1 - Typophile
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Underwood Standard 3 - Carriage Won't Advance
Hi everyone,
So I recently bought an Underwood #3 Standard typewriter. It's a real beauty but not fully working at this point. I'm planning to have a go at restoring it myself but I've never tinkered with a typewriter before (not even owned or used one before either!) so I'm a little nervous naturally!
The first and primary problem I want to attend to is the carriage not advancing. A break-down of the problem below, and I'll add some photos when I get a chance:
- pressing any of the keys or space bar does not advance the carriage
- backspace works and does move the carriage
- the drawband has not snapped or worn, and is still attached to the mainspring, but there is no tension in it
- the mainspring doesn't appear to be able to turn to tighten the tension of the drawband (it should be able to, right? Wrong?). It could just be rusted rigid or stuck due to dirt and dust, haven't disassembled yet to look
- the carriage itself can move freely
Any ideas what the culprit could be and how to go about such a repair? My first guess is the mainspring and to try and clean/lubricate it to see if I can get it moving, would that be the right thing to do?
Many thanks! 
- Uwe
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Re: Underwood Standard 3 - Carriage Won't Advance
When you move the carriage back and forth manually, does the drawband bunch up (in other words, the mainspring drum doesn't turn)? Can you turn the mainspring drum by hand? The better of the two scenarios would be if the drum won't turn by hand, in which chase it's most likely seized and you'll need to free it up (cleaning often works). If the drum spins freely by hand - and not on its own - then there's an issue with the mainspring. It may have broken, or disconnected, but either way it's a more involved repair. The drum will have to be removed and disassembled. USE EXTREME CAUTION! The mainspring is coiled and can injure you if you're not careful when you open the drum!
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Typophile
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Re: Underwood Standard 3 - Carriage Won't Advance
Uwe wrote:
When you move the carriage back and forth manually, does the drawband bunch up (in other words, the mainspring drum doesn't turn)? Can you turn the mainspring drum by hand? The better of the two scenarios would be if the drum won't turn by hand, in which chase it's most likely seized and you'll need to free it up (cleaning often works). If the drum spins freely by hand - and not on its own - then there's an issue with the mainspring. It may have broken, or disconnected, but either way it's a more involved repair. The drum will have to be removed and disassembled. USE EXTREME CAUTION! The mainspring is coiled and can injure you if you're not careful when you open the drum!
Thanks for the quick reply and advice Uwe! You're right, the mainspring drum doesn't turn, nor can I turn it manually. I will try cleaning it then and hopefully it'll free up. It sounds like I definitely want to avoid disassembling the mainspring drum for sure! 
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Thread Starter- Typophile
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Re: Underwood Standard 3 - Carriage Won't Advance
Adding a photo of the drawband - I'm pretty sure there was so much slack before as it wasn't attached where it was meant to be, so I've attached it where I think it should go - can anyone confirm if this is right please?
Now I've reattached it there is a bit more tension in the carriage at least. I'll look at cleaning the mainspring drum next.
Last edited by Typophile (30-3-2015 17:36:37)
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Thread Starter- Uwe
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Re: Underwood Standard 3 - Carriage Won't Advance
Yes, that's the correct place to attach the end of the drawband.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Typophile
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Re: Underwood Standard 3 - Carriage Won't Advance
Yes, that's the correct place to attach the end of the drawband.
Woo-hoo, I might count that as my first successful repair then! 
Thank you Uwe!
Last edited by Typophile (30-3-2015 17:50:22)
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Thread Starter- Typophile
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Re: Underwood Standard 3 - Carriage Won't Advance
So today I managed to get the mainspring drum turning. The carriage still doesn't advance though. 
I've taken a closer look at what's going on and it looks like there's perhaps a missing part (the pinion?) as nothing is engaged with the rack and the starwheel seems loose. I think I'm now at the point where I'll have to disassemble it to see if the part is missing or just loose in there or something. Still a bit nervous about taking it apart but build up some courage to maybe try it tomorrow. 
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Thread Starter- Uwe
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Re: Underwood Standard 3 - Carriage Won't Advance
I'd hold off on removing the carriage. Is there tension on the drawband? It could be that the tension needs adjustment. Also, when you move the carriage back and forth manually, does it glide effortlessly, or does it require a lot of force?
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Typophile
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Re: Underwood Standard 3 - Carriage Won't Advance
I'd hold off on removing the carriage. Is there tension on the drawband? It could be that the tension needs adjustment. Also, when you move the carriage back and forth manually, does it glide effortlessly, or does it require a lot of force?
There is tension, yes. The carriage more or less glides effortlessly (save for the tension), and there is no 'clacking' noise.
Incidentally, how do I adjust the tension without turning the mainspring drum directly with my fingers?
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Thread Starter- Uwe
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Re: Underwood Standard 3 - Carriage Won't Advance
If there's tension, and there was a major component of the escapement missing like the pinion as you suggested, the carriage would remain pulled to the left.
To adjust the tension - and I would use extreme caution with this as too much tension is bad thing - you simply turn the tension adjusting knob, clockwise to increase, counterclockwise to decrease. There should be just enough tension that on a level surface the carriage will move all the way to the end of its stroke without a drop in performance.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
