repair section, I have written a couple of times about it.

Peter

All,
Thanks for the responses. I was able to complete the reinstall of the aperture blades. Very tedious. Two helpful hints did the trick.

Greg Heath on the APUG users group had instructions for such apertures. This is listed at: (there was a url link here which no longer exists).

sourcerck on the Yahoo Camera-Fix users group had the idea to use oil to help make the aperture blades "stick" in place while assembling. This is listed at: Dead Link Removed

I ended up following the great instructions & accompanying images from Greg while using a small amount of high quality gun grease to stick the blades in place. It was then a matter of wiggling the plate until slowly one by one the studs "snapped" into place. Once the majority of the studs where snapped in I lightly screwed on the plate to help hold those already in place while finishing the rest. The last two were stubborn. With those I used one of my thinnest machinist feeler gauges to push the final studs into place. I then flooded the whole assembly in naphtha, worked the aperture, let it set a while & dried.

Works perfectly!

Thanks to all who helped!

Bruce Varner

Ok,
My fears came to past. My method for reinstalling the aperture blades did NOT work. I spoke too soon. Using oil/grease to "hold" the blades in place resulted in the aperture blades again becoming sticky. What had been a warning from others in fact holds true. Any kind of oil on aperture blades causes those blades to not function correctly.

I had wrongly assumed that the naphtha would get into the crevasses and tight spots between the blades and wash away the grease I used. Did not happen. After many washings/flooding of the aperture mechanism, once all the naphtha evaporated, and several test movements of the aperture, sluggish blade function returned! This caused me to follow the reinstall path I was avoiding. Putting the blades together dry.

I was able to successfully complete the task and now do have a functioning aperture. However, it was difficult. I finally used a hardware store washer the size of the ring holding the blades & cut in half to hold the first six blades in place while installing blades 7 through 10.

I intend to place my adventure online in the near future, mistakes and all, to help others not only know what to do, but also what NOT to do. For now let me say:

1) Do NOT use any lubricant on or around aperture blades
2) Do not take a part the aperture mechanism unless you must
3) It does get easier the more you do it

Thanks!
Bruce Varner

Reseating aperture blades from a pile of metal is one of the most difficult jobs of camera repair.

It's a time-consuming job and usually takes me about 15 to 20 minutes. The worst is when you get them into position and something happens and one of them falls to the table. Because then you usually have to start from the beginning.

The 532/16 is one of the great Zeiss Ikon cameras.

Servicing the shutter is fairly straightforward.