Switar 1.6 10mm lens Great Condition Focus Ring Stuck Help

[Kirk Billingsley]

Hello, growing bored of super 8 use I have just purchased a mint Beaulieu R16 package with multiple accessories and three Switar lenses. All in very good cosmetic condition. The 100mm and 25mm are in perfect working order. The 10mm is pristine but the focus ring is stuck on 30 Feet, it will not budge. I've tries lubrication overnight, I loosened the set grub screws and it of course turns but the cam. This was the one that I really wanted to use right off.

 

I looked on Old Timer Cameras in the UK for repair manuals as that is where I have purchased all my super 8 ones. Looked on Craigs Camera and nothing there either. Google and youtube have also been a bust.

 

I'm hoping someone here may have an idea how to remedy this problem.

 

Thank you in advance for any support

 

Kirk Billingsley

[Dom Jaeger]

It's a common problem with Switars, they used a particular grease which can turn very hard over time. The only solution is to remove the old grease and relubricate the threads.

 

Unfortunately you will lose the back-focus collimation, but if eye-focussing anyway it's possible to reset it roughly by eye. Taking measurements can help.

 

You need to remove the 3 grub screws around the focus ring and pull the rear helical out. It will have a key that locates in one of the multiple keyways, which orients the witness mark so as to be visible when the lens is screwed onto your camera.

 

The helical will be very stiff and may need heating gently and/or some thinners in the threads to loosen. Once apart you can clean and relubricate both threads.

[Kirk Billingsley]

Just the the Nikon R10 and 8 with their meter lubrication. Had an idea that might be the case but was also thinking mechanical. Thanks for the detailed response, this will be a fun little project.

 

Thanks again.

 

Kirk

[Robert Hart]

DANGER Will Robinson. Anything but really gentle and very slowly increasing heat near optical glass is an invitation to disaster and invitation accepted. If you have warm glass and you bring it into a cool environment, shock cooling will crack it. My personal preference would be to attempt to rejuvenate the frozen lube with thinners first but not so much as to have it go inside onto the glass elements or you may end up with stain glass and stains creeping inside of celled doublets - game over.

[Dom Jaeger]

Yes that's a valid warning Robert. Excessive heat can cause issues with lens glass, including separation, softening of compounds that sometimes hold elements in place, and even cracked elements. It can also deform plastic parts like cam followers or Teflon shims. I sometimes have to use heat on lenses to remove strongly secured grub screws or lock rings, but I'm very careful about it, and have a heat gun that is adjustable and narrowly focussed.

 

In this case I was suggesting using gentle heat on the rear helical after removing it from the lens body, so just the two metal threaded rings. But certainly try thinners first.

 

I should reiterate that removing the helical (even undoing the grub screws and turning the ring) will lose the precise back-focus setting relative to the focus scale, so the scale will not be reliable and infinity may not be sharp. You really need a collimator to set something like a 10mm accurately.

[Jean-Louis Seguin]

I sometimes use a C-mount extension tube or an old turret to provide a better grip on the back end. Using rubber gloves helps. Just pull straight out.

[Simon Wyss]

It happens occasionally that I submerge a lens in white spirit over night. Only all metal and glass systems, of course. A Switar 10-1.6 is such a candidate. Once apart everything must be cleaned, down to the last diaphragm blade and bolt.

[Maxim Lequeux]

On 9/3/2017 at 4:57 AM, Dom Jaeger said:

It's a common problem with Switars, they used a particular grease which can turn very hard over time. The only solution is to remove the old grease and relubricate the threads.

 

Unfortunately you will lose the back-focus collimation, but if eye-focussing anyway it's possible to reset it roughly by eye. Taking measurements can help.

 

You need to remove the 3 grub screws around the focus ring and pull the rear helical out. It will have a key that locates in one of the multiple keyways, which orients the witness mark so as to be visible when the lens is screwed onto your camera.

 

The helical will be very stiff and may need heating gently and/or some thinners in the threads to loosen. Once apart you can clean and relubricate both threads.

I've encountered a similar problem with a recently acquired Switar 10.

Which kind/ brand of lubricant would you suggest for the relubrication?

[Frank Wylie]

There are many helicoid greases available on Ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=helicoid+grease&_sacat=0

I use the #10 on SLR primes VERY SPARINGLY.  I mean it.  Just a little and the surface must be SPOTLESS.

If you don't know how to take apart helicoids, do some research or you'll have some serious problems...

Start here:  https://richardhaw.com/2016/04/10/repair-helicoids/

 

[Maxim Lequeux]

Thanks so much for the resources Frank!

I had found some stuff on opening the lens, but Richard Haw's overview is great.

Before opening the lens I was wondering if there was a less intrusive way to solve a stiff focus. If I work it a bit and warm it in my hand I can get it moving ok (unfortunately it won't go all the way to infinity). Would some more warmth be advisable, or is it just a temporary fix in any case? I was thinking maybe with a warm hot water bottle or something like that. Previously in the thread heat was discussed, and precautions were given.

My hopes aren't particularly high on that front though, I imagine I will have to open it up and clean it properly.

[Frank Wylie]

You might be able to get it to turn with a drop or two of 99% isopropyl alcohol injected into the threads of the helicoid, but that will probably be a very temporary fix and you run the risk of dissolving the old grease and having it migrate onto the aperture or inner lens surfaces.

Heat helps, but that's more risky and the lubricant just goes back to it's petrified state once the lens cools, so why bother?

It's best to clean all the old grease out and reapply new very sparingly. 

There is a fellow on YouTube;  Mikeo62, who has a ton of videos on camera and lens repair.  Have a look at his channel and you'll find quite a few tutorials on various Nikon AI and Pre-AI lenses he has cleaned and re-lubricated.  While it may not directly relate to the Switar, the general techniques he uses to disassemble these lenses and maintain proper infinity focus is worth watching.

Go slow, take lots of photos for reference and when in doubt or frustrated, sit the lens down and go do something else!  Come back when you have the energy and patience.  I learned that the hard way...

Good luck.

 

 

[Maxim Lequeux]

Awesome, I had seen a couple of Mikeo62's videos by chance, I'll need to check out the others.

Cheers!