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Pacemaker - Bellows/Lens Assembly Stuck on Rear Rail

 
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peakbagger



Joined: 09 Oct 2014
Posts: 11
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Sun May 22, 2016 4:37 pm    Post subject: Pacemaker - Bellows/Lens Assembly Stuck on Rear Rail Reply with quote

I came into possession of a what I believe is a Pacemaker. Ser. 846926 makes me think 1950's Pacemaker Speed graphic. When pulling the camera out or pushing it back into the body, the whole assembly gets stuck at the rear rail (for lack of a better word). There's two sections, a short one and the long one - it gets stuck at the joint. I have to do some major finessing to get the assembly back in. Anyone run into this before, and have any suggestions as to a fix? Thanks! (sorry can't figure out how to post a photo...link is below.)

http://imgur.com/r3RU962
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Henry



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 1636
Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania

PostPosted: Sun May 22, 2016 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sounds to me like s previous owner buggered the rails when he tried to close the front door without fully retracting the standard into the camera box. The carriage got caught at the joint and the force of lifting (and forcing) the door to close bent the rails. I did the same thing, in my ignorance, to my Century when I first got it. Managed to straighten the bent rails, and then I put blackened brass washers under the screw heads holding the rails at the rear. Haven't had a problem since.
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45PSS



Joined: 28 Sep 2001
Posts: 4081
Location: Mid Peninsula, Ca.

PostPosted: Sun May 22, 2016 8:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Your 1950 Pacemaker Speed Graphic is covered by this service manual
http://www.graflex.org/manuals/45-Pacemaker-Speed-and-Crown-Graphic.pdf
If you do not feel comfortable working on it I'm down the coast from you.

NOW, run the rails out fully so that both sections are on the bed. Does the front standard slide over the junction of the sections easily?

When running the rails back to inside the body do they go in smoothly or do they bind at the body or move slightly to engage the body guides?

Are the body guides bent or broken?

This site does not host pictures. Pictures can be embedded if hosted on a photo hosting site.
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peakbagger



Joined: 09 Oct 2014
Posts: 11
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Sun May 22, 2016 11:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes that sounds like that could be the case. Which part of the rails had bent? The case section (short) or the bed section (long)? I can't tell at all if they are bent. Was it really noticeable on yours?

Henry wrote:
Sounds to me like s previous owner buggered the rails when he tried to close the front door without fully retracting the standard into the camera box. The carriage got caught at the joint and the force of lifting (and forcing) the door to close bent the rails. I did the same thing, in my ignorance, to my Century when I first got it. Managed to straighten the bent rails, and then I put blackened brass washers under the screw heads holding the rails at the rear. Haven't had a problem since.
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peakbagger



Joined: 09 Oct 2014
Posts: 11
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Sun May 22, 2016 11:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

45PSS wrote:
Your 1950 Pacemaker Speed Graphic is covered by this service manual
http://www.graflex.org/manuals/45-Pacemaker-Speed-and-Crown-Graphic.pdf
If you do not feel comfortable working on it I'm down the coast from you.


Excellent, thanks for that. It will come in handy if I decide to take it on. At the very least I can look up the correct terminology!

Quote:

NOW, run the rails out fully so that both sections are on the bed. Does the front standard slide over the junction of the sections easily?


It catches right at the junction. Looking at it, the case yoke is a bit higher that then bed yoke. With some finessing I can get the body to slide over onto the other yoke.

Quote:
When running the rails back to inside the body do they go in smoothly or do they bind at the body or move slightly to engage the body guides?


Pretty smooth. When sliding out, however, it does bind. The case yoke tips a little and catches.


Quote:

Are the body guides bent or broken?


I'm not sure what those are - is it the part that slides on to the yoke?

Is the case yoke supposed to be really lose? I can jiggle it up and down.
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Henry



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 1636
Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania

PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 12:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

peakbagger wrote:
Yes that sounds like that could be the case. Which part of the rails had bent? The case section (short) or the bed section (long)? I can't tell at all if they are bent. Was it really noticeable on yours?

Henry wrote:
Sounds to me like s previous owner buggered the rails when he tried to close the front door without fully retracting the standard into the camera box. The carriage got caught at the joint and the force of lifting (and forcing) the door to close bent the rails. I did the same thing, in my ignorance, to my Century when I first got it. Managed to straighten the bent rails, and then I put blackened brass washers under the screw heads holding the rails at the rear. Haven't had a problem since.


The long rails (the ones on the front door) were bent at the back end, right in front of the door hinge.
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45PSS



Joined: 28 Sep 2001
Posts: 4081
Location: Mid Peninsula, Ca.

PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 1:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Look at pdf page 20 of the linked manual. (download it for convenience)
With yoke item 7 consisting of 7C through 7F fully retracted the front standard hangs at the hinge. Now with item 7 on the bed item 15 the front standard hangs at the link between 7C and 7D?
Yes- 7C, 7D, or 7F bent.
No- the yoke is good.

Check the body guides (case guide). The right side only is shown as item 17A. The guide is attached with two screws and has two alignment pins that mate into 17. There are shims that go between 17 and 17A to get the guide grove(s) that the yoke slides in in perfect alignment between the case and bed guide(s) items 1 and 17A. The shims are listed as being .016, .040, and .060 thick. Any combination of the 3 can be used.

I have seen bent/broken case guides, the rail link pin hole worn, the guide edge of the rails (yoke) bent and the ends at the link mashed making them thicker. The yoke is aluminum and does not bend easily.

The rails should be firm in the guides and should not move up or down with the rails anywhere on the bed or case.

How well does the front standard lock work? If too tight it will prevent the front standard from sliding smoothly on the yoke, if it is too loose it will allow side play causing difficultly in moving the front standard across the hinge/yoke link. A correctly tightened lock adjustment will secure the front standard with the lock lever item 30 pdf page 16 45° either side of center.
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peakbagger



Joined: 09 Oct 2014
Posts: 11
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

45PSS wrote:
Look at pdf page 20 of the linked manual. (download it for convenience)
With yoke item 7 consisting of 7C through 7F fully retracted the front standard hangs at the hinge. Now with item 7 on the bed item 15 the front standard hangs at the link between 7C and 7D?
Yes- 7C, 7D, or 7F bent.
No- the yoke is good.



Henry wrote:
The long rails (the ones on the front door) were bent at the back end, right in front of the door hinge.


Thanks for your help. I was able to narrow down the problem - there are shims/ guides that hold the case yoke in place. I believe this is part 33 on page 2. The thin bit that holds the yoke down is snapped off. So the case yoke is moving about loose if pushed with some force. Friction keeps it in so as long as I don't push it it will stay in place. I probably should replace it but now that I know what it is, I can deal with it!
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45PSS



Joined: 28 Sep 2001
Posts: 4081
Location: Mid Peninsula, Ca.

PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 7:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I believe this is part 33 on page 2.

I made one from an aluminum bar using the good one from the camera as a template. It was not as finely machined as the factory one but worked fine.

You will have to get a parts body for a factory one. The left and right sides will interchange and sometimes when the front is broken off they can be turned around by swapping sides to eliminate problems.
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