1 - daveM3
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Empire Aristocrat S/N S2/264035 (1956 I believe)
Hi all, I'm new to the forum. I have invested in an Empire Aristocrat but it has one or two issues which I hope I can fix. The first is more of a question: is the carriage return lever shown in the photos below at the correct angle or has it been bent? Also, it does not seem to engage the drum reliably so the line spacing isn't always consistent or correct but I'm hoping that I can figure out why this is. The drum advance lever/mechanism does seem a little loose though and I'm not yet sure if something is missing like a spring for example, so I'm scouring the web for pictures of similar models.
Finally, there is a key spring missing so for now I will probably swap one of the less used key springs over. Does anyone know a presently available spring which will do the job? I even thought of making one but that seems a little OTT and I don't think my wife will stand another model from Ebay sat on the dining room table in bits (would be a shame to buy one just to steal a spring anyway).
Any help appreciated, thanks very much,
DaveM3
I
I
- skywatcher
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Re: Empire Aristocrat S/N S2/264035 (1956 I believe)
Hi Dave
The line advance lever is definitely bent, the lower half of the lever should be horizontal and parallel to the top of the typewriter. I believe this happens when the cover is forced on without first folding the upper half of the lever down. Just looking at my 1956 Aristocrat S/N S2-279378, it looks like the line advance ratchet link is held down against the ratchet wheel by the small compression spring under the screw head that connects the link to the line advance lever.
As for the platen not always advancing properly, there are a couple of things to check. Make sure the left hand platen knob is tight. The left platen knob has a left hand thread and is loosened to allow the platen to rotate separately from the ratchet wheel, this is the line finder feature on these little machines. The platen ratchet wheel is also held in place by a spring loaded roller that works as a detent on the ratchet teeth so the platen doesn't drift as you're typing. Hope this points you in the right direction,
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)
- daveM3
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Re: Empire Aristocrat S/N S2/264035 (1956 I believe)
Hi Sky,
thanks for your help. Would it be too much to ask you to take one or two close up shots of your empire aristocrat around the area of the carriage return lever (or describe what you see in detail)? I'm especially interested in what washers, springs and circlips go where since I have taken mine apart and a few bits dropped off and I am not 100% sure how to get them all back in the correct place. Typical case where you undo a screw and something unexpectedly drops off the bottom. The bending of the carriage return lever had weakened/distorted the small circllip on the bottom of the main large screw so a washer and nut fell off quite easily. I may have to source a new circlip if it doesn't hold reliably when re-assembled.
I have straightened the lever as best as I can, it looks pretty straight now though again, it's difficult to know what is 100% correct.
Regards,
Dave
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Thread Starter- daveM3
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Re: Empire Aristocrat S/N S2/264035 (1956 I believe)
I forgot to say that the main problem seems to be that the ratchet lever is a little loose/not sprung down enough so is not properly engaging the ratchet gear wheel (which is tight on the drum).
Here are a few photo's of the bits and the area around the carriage return for reference:
Regards,
Dave
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Thread Starter- skywatcher
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Re: Empire Aristocrat S/N S2/264035 (1956 I believe)
Hi Dave
Looking more closely at your first picture, I see the problem. The compression spring has been installed under the ratchet link instead of on top. When you reassemble, put the spring onto the screw, then thread the screw through the ratchet link and into the line space lever.
I would post a close-up of mine, but I had an argument with Photo-bucket as they suddenly wanted a lot of money in order to allow third party hosting for my photo's. Just another example of American Corporate Greed. If you pm me with your e-mail address, I'll see if I can e-mail you a few pictures directly. 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)
- daveM3
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Re: Empire Aristocrat S/N S2/264035 (1956 I believe)
Hi Sky,
Ah that makes sense. I am surprised that I wasn't able to find a service manual for one of these. You would think with the numbers manufactured that there would have been one written.
Anyway not to worry. Thanks again for your help.
I will pm you.
Regards,
Dave
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Thread Starter- daveM3
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Re: Empire Aristocrat S/N S2/264035 (1956 I believe)
Many thanks to Sky for pm'ing detailed photo's which helped enormously - I was surprised at the scarcity of detailed photographs on line.
I re-assembled the line advance lever but still, the line advance is not behaving very well. I think I know the reason why as shown in the following photo. The tip of the line advance ratchet lever looks to be worn/broken so I think the only thing I can do is to try to find a replacement. I would imagine though that many of these old units are or have worn through heavy use.
Dave
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Thread Starter- daveM3
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Re: Empire Aristocrat S/N S2/264035 (1956 I believe)
Some more photo's of ratchet lever for reference:
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Thread Starter- daveM3
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Re: Empire Aristocrat S/N S2/264035 (1956 I believe)
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Thread Starter- skywatcher
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Re: Empire Aristocrat S/N S2/264035 (1956 I believe)
Hi Dave
Those are great close-ups and now I can say the line space link is very worn, the bevel is supposed to be the other way indicating at least the thickness of the metal has worn off leaving almost no bite on the ratchet dog. It might be an idea to see if you can find a jeweler who has a laser welder to build up the worn area. Have you tried contacting Tom the Typewriter Man to see if he might have any ideas for you. 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)
