1 of 1- lazydog
- Platen Punisher
Offline - From: North Carolina
- Registered: 06-2-2022
- Posts: 98
L22 ribbon reverse not catching
Better here than in portables, sorry--I realize since posting that I could perhaps slip a spacer in atop each spring, thus increasing the downward pressure, but I would need some pretty tiny tweezers and a lot of patience...
Hi all,
A weird problem! I have resuscitated a 1956 Lettera 22 that I thought was a goner. I opened and repaired the mainspring and voila, it is back in business. Unremarkable machine I guess--except it has both Spanish and French keys, a dead key accent, and a handsome typeface I had only seen on a Torpedo previously. And I want it to sing again!
The weird issue is that the ribbon reversal mechanism, even thought it is functioning correctly when tested upside down, is not catching the gears underneath when it is right side up and the spools are installed. It only works when I apply the slightest pressure to the top of each spool nut when it is trying to draw--then it works like it's 1956.
I think the issue has to do with the springs on the spindles underneath, which look designed to keep gentle pressure upward on the frame and downward on the spindle so the gears at the bottom mesh into place. They have maybe lost some of their zing, so the assembly doesn't drop fully, and it won't work. Matter of less than a millimeter! But I don't know how to fix it, short of disassembling the whole spindle mechanisms and somehow replacing the springs--above my grade, still.
Is this familiar to anyone? Thoughts of what I could do? I am thinking about putting something soft on top of the nuts that will press down gently when the ribbon cover is on to simulate my gentle pressure--but that isn't really a fix, is it?
Thanks all!
- Pete E.
- Typewriter Talk Elite
Offline
- From: Idaho - USA
- Registered: 23-6-2020
- Posts: 2,178
Re: L22 ribbon reverse not catching
LD,
Would some rubber fender washers (small ones from ACE Hardware) between the top of the ribbon spool and the underside of the threaded Olivetti spool-nut work to put some downward pressure on the ribbon spool ?
.
- AndrewP
- New Member
Offline
- Registered: 31-10-2019
- Posts: 14
Re: L22 ribbon reverse not catching
I looked at my Lettera 22 and tried to reproduce your problem. But it works no matter whether I push the spool down or pull it up.
To be sure: Are you using the right Olivetti spools? And with eyelets at the ends of the ribbon? And do you have the correct spool nuts to fasten the spools?
What happens if you move the ribbon reverse lever by hand?
- lazydog
- Platen Punisher
Offline
- From: North Carolina
- Registered: 06-2-2022
- Posts: 98
Re: L22 ribbon reverse not catching
Thanks so much to both of you for weighing in! I actually fixed it tonight!
I had proper spools and nuts, everything cricket, Andrew, and had tried washers precisely where you suggest, Pete--that didn't work because the top of the spindle is a separate piece from the bottom spindle, or effectively so by the hard locked three-pronged bit that interlocks with the spools. So to no avail.
But I finally (FINALLY) noticed a missing spring under the right side ribbon spool (I have no manual, but do have another functioning L22 for comparison). It was to pull the tiny tiny finger that regulates the sprocket on the rod that runs across the machine to the other spool; the thing that makes a faint ratchet sound with each keystroke. The spring put a little pressure on the sprocket--without it it just kind of rests there.
And (embarrassing) I remembered I had a loose spring that fell out when the machine arrive 18 months ago (not well packed at all). I kept it, and t looked a little stretched out but I figured it was the thing, and while I couldn't imagine the tiny pressure that finger would put on the sprocket when under tension I figured I had to reinstall it.
Well, I couldn't. Not without dissembling it. My big meathooks couldn't get inside far enough and tweezers were hopeless. Unaccountable thoughts of tiny men with tiny hands in Ivrea in 1955. More likely it was all assembled before being bolted into the frame.
So in a fit of pique I tied a loop in a bit of monofilament fishing line I had from a drawband repair, and snaked it in and hooked the top of the little finger, and since I couldn't get it through the spring hole I tied it off on the side of the frame. What was the worst that could happen?
Inelegant...but it worked! Now my ribbon reverse runs like a dream.
I am so excited I found a hack to return it to service. I am sure some of the folks on here could have pulled it off better--but at least now it is functional, and we can enjoy each other.
Thanks so much for weighing in! I'll post pics when I can!
Chris
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