Help! Broken M6!

Marel · 06-28-2012

Hi.

My beloved M6 was sitting idly on a table (perhaps 1,3 meters / 4 feet above the floor) when it got knocked down and fell on the floor (old and relatively soft hard-wood). It landed directly on one side of the rewind lever, so that at 90° from the direction of the lever itself, that half of the circular knob-thing is bent down. It doesn't turn, and I tried (before realizing that it was bent) to forward the film a couple of times with the advance lever, it sounded as if the film was off the sprocket-holders and made a sound like a car engine with a broken timing belt, i.e. not good. Also, it was uneven and rickety, perhaps because of the resistance of the rewind knob.

I can't take a proper picture of it now, as the only digital camera I have available is the webcam in my laptop, tomorrow I'll take a proper picture and post here. But this is how it looks through the lens on my laptop:

You can see how the light hits the knob unevenly, and the white line on the lower half of it is where it hit the floor, it is bent down and the lever won't fit in its proper place, it sticks a bit out.

What am I to do, good, kind people of arcane rangefinder wisdom, in this, my time of need?

cosmonaut · 06-28-2012

Buy another one. Send this one out for repair. Then you will always have a back up.

jbrianfoto · 06-28-2012

The ripping noise you heard was the film sprocket holes being torn by your attempt to advance the film - stop doing that. If you keep it up you'll run the risk of damaging the film transport gears further. Pull the film out and toss it away (just open the base, flip open the back and fish it all out of there, sorry, the film is a loss) - you can replace the rewind knob easily - you can find them for sale on the auction site or goto DAG's website. Good luck !

buzzardkid · 06-28-2012

First make sure the shaft of the rewind knob isn't bent or warped.
If your RF still is aligned it probably will still be fine, in that case the knob took most of the impact. If the RF is out of whack, make sure the rewind axle is still fine. If necessary, have it looked over by Youxin Ye, Don Goldberg and Sherry Krauter do a wonderful job but at times do have a seven-month repair backlog...

Marel · 06-28-2012

Thanks for your replies. The rangefinder appears to be in order, it lines up at the right distances, as far as I can tell.

Do you know how the rewind knob is taken off?

Marel · 06-28-2012

Because of the way the top part of the rewind knob is bent, it can't be turned but a a couple of degrees, but in that short distance I can't discern any bending of the rod. But I could be mistaken.

segedi · 06-28-2012

Did you move the R lever (front below shutter release) to the rewind position before trying to rewind the film? And can you gently bend the winder back into position?

ferider · 06-28-2012

The rewind knob is bent - if the viewfinder is OK, everything else is still likely to work. The aluminum rewind knob is the Achilles heel of M6 and M4P. Order a replacement brass knob from Don@DAG, he makes them from Leicaflex knobs, US 80 or similar. Easy to replace, it's taken off by removing a tiny lock screw and then unscrewing (while you counter hold the film axle from the inside with a finger).

Roland.

Marel · 06-28-2012

Thank you all for your good advice.

After moving the R-lever it allowed me to turn the knob a bit more, but it still gets stuck. The winder won't budge when I try to bend it.

I've ordered a replacement brass knob from DAG, hopefully that will be a sufficient repair.

Thanks again all, I'm really grateful for your help.

segedi · 06-28-2012

If you have a changing back or a light tight space, you can salvage any film that has been exposed. In darkness and with the R lever in the rewind position, take the bottom off the camera and try to slide the cartridge out. Even if it's just down enough to disengage from the top of the body where the winder hooks in, you can then rewind the film manually using the cartridge. Best of luck!

ferider · 06-28-2012

Marel, have a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbtqDd-4qPI, starting at 0:35. He shows you how to take the rewind knob off. Good luck !

Marel · 06-29-2012

Thanks again for all your help.

This is how it looked:

And then I removed the knob according to the instructions in the video:

I don't thik I'll try to bend it back...

Thankfully the axle looks intact:

Now I'm waiting for the replacement part from DAG, hopefully it won't be long. I'll post here when the repairs are done, and how it works.

This forum is a great resorce!

Vincent.G · 06-29-2012

Make sure you keep those washers somewhere safe because the replacement rewind knob does not come with it.

Marel · 06-29-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vincent.G

Make sure you keep those washers somewhere safe because the replacement rewind knob does not come with it.

Will do, thanks!

goodtimes · 06-29-2012

I would try to straighten it without a mere hesitation. You will get another one anyway, so why not try.

buzzardkid · 06-29-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodtimes

I would try to straighten it without a mere hesitation. You will get another one anyway, so why not try.

+1 on that. In fact, I would have tried that before ordering a new one!

Best trick to do this: first gently pry the two halves apart so far that the lever will fit between them. Then place it on a rather soft piece of wood, bottom side down. Put another piece of wood on top and gently tap it with a small hammer or something else heavy. The moment the knob is flat, the top surface will relay any force to the bottom side, which is only a ring. If the bottom wood is soft (it should be!) you will at that moment not deform the knob, but the wood and stop tapping.

I hope this makes sense.

Marel · 08-14-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by buzzardkid

+1 on that. In fact, I would have tried that before ordering a new one!

Best trick to do this: first gently pry the two halves apart so far that the lever will fit between them. Then place it on a rather soft piece of wood, bottom side down. Put another piece of wood on top and gently tap it with a small hammer or something else heavy. The moment the knob is flat, the top surface will relay any force to the bottom side, which is only a ring. If the bottom wood is soft (it should be!) you will at that moment not deform the knob, but the wood and stop tapping.

I hope this makes sense.

Sadly the piece was beyond my capabilities as a repairman, the main reason being that it is bent in such a way that the shaft for the screw is misaligned from the headpiece and the outer rim also has a bulge in it, making it impossible to move in the groove to rewind the film. The margin of error is really small, so that I couldn't get it circular enough to fit back in.

Anyway, DAG came through in flying colours, the replacement part came a couple of weeks ago and works like a charm.

I now have a black M6 with a silver M4 rewind knob!

It took some getting used to, but now I feel that it's more MY camera, being patched up and all.

segedi · 08-14-2012

And that Chrome winder will forever remind you to not set the camera where it can drop again

I bet you're glad to have it back working again!

MartinP · 08-14-2012

If anyone asks, this is a special feature so you can more easily check the transport of the film!

jordanstarr · 08-14-2012

My winder broke inside my M6, so I had to get all the tools to take the top off and replace it. Kinda wish I had of just dropped it off a table. Luckily you didn't have to go that far. It was a $15 part for me, $80 worth of tools and a couple hours. Better than the $350 I was quoted at though.

MartinP · 08-14-2012

Actually, I'm just wondering if the relatively weak handle is designed as a point-of-failure in order to protect the rewind-shaft and the top-cover in case of an accident?? It's very possible . . .