1 - Jore.Mx
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- From: Mexico
- Registered: 30-3-2015
- Posts: 10
Olivetti lettera 25 line spacing
Hello! I'm Jore from México, A while back I got a Lettera 25 that worked great, but it was coloured a pepto bismol pink that didn't look to appealing, so I took the cases apart and all the mechanical sat in a box for about a month while I painted all of the plastics. When I was putting it back together I noticed a loose spring with a loop on each end that's about 2 cm long, I looked around for amounting point but didn't find one. So now that it's all back together I have this one spring laying around and machines line spacing went out of whack. If it's in 0, 1, 2 or 3 it gives at least 2 cm between lines, that didn't happen before taking it apart.
Could you give me some advice on what to do?
Thanks!
Just doin' some repairs.
- Uwe
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- Registered: 12-3-2013
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Re: Olivetti lettera 25 line spacing
Hi Jore, welcome to TT.
Did you remove the carriage end covers for repainting too? A photo of the spring would help to place where it belongs as there are a number of springs in the machine, and it may/or may not have anything to do with the line spacing issue. You need to have posted at least three times before you can post a photo, and there are instructions in the FAQ thread of the Type Talk sub-forum.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Jore.Mx
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- From: Mexico
- Registered: 30-3-2015
- Posts: 10
Re: Olivetti lettera 25 line spacing
Hi Uwe, yes, I did remove those covers also, I'm guessing that's where the spring came out from, but I can't seem to place where it's from.
Just doin' some repairs.
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Thread Starter- Jore.Mx
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Re: Olivetti lettera 25 line spacing
So this is the outcome of my paint job
This is how it looked like in the add before buying it
And finally this is the spring that I have no idea where it's from
Just doin' some repairs.
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Thread Starter- Uwe
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Re: Olivetti lettera 25 line spacing
Nice colour choice, but ironically it was worth a lot more in that heinous pink; in my area pink typewriters sell for big bucks, their prices driven ever higher by frenzied teenage girls who know nothing of typewriters but are like moths to a flame when there's a pink one in sight.
I'll take a look at my Lettera 25s later today and see if I can identify where that spring came from.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Jore.Mx
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- From: Mexico
- Registered: 30-3-2015
- Posts: 10
Re: Olivetti lettera 25 line spacing
Thanks again Uwe, olivettis aren't that expensive here in Mexico, they where locally produced for a long time, the on I have was about 30 dollars and it included an extra ribbon, you can get those for about 20 mexican pesos, so less then 2 dollars for a completly new one.
Just doin' some repairs.
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Thread Starter- Jore.Mx
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- Posts: 10
Re: Olivetti lettera 25 line spacing
I took the cases apart yesterday and well I can't find a nub or other thing to attach the spring to, but it's still wierd that it was inside laying around. I'll have to take another look at it.
Just doin' some repairs.
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Thread Starter- Jore.Mx
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Re: Olivetti lettera 25 line spacing
I got a hold on the seller who also owns a repair shop and he told that he could help me troubleshoot the typewriter over the phone, but it has to be next week, since it's easter holiday and nobody works here.
Just doin' some repairs.
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Thread Starter- Jore.Mx
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Re: Olivetti lettera 25 line spacing
Well I took the cases apart again, still no trace of where the spring goes, I'm starting to doubt if it even is from this typewriter, but I did find that the roller has some lateral adjustment that appearantly is controlled by the right hand side knob. I fiddled around with the side to side play a bit and locked the roller in place with the knob and now it's spacing is perfect.
Just doin' some repairs.
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Thread Starter- Jore.Mx
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- Posts: 10
Re: Olivetti lettera 25 line spacing
So this was how my lettera did the spacing, from left to right starting at position 0, then there's a space without number but it clicks a bump, so I'm calling 0.5, after we have positions 1,2 and 3. As you can see all of them are fairly equal, about a cm apart.
This is the left side of the carriage, the white knobed lever is the one that controls line spacing, it controls (or at least that's what it seems to me) some lateral movement on the anchor for the escape cog, at first I didn't notice what it did, till I accidently bumped the roller and notice that it had some lateral play, and also that if I pushed it to the left and had the lever in 0 it wouldn't catch at all.
This is the underside of the machine, it looks fairly clean and seems to be well oiled, probably the seller gave it some maintenance before I bought it, the guy runs a repair shop for typewriters.
This is the right side of the carriage, you can see some rubbing marks around the plate that holds the roller's axle, that's what confirmed my theory that it some play and you use the knob to adjust the roller.
And this is the end result, line spacing is perfect now, so from left to right we have positions 0.5, 1, 2 and 3:
I hope this helps others with similar problems, I also read that the lettera 25 shares mechanicals the 32, 35, Dora, DL, Valentine, so this adjustment probably solves the problem on all of the typewriters previously mentioned.
Thanks for reading!
Just doin' some repairs.
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