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Hi,
I just got my first Remington Rand Streamline (serial# B103241) from about 1940. It was in pretty good shape and I've given it a very thorough cleaning. Everything seems to work well, except that at least once on every line I type (no matter which key or where on the line), a key jams and only raises about halfway up. If I hit the Shift key, it fixes it immediately and I can continue typing. I'm not familiar enough with these machine to be able to fix this properly. I've posted a video demo here so you can get better idea of what the problem is. [color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)]In this video it happens once in the beginning of the line and then again towards the end. [/color]Big thank to anyone with an idea on how to fix this.
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Hi Parsillo
Just for interest, set the bichrome (ribbon color) selector to stencil so the ribbon does not lift and try typing a couple of lines. Please let us know if there is any change. All the best,
Sky
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Hi Sky!
Thanks for the good suggestion for the process of elimination. Unfortunately, the keys still jammed up like before.
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If the key jammed in the same place along the line every time, I'd say there's something going on with the escapement rack. These machines use a fixed dog and a floating dog to sort of walk along the rack as the draw cord pulls the carriage along. My # 5 Streamline is in the storage shed at the moment, so I'll look at retrieving it tomorrow and take a look at the internals to figure out what might be happening.
That being said though, it almost looks like the line-end lock is randomly engaging. The line-end lock is the mechanism which prevents the type bars from striking the platen when the right margin has been contacted. Just for interest's sake, when a key locks, try pushing the small chrome key just to the left of the figure 2 key. This is the margin release (MR) key which allows you to either type past the right margin or type numbers in the left margin. Let us know what the results of this check render.
Sky
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Thanks again! I tried the margin release key but it didn't work.
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That's so kind of you, going to the trouble of bringing out one of your own machines.Thank you.
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I now have both margin stops pushed all the way to the ends of each side. From the left it stops/jams after 7 characters, every time. And on the right side it also stops/jams at the exact same spot which is about 2in from the edge of the paper.
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I think I just figured it out. I kept sliding the carriage back and forth at the point where it jams, and looking from behind and under the machine, it seemed the drawstring knot, hanging outside the mainspring wheel was rubbing up against a bar that triggers the line-lock. I tucked the knot in as best I could and then bent the bar out just a mm or so. Now it passes freely and no more triggering of the line lock. So far so good. Does that sound plausible to you?