A look inside a Zenit B

[John Farrell]

This is the Zenit B from my other thread. I followed the instructions from Tomtigers site - they are for a Zenit E, but the only difference is the light meter.

tomtiger.home.xs4all.nl/index.html?

The only difficulty I had was removing the ring around the shutter release. I had to bring up the big gun:




This is a slip joint plier from the tool kit that came with a Honda car, that I owned 40 years ago.

I went a step further, and removed the covers from the shutter shafts, exposing this:

(Edited to add - I removed the mirror box as well, it comes out through the camera top.)



The shutter tapes have detached from the first curtain, and are loose.

I have repaired the shutter tapes on a Zenit before, and it is a fiddly job:



This picture shows the gear train at the bottom of a Zenit. The cam is part of the mirror lift mechanism, and it has its own tensioning spring. The spring runs off when the shutter shafts are pulled, so it has to be retensioned correctly. The gears also have to be timed correctly. This picture is from a Zenit EM.

[camfiend]

its good to see your using precision instruments for the job... don't suppose the Honda survived?

Bob

[John Farrell]

The Honda was an N360, a mini car with a 360cc air cooled engine. It was sold long ago - we replaced it with a 1967 VW Beetle.

[camfiend]

360cc.. haha my lawnmower has a bigger engine then that.. makes you wonder how things ever kept working and often better then they do now

Bob

[John Farrell]

I removed the shutter from the Zenit today.



I let down the spring of the mirror mechanism, and removed it and the film mask - both are held by the plate with 2 screws, towards the middle of the picture.



Then I had to release the top of the shutter drum, by unscrewing the nut, as seen above, then undoing the screw which holds the slotted plate, which you can also see here, and slipping off the plate. this is part of the shutter speed setting mechanism.



4 screws hold this plate, which supports the shutter.



Now I can replace the first curtain tapes, using the material you see here. The short piece is part of one of the old tapes.
This is a ribbon, .23mm thick, and 3.5mm wide. I bought it at a material shop - it's used in lingerie.

[philbirch]

The Zenit B is a Zorki with a mirror box. I was amazed, they are almost identical inside

[John Farrell]

Today I started on the shutter repair.

Here is a view of the broken end of a ribbon in the curtain lath:



The broken pieces had to be removed, and the lath opened up to fit the new ribbons:



One of the ribbons being threaded through the lath - the fixed end (the one on the curtain side) has been folded and glued. I also glued the free end, so it was easier to thread through the lath.



The curtain with its ribbons - now the camera has to be cleaned and lubricated, before I fit the shutter.

[philbirch]

What a job and well photographed showing the detail. Unfortunately, diabetes and a nerve condition in my hands means I can't do delicate work like this. I love tinkering and by the look of it so do you.

I've a bit of a collection of pdf copies of old soviet repair books covering things like this if you are interested.

[John Farrell]

Thank you, Phil. I, too have diabetes, but luckily its been under good control, although I am taking 2 grams of Metformin a day.

I have a copy of Maizenberg's book, but do you have anything which covers the later Zenits? Maizenberg only goes up to the 3M.

[philbirch]

I'll look. I was thinking of the Maizenberg too hold on...

[philbirch]

Mostly Zenit C etc but there are others. All Russian though. I am uploading them to my google drive. Will send a link via PM, probably in morning now.

[Stephen]

Jan 5, 2016 13:50:57 GMT -5 philbirch said:

The Zenit B is a Zorki with a mirror box. I was amazed, they are almost identical inside

The main shutter parts are very similar, but supported by the diecast body rather than the older models steel shutter crate, which was removable in one piece. Some parts are interchangeable, the main shafts and gears, but the timing control is different. The only late additions were the improvement to the mirror mechanism, and the addition of the Auto diaphragm. The Shutter remained the same on all, till the non rotating knob was introduced.

Stephen

[John Farrell]

THank you for sending those manuals, Phil.
Not much has happened on the zenit - yesterday we looked after our granddaughter. Today, I overhauled the wardrobe doors - both wardrobes have identical systems, except the main bedroom has a mirror as one door. The track this ran on, and the rollers on the door were rather worn, as you'd expect after 30 odd years. I lifted the tracks from both wardrobes, cleaned them, and put the less worn track from the spare bedroom, into the main bedroom. The rollers from the doors were removed, cleaned, lubed, and swapped over as well. We now have lovely quiet doors in the main bedroom.

[philbirch]

Jan 8, 2016 1:30:44 GMT -5 John Farrell said:

THank you for sending those manuals, Phil.
Not much has happened on the zenit - yesterday we looked after our granddaughter. Today, I overhauled the wardrobe doors - both wardrobes have identical systems, except the main bedroom has a mirror as one door. The track this ran on, and the rollers on the door were rather worn, as you'd expect after 30 odd years. I lifted the tracks from both wardrobes, cleaned them, and put the less worn track from the spare bedroom, into the main bedroom. The rollers from the doors were removed, cleaned, lubed, and swapped over as well. We now have lovely quiet doors in the main bedroom.

Ha ha I had a similar project involving two 8 by 4 foot mirrored doors. I managed to break one...

Hope the manuals are ok. new pm sent