Disassembling a Heliar 36cm - help needed

[nkrustev]

Hi guys,
I have a Heliar 36cm I want to disassemble so I can clean up some dust.
I do not have a lot of experience with such matters and the only thing I manage to screw off is the rear group. How do I disassemble the rest?
I am including a couple of pictures if that helps.

http://photo-zona.net/images/user43270/album26921/large/1302966859_gwqb6818_heliar1_small.jpg

http://photo-zona.net/images/user43270/album26921/large/1302966859_qngc0109_heliar2_small.jpg

[Louis Pacilla]

You need to screw off the front hood. Then you will be able to separate the the front & middle element s to clean them. The hood is attached to the front &middle cell.

The bad news is, if the barrel is Aluminum & the cell housing are aluminum they could be stuck for good. On the other hand the barrel could be brass as I have a 11 3/4" that is brass barrel & aluminum cell housing.On the other hand my 36CM has both barrel & cell housing made of aluminum

Either way you may have to give it a little penetrating spray lube to the front threads & let it soak in for a day or so. Then take a rubber pad( for opening jars or a piece of rubber pad used under rugs) get a good grip & make sure you have the rear cell in the barrel to add strength to the barrel. Now grab the barrel w/ a pad & the front cell w/ another pad. Give it a good twist Keep trying until you hear & fell it crack the frozen threads.

After you get them apart ( thinking positive :) ) you will very easily separate the front & middle cells for a good cleaning. The front & middle cell are both in there own housing & simply unscrew into two pieces.

I hope this makes sense. My digital camera is down at the moment or I would add a few photos of the lens broken down into it's parts.

[nkrustev]

Mr Pacilla,
Thank you so much. Your explanation is very clear. I thought that was the case as well but could not unscrew the hood no matter how much I tried.
One question. Where should I lube? Just behind the hood? It is pretty tight and I cannot see the thread. If I lube (do you think WD40 is good for the purpose?) is there a chance to get lube on something that should not be lubed (aperture blades, glass)?
Thanks again for the comprehensive explanation.

[nkrustev]

Happy end.
Actually all I needed was another pair of hands and the courage to force it hard.
All good now. Clean glass and lubed threads.
All that is left is to take pictures with it.
Thanks again Mr. Pacilla.

[Louis Pacilla]

Happy end.
Actually all I needed was another pair of hands and the courage to force it hard.
All good now. Clean glass and lubed threads.
All that is left is to take pictures with it.
Thanks again Mr. Pacilla.

Fantastic my friend. Have fun making images w/ your new (to you) Heliar.

[swmcl]

Just a note after the event. I've used Inox for tight threads. The stuff really gets in there ! WD40 is just not in the same league.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

I use and sell Inox. Great stuff for anything camera related.