A nice example of the Tippa S; it' looks great!

Adler produced some wonderful machines over the years, but by the time the Tippa S was introduced, the company had already merged with Triumph, and then had been bought out by Litton, which owned other typewriter manufacturers such as Imperial and Royal. Production lines merged and the lines between the various companies' designs blurred.

Most collectors will agree that Adler's portables declined in quality during the later years of the company's typewriter production history, and that the Tippa S - although a decent enough machine - does not fare well in a direct comparison with Adler's older ultra-portable models. In other words, it's not exactly surprising that your machine reminds you a little of a jalopy and I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Your Tippa appears to be in good condition - externally - so the binding carriage issue might be something other than the obvious, which is something foreign on the carriage rails like a lump of congealed oil and dirt or a patch of rust. I'd start by thoroughly cleaning and lightly oiling the rails. 

Gear? Perhaps the anti-creep sprocket that keeps the ball retainers in place. There should be an identical one in the front rail as well. Maybe some of the holes in the carriage that the sprocket meshes into are blocked?

KatLondon wrote:

what would you say is the point where the quality of the Tippas started to deteriorate?

Probably with the introduction of the Tippa S, which wasn't made in Germany, but in Holland instead (I think). The previous generation Tippa (below) types rather well for an ultra-portable, and although I don't own a Tippa S, I have tried a couple and have to agree that overall they have a more flimsy feel to them. I'd still buy one in a heartbeat at the right price because I still like the machines.

There was one other generation of the Tippa that followed the Tippa S, which I believe was made in Japan. I've never used one so I can't comment on its quality, but I suspect it would be very similar to the other Japan-sourced Litton models that I own such as the Imperial 220 and Royal Fleetwood, both of which are decent typewriters, but still not on par with the older Tippa models.

1965 Triumph/Adler Tippa 1:

A quick update to say I've fixed the main issue with the Tippa S. The bearing "sled" the carriage rides on has a single tiny sprocket (just on one side) that was not tracking well. Really frustrating. I studied it for a while, then decided there was no fixing it the root cause, I decided to delete the root cause.

I clipped the little sprocket off, reinstalled the carriage and now it works well, with no sticking. Probably not the ideal fix, but I was seriously thinking of practicing my discus-throwing skills with that machine ;)

So now I have a useable, if flimsy, Adler in my collection!

 

Welcome to the forum ID/NE. I had a quick look for my Tippa 1 and couldn't find it, but I'll keep an eye open for it to check its margin bell. Are you sure that you need to remove the carriage? My memory isn't the greatest, but I seem to recall having the case off of the machine, which provided good access to all its components, including the bell mechanism.