Betax Cleaning

[Peter Yeti]

Gentlemen,

Why not calm down a bit and be peaceful? Advice can be given but it's not a good idea to force it down the throat. In the end, everyone has to make his own experience. On the other hand, if I ask for advice and don't like the result, I might just say thanks and do whatever I think.

This said, I only can second that it's not the best idea to dump a shutter in cleaning fluid. I restore watches as well and can confirm the observations stated above. I see a lot of botched up movements and if the shift-make "maintenance" doesn't stop them running soon enough, the damages caused by this are often unrepairable. Shutters may be more forgiving because they don't run permanently. But else they are closely related to watch movements. I'd say, try your luck, it is your shutter.

[Randy]

The last word is yours.

My last word is "yawn".
As for the others - I have gleaned some instructions via PM. Will let y'all know when my Betax is available for parts or repair :-)

[Fotoguy20d]

Take a look at these - they might help a bit. They're not mine but I found them while contemplating my own Betax 4 repair - I'm going to tackle it eventually but havent had the time yet. I'll agree with whoever said not to soak the shutter - that usually just spreads the mess around, and with some shutters will eat the blades.

Dan

[Jody_S]

Does anyone know how many blades are supposed to be in a Betax #5? 5 or 6? I bought one off the forum lately, attached to a Wolly Series II 12/4.5, non-working shutter of course. I opened to clean the blades and when I re-assembled, I had one extra blade and a perfectly-working shutter. Was the 1st blade in the sequence doubled-up?

[Jon Shiu]

Does anyone know how many blades are supposed to be in a Betax #5? 5 or 6? I bought one off the forum lately, attached to a Wolly Series II 12/4.5, non-working shutter of course. I opened to clean the blades and when I re-assembled, I had one extra blade and a perfectly-working shutter. Was the 1st blade in the sequence doubled-up?

I haven't done it, but believe the extra blade is put on last, over the first blade.

Jon

[Michael Graves]

Yeah, this explains why there are so many shutters smelling of lighter fliud and not working.

Send it to someone like Flutot's unless you have the tools, lubricants, and experience to: disassemble, clean all parts, reassemble lubricating as you go. You'll need: A set of watchmaker's screwdrivers, some tweezers, an ultrasonic cleaner, at least two lubricants- light grease and watch or light clock oil; skill, experience, and a place to work.

Hear, hear. At least if you decide to try and repair your own shutter, let people like me know when you did. I suffer from CDS (coordination deficiency syndrome) and would no more try to take a shutter apart than I'd try to disarm a nuclear bomb. I send shutters to Carol. As like another person pointed out, I've had her ask if I tried to fix it myself. The thing about DIY repairs is this. If I get a shutter that nobody has tried to repair and it seems okay, it probably is. If I get a shutter that somebody has tried to repair and it seems okay, it probably isn't. I don't want to pay as much for the one somebody else mucked up.

[Jody_S]

I haven't done it, but believe the extra blade is put on last, over the first blade.

Jon

That's what I thought, though one of the blades is bent a little worse than the others, so I left it out and tried the shutter without it. I'll be trying it on-camera (without the 6th blade) to see if it's ok as-is. I usually take a pic when I first open the shutter to help with the orientation and order, but the blades were out of place when I opened it so the photo wasn't much help.

[jbenedict]

If they were digital, I'd post the picture story of a ca. 1925 Fay & Bowen LN-43 boat engine which came to me in boxes, filling the back of a pickup truck. The LN-43 was a 60 hp four, 4 3/4" x 5 1/2", 1200 rpm and 950 pounds. The (early) Paragon drive was in the same case as the rset of the engine. The magneto was missing, and the only one I could find turned the wrong way. I noticed that the impulse coupling was designed to be assembled to work either way, so I retimed the internals of the Bosch magneto to turn the correct direction. The starter was missing, but I found the correct Northern Electric with the wrong mounting nose. I made parts on a lathe, welded them together, put them back in the lathe, drilled six holes in the mill and had a correct mounting nose. Then all the valves were unserviceable.... babbit bearings... where do you get a head gasket for one of these?

Ain't that fun... I have a friend who restores/repairs/gets running vintage boat engines. He's pretty creative and has a lathe, Bridgeport mill, welders (two types) and a group of friends who know more about this than he does so stuff gets finished. He likes the Scripps motors and his first complete rebuild was a Chrysler Royal Eight when he was 18. It is amazing what you can do if you decide that you are going to do it. I keep my opinions to myself but there are *lots* more fun boat motors than small and large block Chevys. The guys with propane stoves on their boats who pull a good running vintage gas motor because "it might blow up and diesel is safer" especially make me laugh.