1 - RAWRChrissy
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- Posts: 10
Underwood Ribbon Not Advancing
Hello!
I recently purchased an Underwood typewriter (I'm not sure the model, but I think that maybe it is a Number 3, but I could be mistaken). All the parts are in working order besides the fact that I can't get the ribbon to advance. All the screws seem to be tight and all the parts are moving if I manually feed it by turning the handle on either side of the machine (sorry, I'm quite new to owning and researching typewriters, so I'm still unsure of what all the parts are called). I've tried flipping the ribbon over and seeing if I had just inserted the ribbon wrong, but that did not fix the issue. There seems to be no tension to actually cause the ribbon to move when any key is pressed, and I was wondering if anyone might know how to fix this, or what I can do to fix this?
- Fleetwing
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Re: Underwood Ribbon Not Advancing
Just saw your other post -- sorry you are having problems. Does the carriage move when you hit the space bar, or when you type? If not, maybe you have insufficient tension on the mainspring. Or maybe you don't have the ribbon threaded correctly. Does the carriage move back and forth smoothly when you release the carriage (the levers on either end of the platen)? If not, then the carriage may be gummed up and needs cleaning in order for the whole mechanism to work.Just my two cents of basic things to check out.
- RAWRChrissy
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Re: Underwood Ribbon Not Advancing
Yeah, I was terribly excited when I brought this machine home and it seemed to be working fine, up until the ribbon, of course. Yes, the carriage does move when I hit the spacebar or any of the other keys. Ive tried re-threading the ribbon multiple times, unfortunately, it hasn't fixed the issue yet. When I remove the ribbon, whatever mechanism that causes the ribbon spool to spin doesn't seem to be working. The "spinning" mechanism only works when I manually turn the ribbon by hand, not when I press any of the keys. (I hope that made sense.)
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Thread Starter- Fleetwing
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Re: Underwood Ribbon Not Advancing
So with the ribbon removed, do the spool holders rotate in either direction when typing or advancing? If not, then the link between the escapement and ribbon advance isn't working. But you probably knew that....
- RAWRChrissy
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Re: Underwood Ribbon Not Advancing
No they do not spin when typing. I think you are correct, the link between the escapement and ribbon advance is broken. Do you know if it's something I can repair or will I have to take it into a shop to get repaired?
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Thread Starter- Fleetwing
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Re: Underwood Ribbon Not Advancing
Take a look at this series of blog postings (entertaining as well as informative) and the embedded links -- there may be something there, especially in the links, that can help. Let us know of your progress! The good news is that there are lots of these typewriters still out there, and a lot of people who have worked on them and have familiarity with them.
- RAWRChrissy
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Re: Underwood Ribbon Not Advancing
Thank you for this! I'll definitely take a look at them and keep you updated on my progress. I'm very much determined to get this Underwood properly up and running.
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Thread Starter- RAWRChrissy
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Re: Underwood Ribbon Not Advancing
UPDATE: So I haven't made much progress these past couple of weeks. I had a suggestion that the pawls were moving in the wrong direction: one currently moves up and down while it should been moving left and right to move the ratchet wheel in the right direction. For anyone who would like to see what the pawls are doing , I've uploaded a short video: I cleaned the pawls but it hasn't changed the direction of the pawls. I did notice springs on the spool shaft that aren't hooked to anything and are just sitting there. Does anyone know why they are there and if that maybe be my problem?
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Thread Starter- SoucekFan
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Re: Underwood Ribbon Not Advancing
RAWRChrissy wrote:
I did notice springs on the spool shaft that aren't hooked to anything and are just sitting there. Does anyone know why they are there and if that maybe be my problem?
That may very well be the issue. That was the problem with one of my Underwood standards. You should be able to see the holes where the spring connects. Here is an image of the Underwood ribbon feed mechanism with--from your description--what may be the spring that is disconnected.
- SoucekFan
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Re: Underwood Ribbon Not Advancing
You should be able to see the holes where the spring connects.
On the earlier machines (like the one pictured) one side hooks to hole and the other hooks to a screw.
