Rapidwinder II, love it! but have a small issue

A

adam satushek

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Jul 17, 2011
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Hi Tom and everyone,

I recently purchased a black chrome Rapidwinder II on ebay for use on my M4P. I also have a Leicavit M but have been very annoyed with the trigger retracting itself whenever its slight bumped. This is may main reason for trying a Rapidwinder and have to say its exactly what I wanted! It also feel much more robust and I really like the strong recoil of trigger when compared to the Leicavit. Overall, its a very impressive product. I like it so much I have already asked to be put on the list for chrome one for my M6!

Over the past week though, I have noticed some crunching or slipping with the Rapidwinder. This happen on both my M4P and M6. Its just not smooth anymore. Sometimes the irregularities are more at the beginning or middle of the winder stroke but more often at the end. Other times, within the same roll its perfectly smooth so it sort of comes and goes. When I use the thumb winder its smooth as can be expected. I have taken the film door off and run a dummy roll through several times and can see the film sort of jump when this happens, but the shutter still winds fully so I am hoping that there will not be any irregular frame spacings. Do you think this is the case?

NOTE: I don't have local c-41 developing so haven't developed any rolls from it yet, but I will run some BW though it and develop in the next few days.

If this sounds like it could cause frame spacing issues is this something I could possibly fix myself? I would normally try to send it in for repair but I am leaving for a trip on Tuesday so there wont be time. Also...I cannot imagine not using the winder now so would be sad if I have to leave it at home.

Any advise is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Adam
 
From what I remember with my discussions with Tom, he will repair any rapidwinder of any vintage at any time. Just get in contact with him.
 
As the others said, get in contact with Tom. He's a super guy and will help you directly. The forum is not really the place for this.
 
Robert Lai said:
From what I remember with my discussions with Tom, he will repair any rapidwinder of any vintage at any time. Just get in contact with him.
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Yeah I have heard that too, but unfortunately I don't have the luxury of sending it in before my trip. And now I am ruined and can't seem to shoot Leicas with out a bottom winder.....

Thanks Vic, for some reason I had not considered that. Ill shoot him an email shortly.

Thanks for the responses thus far!
 
JMQ said:
As the others said, get in contact with Tom. He's a super guy and will help you directly. The forum is not really the place for this.
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Yeah that makes sense. I didn't want to bug him unnecessarily if others had undertaken the same sort of adjustment. But point taken.

Thanks,
Adam
 
Adam, it could be a slight slip in the clutch - or the drive not connecting properly. One way of trying it out is the use the regular thumb advance - for the first couple of frames. That "settles" the drive in the connector in the body. If that doesn't work, send it to me after the holidays and I will fix it.
Tom
 
Tom A said:
Adam, it could be a slight slip in the clutch - or the drive not connecting properly. One way of trying it out is the use the regular thumb advance - for the first couple of frames. That "settles" the drive in the connector in the body. If that doesn't work, send it to me after the holidays and I will fix it.
Tom
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Hi Tom!

Thanks for your reply! I often do the first few winds with the thumb advance but I will try a few more on the next roll to see if this helps.

Could this slip in the clutch cause irregular frame spacing? That is my main concern. Or does it just affect the smoothness of the winding action?

And thanks! I will be sure to send it in after the holiday.

Thanks,
Adam
 
Adam. in extreme cases it can cause overlapping frames - but mostly it is just and irritant.
 
First off: As I had one of the first Rapidwinders, Tom was kind enough to send me update parts for free... My thoughts: get some grease and lube the channel where the trigger moves. mostly it is a lube issue. Secondly: the oneway clutch starts to slip. There is only one remedy: new parts from Tom...
 
I had the same issue with one I had. Tom sent me a new clutch and rubber belt. Took me 15 mins and was as smooth as butter.
 
Tom A said:
Adam. in extreme cases it can cause overlapping frames - but mostly it is just and irritant.
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Awesome, I ran some test rolls through it and even when it feels rough i could not get the frames to misaligned. So I ended up using it on my trip and it was great!

I will still have you take a look at it if possible and will email you about this shortly.

Thanks!

Adam
 
Thanks to Rangefinderfreak and nobbylon for your additional responses! It's good to hear that this is something I could possibly fix myself in the future. However, I think I will still send it to Tom so I can experience a Rapidwinder in perfect working order. I would hate to attempt the repair myself and get it close but not prefect and with out a point of comparison I may never know how smooth it could be.

Not sure if that makes sense, but I need to send my M4P and 50 Summicron that I use the Rapidwinder on in for repairs anyways so I figure I may as well send to Rapidwinder to Tom at the same time.

Thanks everyone for your responses!
 
I just bought a used but serviced M6 and attached my rapidwinder to it. As the winder was a little rough on my M4-2, now it is smooth as butter... So, the condition of the body makes a difference too. I suggest you guys have a CLA for your body/rapidwinder combo at the same time. Thanks Tom for a great product !
 
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