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Arriflex 16st - repair help!


Daniel Miler

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Hi all,

 

I want to do an overhaul of my beloved st to bring it to optimal condition. I very much enjoy working on the camera myself, and of course, the utter lack of repair technicians where I live also makes it the only way to keep the camera up to shape.

 

so, first of all, anybody who may have tips, links, disassemble schemes, repair manual, or anything at all, is most welcome to comment!

 

But, the more crucial question:

The camera for now, does not run. It used to work fine (last turned on about a year or two ago), but recently a friend of mine disassembled the small box at the bottom of the camera that contains the triggering mechanism (see link to pics below), disconnected the 2 wires that run from the back of it, and then reconnected them (wrongly, probably). now, does anybody know (or can look at their own camera to see) how are these two cables supposed to be connected to the triggering mechanism? if the way you see them connected in the pic is correct, then I have to start scanning for the problem elsewhere, but the fact that the two cables run into the exact same place seems a bit suspicious to me.

 

P.S.

You don't have to disassemble the camera to see how these cables are connected, you just take the motor out, take a look inside and there it is! It should take you about a minute and would be a great help to me!

 

Pics of the part:

http://arrist.tumblr.com/

 

Thanks a bunch!

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Arnold & Richter of Munich still services their older products. An overhaul might do good to your camera, never a bad investment. Old grease out, fresh lubricants, check of flange focal distance, trueing of mirror shutter, check of electrics.

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Hi There-

 

I peeked at mine and don't even see 2 wires in there- just a light blue-insulated one the clamps in where your gray one is, there isn't a second (black-sheathed) wire in sight. Do you have the XLR power-in conversion on yours? maybe it's part of the ground?

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Thanks Patrick

 

No, my camera is not XLR converted. now I am really confused.

It feels so stupid. my camera does not run, probably only because of a misplaced wire, and I have no way of correcting that without shipping it abroad!

feelsbadman

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Hi Daniel,

 

one wire comes off there to supply 8V to the magazine contact, there's a second wire if the camera has a sync output. Yours looks OK. The motor gets 8V from the protruding spring contact next to the wires and ground through the camera body (there should be a polished area on the inside of the sleeve where the motor fits, just where the motor lock lever is).

 

If you can get hold of a multimeter you can easily check whether you're getting 8V measured between the spring contact and the polished area of the motor sleeve, when the run lever is depressed.

 

Could be the spring contact is not properly mating with the positive motor contact, or there's corrosion/dirt obstructing the ground contact with the motor body. First step of course is to check your battery voltage. Then plug your power cable into the battery and check the voltage at the plug in case the cable has a break.

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One more thought, and forgive me if it seems simplistic, but sometimes people who aren't familiar with the camera (or haven't removed the motor before) fit the motor back in without lining up the key on the motor with the slot in the sleeve.

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Thanks Dom for your input,

 

 

So you mean the "+plug" for the motor is the spring contact next to the two wires pictured, and the "- plug" is the sleeve which houses the motor, connecting to the motor body itself?

I see another spring contact above next to where the motor lock lever is, isn't that the "- plug"?

 

Of course, I already made sure about the battery and tried several motors (fitting them correctly) ( :

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So you mean the "+plug" for the motor is the spring contact next to the two wires pictured, and the "- plug" is the sleeve which houses the motor, connecting to the motor body itself?

 

Yep.

 

I see another spring contact above next to where the motor lock lever is, isn't that the "- plug"?

 

No that takes a sync pulse from the governed motor.

 

Of course, I already made sure about the battery and tried several motors (fitting them correctly) ( :

 

Yeah sorry, just covering the bases. Like the IT help-lines that always first ask "is the computer plugged in to the wall?" :)

 

If you can get hold of a multimeter you can quickly narrow down the possibilities.

 

There's also a micro-switch near where your friend was working, which shuts off power when either the buckle switch is tripped or the sprocket roller carrier is open. You can override the switch by depressing the plunger on the door beneath the viewfinder tube (when the door is fitted), or with the door off by just pushing in the little lever that the plunger activates, located next to the run button inside the camera.

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