sick spring

[Ron Klein <panorama@xxxxxxx>]

> How do I determine if my spring motor is sick?

It's SICK!!!

After 80 years of being wound up, it has lost strength.  But probably not
enough to prevent you from using it.  The best thing to do is eliminate as
much friction as possible by super cleaning the gears, bearing journals etc.
If your camera has been run to death by not having much lubrication, it will
have a lot of wear on the journals and bearings.  You can check this out by
screwing a pinion gear into the mechanism and tighten it and see if any of
the journals wiggle back and forth as you tighten and loosen the gear.
Also check to see if the spring has been oiled.  THIS IS A NO NO.  Springs
are lubed with graphite, not oil.  Another problem with the spring can be
rust.  A rusty spring will not act as powerful since it has to fight the
rust as it unwinds.  This can be removed from the spring, but it is a messy
job at best.

Don't expect the spring to be as powerful as a #10.  It isn't the same size.
#10's and #16's have the same size spring material but the #16 is much
longer.  I can't remember if the #6 and #8 springs are the same, but I think
they are.  So you can see there shouldn't be as much power.

If you want more power, a new spring can be placed in the housing, spring
material is readily available, but fitting it into the housing is going to
require some skill.  I haven't installed a new spring, but have had more
than a few original springs out for cleaning and repair.  The important
thing is getting the right length and thickness of the spring.  Then there
is the matter of the end holes.  you can't drill through spring steel
easily, but there is a slick way to anneal the metal at the spot where the
hole needs to be made.  This is done in a drill press with a blank piece of
metal for a drill "bit".  Hard pressure on the spring makes a bright red
spot that becomes annealed metal.  Then it is no problem to use a regular
drill to make the needed hole.  Actually the inside part of the spring is
heated by flame for a few inches because the first few turns are very tight
and the spring will break if it isn't softened.

Without a doubt this is more than you ever wanted to know about springs.

Have fun

Ron