Where to get a Sinar P gear rack?

[Peter Yeti]

I recently got an old Sinar P to upgrade my f2 and it turned out that a previous owner had ruined the front tilt gear rack. At first I thought it's no big deal to get the spare part and fix it. So, I called Sinar's authorised repair service to order the part. But no, they refused to sell it to me, basically telling me that I'm an incapable moron who can't repair this correctly, so it would break again soon. Then I called Sinar in Switzerland and they told me the same. Now I'm highly annoyed about Sinar and their policy. I'm not willing to spend $200+ for a repair, which I can do easily for $20.

So, does anyone here know of a source where I could get the replacement gear rack? Any info is highly appreciated.

[B.S.Kumar]

George Brown (apogeebee on ebay) and Michael Ulsaker of Ulsaker Studios are authorized Sinar repairers, and may be willing to sell the required parts. Both have done repairs for me, and do a very good job quickly at a reasonable cost.

Kumar

[Peter Yeti]

Thank you for the info. I can give it a try.

[erie patsellis]

Peter, if you find some $20 racks, let me know. The last one I bought from Sinar Bron for the rear of the 8x10 was around $45 or so.

[Leonard Robertson]

Does anyone know if the fine focus rack for the Sinar Norma is still available anywhere? It is nylon or some such plastic, not brass as I expected it to be. My hope is it is the same part used on the P or F, but I don't really know.

Len

[Peter Yeti]

I'd even pay $50 but Sinar won't sell it to me.:( Obviously, they did sell the parts before, since you bought one. So, the Sinar representative even lied to me on the phone, pretending that they always followed that policy not to sell this part to end-consumers. What's wrong with Sinar nowadays? The price quote came from the service technician, who is not allowed to sell it.

[Amedeus]

Can you post a pic and show exactly which one you're looking for ... I do have a bunch of used spare parts that I salvaged from broken Sinar assemblies.

[Peter Yeti]

Here is a picture of the front standard with the broken gear rack marked. It's the gear for the front tilt. My feeling is that the rack is the same for front and rear bearer.

94963

Would be great if you had one in your collection and if you'd be willing to part with it.

[Amedeus]

PM sent

[Steve]

Can you post a pic and show exactly which one you're looking for ... I do have a bunch of used spare parts that I salvaged from broken Sinar assemblies.
Just saw this post, looking for the same item (Sinar P Gear Rail for the Tilt Function) you don't happened to have one?
Much Appreciated,
Steve
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[Leigh]

I'd even pay $50 but Sinar won't sell it to me.:( Obviously, they did sell the parts before, since you bought one. So, the Sinar representative even lied to me on the phone, pretending that they always followed that policy not to sell this part to end-consumers. What's wrong with Sinar nowadays? The price quote came from the service technician, who is not allowed to sell it.
It's nothing unique to Sinar.

All of the companies that make non-throwaway products are adopting this policy.
They won't sell parts to anybody but authorized service stations, and those are not authorized to re-sell parts.

The reason is pretty obvious.
As quality improves and quantity of product being sold decreases, service shops have less and less business.
Makers are trying to force owners to use service shops, lest they go out of business leaving no repair support.

- Leigh

[kogino]

Hi, I'm having the same trouble with my sinar P2, but with the front and rear standard shift movement gear racks, do you have more info where I can get those gears to replace my worn ones?? thanks a lot!!

[asf]

Answer is the same today, you need to send your part to an authorized repair shop/person

Where are you?

[fuegocito]

Gus at Northwest camera (authorized Sinar service depo) is the man you want to speak to about getting sinar parts, I got mine replacement plastic gear from him, great service!

Gus Gulbranson
651-483-8588

info@northwestcamera.com

12720 Lake Blvd
PO box 79
Lindstrom, MN 55045

[asf]

Was this recently he sold you parts?

[fuegocito]

Was this recently he sold you parts?

yes, last year when discover my newly purchased used Sinar P's front standard gear was stripped. I contacted my guy in Boston and he refered me to Gus.

[asf]

Great, good to know

Up until about 12 years ago I got parts directly from Sinar Bron in nj and did small repairs like changing gears myself but all that changed

[Peter Yeti]

When I had my problem, I contacted Sinar and an authorized service store and they refused to send me parts with a crap reasoning. They said, I'm not capable of repairing it right and I'd have to send it in. Well, I'm capable enough to restore vintage Swiss watches to pristine condition, so I told them to go to hell. I was lucky enough that a very kind forum member had some spare parts and was willing to sell them to me. Replacing the gear was a piece of cake compared to straightening a balance spring or even just doing a standard movement revision. Thanks, Sinar, that you think your customers are incapable morons. Long story short, you can't get parts from official sources. You'll have to find an inofficial source like someone here on the forum. If the service point mentioned above sells you the parts, you're lucky. And better not tell Sinar or they will be in trouble.

Good look,

Peter

[Pfsor]

When I had my problem, I contacted Sinar and an authorized service store and they refused to send me parts with a crap reasoning. They said, I'm not capable of repairing it right and I'd have to send it in. Well, I'm capable enough to restore vintage Swiss watches to pristine condition, so I told them to go to hell. I was lucky enough that a very kind forum member had some spare parts and was willing to sell them to me. Replacing the gear was a piece of cake compared to straightening a balance spring or even just doing a standard movement revision. Thanks, Sinar, that you think your customers are incapable morons. Long story short, you can't get parts from official sources. You'll have to find an inofficial source like someone here on the forum. If the service point mentioned above sells you the parts, you're lucky. And better not tell Sinar or they will be in trouble.

Good look,

Peter

So much animosity for a few bucks to pay? Sending it to them to for repairing would be a nice way to keep their business alive.

[Bob Salomon]

Great, good to know

Up until about 12 years ago I got parts directly from Sinar Bron in nj and did small repairs like changing gears myself but all that changed

Sure did, the Koch family had to sell their Sinar factory for financial reasons. It was bought by their largest dealer in Switzerland or Germany, they also ran into financial problems after a few years and finally sold the Sinar factory to Leica a few years ago.

So yes, you probably bought spare parts from Sinar when it was still owned by the Kochs and have not been able to since the turnovers in ownership.

[Adamphotoman]

I had an authorized Sinar Repair done through Vistek a few years back. I packed it up and locked it down in an Expert Sinar made case.
The repair came back with the camera loose in the case. Ground Glass broken and cosmetic issues all over the metal.
So much for ....... can't say the bad words I want to.....

[Leigh]

A word of caution...

Gears are complex and precise mechanical devices.

For a rack to work properly, it must match the driving gear's design exactly.
For a curved rack as shown in the photo, that's quite a challenge.

- Leigh