1 of 1- Laurenz van Gaalen
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- Registered: 20-7-2019
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Olympia SG3 tabulator behaviour
Hello all,
When I press the tab key on my SG3, the carriage moves very fast to the next tab stop and hit it so hard, that the whole typewriter (and the desk below it) shakes. Does the SG3 come without a tabulator brake, or is it not working?
Thanks,
Lau
- Pete E.
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Re: Olympia SG3 tabulator behaviour
Lau,
Could your main-spring tension for the draw-band be too firm / taut and it results in the carriage "flying" when it is released ?
- skywatcher
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Re: Olympia SG3 tabulator behaviour
Hi Laurenz
My SG-3 is still sitting at my pick-up point just south of the Canada/US border waiting for when the border opens again, so I don't have one to look at yet. That being said though, the carriage governor on my SM-9 is normally disengaged from the mainspring drum gear wheel and only engages when the tabulator key is pressed.
If the SG-3 works on the same principal, my first guess is the carriage governor is not moving to engage the teeth on the mainspring drum gear when the tap key is pressed. This may be caused by a broken or disconnected engagement spring or a stuck pivot pin for the carriage governor.
Just took a glance at my vintage copy of The Ames Basic Training Manual for Standard Typewriters which covers the SG-3 including tabulator system. This manual says the tab brake engages with the pinion of the star wheel as opposed to the mainspring drum,, I stand corrected. I will see about making a scan of the relevant page and post it here this evening. All the best,
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)
- Laurenz van Gaalen
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Re: Olympia SG3 tabulator behaviour
Thanks for the quick answers!
@Pete: I have only one SG, so I can not compare the drawband tension with another machine. Is there another way to determine if the tension is correct?
@Sky: thanks for confirming there should be a tab brake. A scan of the AMES manual would be of much help.
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Thread Starter- Pete E.
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Re: Olympia SG3 tabulator behaviour
Lau,
On my one (1) SG1 machine, I recently built a new draw band with the existing metal connectors.
Setting of the main-spring tension was a bit of trial & error on my part. I initially set the tension so the Tab intervals would not result in too hard of a shock to the carriage. But I did have to increase the tension so the carriage could return fully to the left side with enough tension to make the complete travel-movement.
My SG1 "Repair Bible" mentions the proper spring tension (i.e. 800 gram pull tension)...but lacking an instrument for such a tension measurement...I went with the trial & error method.
- Laurenz van Gaalen
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Re: Olympia SG3 tabulator behaviour
Hi Pete, when I press the tab on my Lexikon or Matura, the carriage moves at a relative slow, controlled speed to the next tab. There is clearly some system in place that reduces the speed of the carriage. This seems not to be the case with my SG3.
With the term 'tabulator brake' in my initial post, I was referring to the system that controls and slows down the carriage on my Lexikon and Matura. The SM9 has it too. Do you know if your SG1 has such a system?
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Thread Starter- skywatcher
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Re: Olympia SG3 tabulator behaviour
Hi Again Laurenz
As promised, here is the scan of the SG-3 tabulator system. From what I understand, the tab brake itself works on the same principal as a chainsaw clutch. As the brake engages the pinion gear and spins, a set of shoes fly out with centrifugal force against a stationary drum so the shaft can only spin so fast, thus reducing the travel speed of the carriage. See if this diagram and description helps you sort out your SG-3. All the best,
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)
- Pete E.
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Re: Olympia SG3 tabulator behaviour
Lau,
The SG1 mechanism looks very similar to the SG3 mechanism as Sky showed in his posting for the Tab Brake illustration.
Here is the web site you can download the entire "Ames Basic Training Manual" from 1968 for standard machines, including Olympia SG3 :
- Pete E.
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Re: Olympia SG3 tabulator behaviour
p.s. Olympia SG3 is covered on page 199 to 214 of the Manual.
- Laurenz van Gaalen
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Re: Olympia SG3 tabulator behaviour
Hi Sky and Pete,
thanks for the great help. It turned out the tab brake was stuck somehow. After I moved it a few times by hand, it became unstuck. Now I hear the reassuring, buzzing sound of the brake in action when the carriage moves from tab to tab. Nice!
Lau
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