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Hi everyone,
I'm trying to repair an old Erika model S and got it mostly to work now, except for one thing: The carriage return lever does not return to its original position after it was pulled. It just stays where it was pulled to (the platen correctly rotates). One has to move it back by hand before one can pull it again to further rotate the platen.
I have concluded that there must be a missing spring or similar part somewhere on the carriage return lever, but I am unable to find out where. If there is anyone who owns an Erika model S with a working carriage return lever, I would be glad if you could make photos of both sides of the carriage return lever's mechanics and link them here (or write a PM to me) so that I can try to figure out what is missing there.
Of course, any insight on the problem is also appreciated.
Greetings
sirius
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More than likely it's probably rusty or dirty. It's a fairly common problem, and Royals are BAAAD about it. A little cleaning and lubing of the ratchet mechanism, along with where the lever itself pivots should get you back in good stead.
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It's also possible that the screwhead bolt that holds that the line space lever pivots on has been overtightened; if you loosen that bolt does it move more freely? I've seen this happen more than once, someone thinking that they were fixing a loose lever tightening its bolt until it can barely move.
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I've seen that too. I've also loosened a few. It works especially well when on the other side of the bolt there are "jam nuts,"--one atop the other, that hold it in place so you can have the screwhead bolt tightened any way you need to.
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Thank you, I'll try these soon!
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I just noticed I had not completed this topic. I found the reason. There is a spring below the carriage return lever mechanism and the platen whose extender should push against a small surface that in turn is connected with the lever. The spring was off. I did not see it because it's extender had drawn tight to the bar holding the platen.
Now the carriage doesn't stop anymore until it reaches the end of the machine... I guess I broke something when I removed the platen. A task for the next few months...
sirius
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Actually not tight to the platen bar, but to the bar holding the paper rest (the platen was obviously removed at the point I saw this).