1 of 1- danrubin
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Lettera 22 — Ribbon vibrator appears to be misaligned...?
I'm getting my first L22 cleaned up and back in working order, and one issue is particularly perplexing: The position of the ribbon vibrator is too high, which causes letters to be mostly red when the ribbon color selector is set to Black, partially black when set on Stencil, and no print at all with the selector on Red.One possibility is that somehow the arm position is incorrect (see #34 in the illustration from the repair manual: the arm on mine is placed high in the slot on the vibrator, vs. low, though I'm sure they modified the details of the design over time). The vibrator arm doesn't seem to be bent anywhere or suffered any trauma, but compared with images of other L22s it's definitely sitting too high.Thanks in advance for any suggestions! I've been lurking here since last year and have learned a ton from existing threads — I've also consequently gone from owning 1 typewriter to… 12 since January 😂
Designer × Photographer × Typewriter Enthusiast
Olympia Traveller de Luxe S • Splendid 33 • SM9
Olivetti Studio 44 • Lettera 22 • Lettera 32 • Lettera 35 • Lettera 36 • Lexikon 80
Sears Courier (Lettera 22)
- danrubin
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Re: Lettera 22 — Ribbon vibrator appears to be misaligned...?
Here are some more views with the ribbon removed. There is no tension on the vibrator arm when at rest, and the far right edge (visible in one of my images on the original post) comes in contact with the underside of the ribbon spool platform, so it also doesn't appear to be able to move any further. Perhaps this means something else is misaligned (the basket perhaps?) though the letter impressions look clear and well-aligned, aside from the ribbon position being incorrect.
Designer × Photographer × Typewriter Enthusiast
Olympia Traveller de Luxe S • Splendid 33 • SM9
Olivetti Studio 44 • Lettera 22 • Lettera 32 • Lettera 35 • Lettera 36 • Lexikon 80
Sears Courier (Lettera 22)
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Thread Starter- Phil_F_NM
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Re: Lettera 22 — Ribbon vibrator appears to be misaligned...?
First off, how are all the rubber bushings on the machine? That's not directly related, but they are definitely necessary for good operation of this typewriter. Second, it looks like your segment is about a full lowercase letter too low, not that the ribbon vibrator is too high. I'm assuming that your images are taken as follows: 1st set the segment is set to lower case, second set, the segment is set to upper case. Correct? I've got my Lettera 22 right in front of me and the ribbon vibrator, at repose, is just kissing the anvil behind the typebar guide, and the vibrator arm is more or less parallel (if not pointing a millimeter down) with the rest of the machine. Have you recently touched the type alignment or loosened the segment linkage at all recently? Did this machine ever type perfectly?
Phil Forest
- danrubin
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Re: Lettera 22 — Ribbon vibrator appears to be misaligned...?
Hi Phil!
Apologies for not labeling the segment position in each set (you're correct: lower case in the first set of images, upper case in the second).
The bushings *seem* ok, as in, not cracked or rock-hard. As this is my first L22 I don't have a frame of reference for how plump they ought to be, though I've read about the replacements I should be able to find at Ace Hardware et al. I may replace them just in case…
I haven't done anything more than initial cleaning on this yet, though it's been on my list to adjust the upper and lower case alignment (it's just barely off, and from what I've read on other threads here, it wouldn't be enough to annoy Uwe 
and your assessment of the positioning of the segment was one of my guesses, as I can't see any obvious issues with the ribbon vibrator itself.
I'll read up on segment alignment, as it was on my list anyway — not sure if the machine typed perfectly at any point before I purchased it… though I presume it didn't leave the factory like this 60-ish years ago (upon typing that, I realise that could also be a faulty assumption).
Thanks so much for your help! The research continues…
Designer × Photographer × Typewriter Enthusiast
Olympia Traveller de Luxe S • Splendid 33 • SM9
Olivetti Studio 44 • Lettera 22 • Lettera 32 • Lettera 35 • Lettera 36 • Lexikon 80
Sears Courier (Lettera 22)
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Thread Starter