1 of 1- Electra210
- New Member
Offline - Registered: 13-2-2017
- Posts: 6
Lettera 32 loose carriage? Bent rails?
Just got a new Lettera 32 from ebay. When I pulled it out of the case everything looked good until I started typing. The whole carriage was jiggling loudly when I typed and although the type is more or less straight, I can't help but think that it was banged around in shipping (It's New York City, whatareyougonnado). I made a little gif with my suspicions written on it to send to the ebay seller but there's not a lot they can do from afar, so here I am.
<---gif link.
Is this a repair that is going to tax my brain? I'm still very new and while I'm not afraid to get in there and take things apart, I AM afraid that I won't be able to put it back together and use it. And use it I shall.
- skywatcher
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 719
Re: Lettera 32 loose carriage? Bent rails?
Hi Electra
Removing the carriage and carriage rails isn't that technically difficult. Straightening the carriage rails or track requires a straight edge,, a vice, a good eye and some careful measuring. Getting the machine back together is a different story. Those carriage rail balls with the star (anti-creep) wheels around them are finicky little devils to say the least. I used Synco's Silicone grease to hold the balls and anti-creep wheels in the rails while I reinstalled the carriage. Even then it took me several tries to get all 4 balls in the right place. From what I believe, there is a special jig made for properly timing these balls during reassembly, but who knows where one might be found.
If Tom the Typewriterman from England pipes up on this one, listen to his advice as he has been repairing these machines since the 1970's. There is a PDF download available through the typewriter database covering repairs and adjustments for the Olivetti Lettera 22, but I don't know how helpful this would be for a Lettera 32. Keep us posted on your progress,
Sky
We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
- thetypewriterman
- Key Master
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- From: Leiston, England
- Registered: 29-5-2013
- Posts: 900
Re: Lettera 32 loose carriage? Bent rails?
I cannot add much to Skywatchers comments ! This is potentially a really nasty job that should only be attempted by the experienced ! It is even possible that one of the balls is missing. Otherwise, the carriage rails on the machine (not on the carriage) could well have been spread by the machine having been knocked around in transit. Straightening them can range from the difficult to the downright impossible depending on how bad the damage is.
- Electra210
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- Registered: 13-2-2017
- Posts: 6
Re: Lettera 32 loose carriage? Bent rails?
I cannot tell without taking the carriage off (yet) if the rails on the body or the rails on the carriage are bent (if not both). So with further investigation:
From a resting position, centered position, it appears that the left side of the carriage wants to come up and toward me about 1/16 of an inch (1.5 mm). The right side comes up and away, but slightly less.
When the carriage is fully extended to the left, as if at the end of a type row, the carriage is far looser (1/8 inch or ~3.1 mm) than it is when fully extended to the right, as if at the beginning of a type row. It seems that something on the left side has been damaged.
I started attempting to take off the carriage but I don't know where to begin. I downloaded the Letter 22 but there are too many important differences in the model for the issues I'm having.
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