Kalart repair question

[Rael]

If it protrudes from the surface you can file the top as a hex or square bolt and then use pliers to turn it. My Speed Graphic's Kalart seems to be different...

No such luck...it's flush or maybe a little below the surface.

[EdSawyer]

You can remove the whole upper shell of the kalart (not the cover which you have already removed) which can help access that part. Not sure if it would help but it's not too comlpex. THere are kalart repair / manuals online, not too hard to find.

good luck!
-Ed

[Jac@stafford.net]

You can remove the whole upper shell of the kalart (not the cover which you have already removed) which can help access that part. Not sure if it would help but it's not too comlpex. THere are kalart repair / manuals online, not too hard to find.

Ed is right. The silver screw just to the right of the munged brass adjustment release is the one to remove, then separate the halves by gently prying a screw driver at each of the long ends. It moves apart and nothing will fall out. I have one of my spares on the bench at this moment and will post some snapshots.

I'll post a snapshot in a few minutes.

[Rael]

Ed is right. The silver screw just to the right of the munged brass adjustment release is the one to remove, then separate the halves by gently prying a screw driver at each of the long ends. It moves apart and nothing will fall out. I have one of my spares on the bench at this moment and will post some snapshots.

BTW - the screw in question is not only easily munged, but it is also tricky to tighten, to lock in place.

I'll post a snapshot in a few minutes.

Ah, I will try that, thank you. I did find the "user's manual" with all of the adjustments, but nothing like an exploded repair diagram, so I didn't want to start taking it apart if there were things that would fall out and be difficult to put back.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Okay, bad news. My adjustment screw is broken, too.
I post the following for others looking for Kalart rangefinder details.

First, this is the whole underside of the Kalart separated from the bottom plate as Ed suggested.



This shows the other side of the adjustment screw. It comes out from this side. There is a washer, too.



And this is the !%#!%!$ screw, or bolt. Note that half the screw slot is broken off. I guess that's why it was in the junk drawer.



Dimensions: screw width ~1.5mm, length with head 6mm, head 3.5mm

[Rael]

Okay, bad news. My adjustment screw is broken, too.
I post the following for others looking for Kalart rangefinder details.

First, the is the whole underside of the Kalart separated from the bottom plate as Ed suggested.



This shows the other side of the adjustment screw. It comes out from this side. There is a washer, too.



And this is the !%#!%!$ screw, or bolt. Note that half the screw slot is broken off. I guess that's why it was in the junk drawer.



Dimensions: screw width ~1.5mm, length with head 6mm, head 3.5mm

Ah thank you for the pictures. It's clearer now...

[Jac@stafford.net]

By the way, the little brass screw we are worrying about does only one thing - it increases the friction necessary to move the little sliding tab in the left edge (on the scale that goes 1-19). IOW, if you take the unit apart as I showed, then take a little wrench to tighten head of the brass bolt, and tighten it just enough to allow movment of the sliding tab with modest effort, you are good to go. Do that, close up the unit and be happy.

The brass bugger was never intended to lock the sliding tab, but just to give some purchase to the sliding tab on the side. It is no wonder it gets munged up.

[Rael]

By the way, the little brass screw we are worrying about does only one thing - it increases the friction necessary to move the little sliding tab in the left edge (on the scale that goes 1-19). IOW, if you take the unit apart as I showed, then take a little wrench to tighten head of the brass bolt, and tighten it just enough to allow movment of the sliding tab with modest effort, you are good to go. Do that, close up the unit and be happy.

The brass bugger was never intended to lock the sliding tab, but just to give some purchase to the sliding tab on the side. It is no wonder it gets munged up.

Thanks, that actually worked. Now, a related question, since I seem to have the ear of an expert with these beasts. It seems that the "suggested" numbers for a 135mm 4.5 are nowhere near correct -- so something else is wonky. I did realize that the line the number is actually ON is not the line for that number (go figure) but I think it's set correctly for my "stock" lens at the moment. I did tweak the little screw under the bottom prism and that seemed to true things up, but I'm not sure if doing that messed up the geometry somewhere else -- It looks right on at 25 feet but I haven't had a chance to get it outside to test infinity. Close up, around 4 feet, seems a bit off. Was moving the prism a bad move?

[Jac@stafford.net]

I did tweak the little screw under the bottom prism and that seemed to true things up, but I'm not sure if doing that messed up the geometry somewhere else

If you mean the tiny screw that lifts the left side of the prism away from its mount surface, then no worries. You can untweak it. If you look on the outside of the cover, there is a screw to tune alignment. If you run out of adjustment using that outside screw, then you use the little screw to push the prism forward a tiny bit. One more thing to hate - There is a little spring rod with a curl at one end that keeps tension against the prism. The external screw requires that tension. The curl on the spring is supposed to touch the left of the prism mount. Sometimes the it gets pushed aside during assembly and that means the external screw adjuster will not work - the prism moves freely - not good.

Aside: I buy OEM items when possible so that I have a reference. Some of these rangefinders are so whacked out it's hard to tell what they were supposed to be. The half-silvered mirror is usually shot, and the prism foggy. (Edmund's Optical is my friend.) I dread the day (should I live so long) that my Super Technika RF goes away.

[mdarnton]

The numbers are really just approximations to get you in the ballpark. The actual adjustment is EXTREMELY twitchy, and every time you change one range, the other changes a bit. If you've not found the extensive article on the web about how to adjust these, get it and follow it. I set up the requisite distances with tape on the floor, did a very careful job, and it took me about 45 minutes. . . . and I'm pretty good at that kind of thing. However, my RF is now absolutely spot-on at all distances.