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Rewind Jam - DIY Repair
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(I've now created a step-by-step photo set for this fix... some questions below may be answered by it. Sorry it took so long:
Okay, so while I was rewinding my latest roll the winder jammed on me. I kept winding it forward and back, pressing on the shutter release to free it up, but nothing.
I ended up taking it into an unlit room, opening the back and removing the film so I could tinker with the mechanism.
Now follows the big mistake... I removed the screws mounting the upper plastic and unscrewed the head to the rewind mechanism so I could see what the problem was... tiny things literally went flying everywhere. I eventually managed to gather everything back together and re-set the thing to original function... I think. The problem is that, while the upper housing was off, I was able to move the rewind freely... once I put the housing back on, the jam returned.
Very frustrating, and very likely I've put my Smena back together wrong, so I might have thoroughly ruined the bloody thing.
I can deal with the jammed rewind, since I can just take out the film in a blacked-out room and re-spool it manually, but I'm more concerned that now the advance mechanism won't properly function, and may not "lock" when I've gone one full frame and such-like. I haven't tried fitting in some new film and giving it a test... I need to pick up some cheap stuff that I don't care might get wrecked.
Anybody run into this jamming problem and/or have some internal schematics/knowledge of how the upper-body mechanism is supposed to fit together?
Originally posted at 6:58AM, 9 November 2008 PDT
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suckertash edited this topic 32 months ago.
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Well... nevermind.
After two repair shops what said it would cost more for the repair than the value of the camera, I got fed up and took the thing back apart again.
Here's the rundown, should someone else run into the same issue:
THE PROBLEM:
The film won't fully transport... it will only roll about a frame forward, and rewind only about a frame back. Either way, the same-feeling jam. When film is removed, both the advance wheel and the gear-wheel for the frame counter work perfectly fine. However, attempting to turn the rewind knob will reveal the jam.
THE CAUSE:
The rewind mechanism is the problem. It has an exceptionally tiny screw in the main shaft which, if loose, ends up hitting the viewfinder glass, so the film will only turn so far in either direction.
THE WARNING:
Fixing this does require removing the upper housing. If you're going to risk this like I did, be exceptionally careful. The shutter-release/frame-advance mechanism is pretty delicately set together, and involves a tightly-wound spring set directly beneath the shutter-release button. In addition, the viewfinder glass itself is not really held in place by much. Just take it real slow and easy and ideally somewhere without carpet.
THE FIX:
- Unscrew the two visible screws on the top. (Keep track of which one goes where... there are three total screws and no two are the same.)
- Open the back panel as you would when loading film.
- Grab hold of the indented loading peg on the left (the one you set the new roll of film onto) so that it can't move.
- Pull up the rewind mechanism as you would when going to rewind film, but turn the top knob opposite to the usual direction (counter-clockwise). If you're gripping the peg tight enough, you should eventually feel the knob "give." It should unscrew right off.
- That done, you'll see the third screw revealed just in the shallow trench where the knob usually sets. Unscrew that and you can gingerly remove the whole upper housing.
- Get the absolutely smallest flathead screwdriver you can from a standard eyeglass/jeweller repair kit.
- Looking at the stem of the rewind mechanism off of which you just removed the top, it should look like a metal tube, with a small black peg inside, revealed by a groove in the metal. Within that groove, on the black peg, is the exceptionally tiny screw, and if it's the cause of the problem, it should be sticking out past the edge of the groove.
- Screw it in. It should just recess back in, just past the edge of the groove.
- Theoretically, you ought to be able to just replace the upper housing and screw everything back together. For me, unfortunately, it required sorting out how the whole bloody shutter-release mechanism fit together, but I did figure this out. Should you ever find yourself in this situation, just drop me a line.
Cheers.
Posted 42 months ago.
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Mine is kinda broken, I'll follow your instructions. I hope I can fix it. If I can't, it's my fault :)
Posted 41 months ago.
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Lol! Good luck to you Lean. Let me know how it works out.
Posted 41 months ago.
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could you include some pictures to fix it,
I'm trying to fix my broken smena,
I have remove the upper housing,
but I still don't understand about it mechanism.
Posted 40 months ago.
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Hi suckertrash, your post was really helpful. I have the same problem, tried to repair it myself [before stumbling upon your thread] and have now also stuffed up the shutter-release and winding mechanism. How did you manage to rectify that problem?
Thanks
Posted 40 months ago.
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Hey folks... the problem just came up again, and in fixing it I practically stuffed up the mechanism myself... again!
I was thinking I should include some photos as suggested here, or perhaps a video to explain it... setting everything back properly has a little trick to it, which I didn't include in the above post. Give me a day or two and I'll include some kind of visual support to explain the internal mechanism, which is sort of a puzzle.
Cheers.
Posted 40 months ago.
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I have been trying to repair my smena for 2 weeks..
sigh..
and keep trying..
the mechanism is very mysterious, I can't solve it.
I hope that you can upload photos or video..
Posted 40 months ago.
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mine wasn't the rewind jam, but forwarding film just non stop. it keeps on forwarding. did anyone knows why? actually i bought it from flee market so keen on trying to fix it. thanks...nice tutorial suckertash.
Posted 37 months ago.
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I cant figure out how to set that shutter-release/frame-advance mechanism spring back in right.
anybody have a video or pictures on how to do this?
Posted 36 months ago.
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It seems the film advancing problem that I mentioned in the "Advancing Film" thread is also because of the same rewind jam. Will have to try and repair it as well.
Posted 36 months ago.
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THANKS FOR THIS WONDERFUL GUIDE! It totally helped me fix the problem. For now.
I was considering also putting a small piece of tape around the rewind pin as well, to stop the little screw from slipping out like that again. Or even taking the viewfinder plastic out, since it's not much help during the photographing anyway.
Posted 36 months ago.
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Thank you for the steps to fix the problem. I was taking quite a while to fix the shutter-release mechanism. My smena8 working well now. But the frame counter still turning like nobody business when I wind the film after a film has been taken.
Posted 35 months ago.
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i did what the guide says and i still can't rewind my film :(. it just does not turn the way it says to go, and holding down the shutter button does nothing for me.
Posted 34 months ago.
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actually it works now. woo. my knob would not spin when i would advance the film, so the camera did not know there was film in it.
Posted 34 months ago.
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As a bump, I'm double-posting the step-by-step set I created to help with this fix:
Originally posted 32 months ago.
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suckertash edited this topic 32 months ago.
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Hello!! I have a little problem...
My shutter cock won't come up, and at the same time my lens lost 2 screws. I have them, but I'm afraid of putting back and still the shutter don't come up. Any suggestions?
I just revealed my first film with her... I'm completely in love and completely sad that I might have ruined her... :(
Posted 24 months ago.
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