7 Oct 2013

Three Olympia SM2/3/4 Carriage Repairs


Escapement rack alignment screws / left

Escapement rack alignment screw / right

Rear rubber washer

Front rubber washer

Front carriage rail adjustment screw / left

Front carriage rail adjustment screw / right

Messrs Polt, Bowker, and Kernaghan

...every carriage as long as it's not twisted beyond recognition, that is. I'm assuming these would also work on SM1/5/7 machines, and will update accordingly as I find out for sure. I figured it would be helpful to put all of this information in one place.

Sent from my Olympia SM3

12 comments:

  1. It will be very helpful! (:

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting! This is (valuable) news to me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the information. Great post. Is the fat washer a new one? I used washers about 0.100 inch thick which is about what I have seen others use and seemed close to what the originals were (if they were not squashed). I found when the washers were too thin or too thick it caused problems.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The rear washers came with the typewriter, assuming they were installed when it was refurbished. One of them is strangely soft and leaks rubbery goo around but as long as you don't touch it, then it's ok. XD

      Delete
    2. I am hoping you can guide me to the right answer. My caps are fine, but the descenders (lower p's and 'j's) aren't printing well. I am wondering what I should adjust for vertical alignment with the platen? Thanks!

      Delete
  4. Kudos to you for your persistence, sir! I'm going to have to save this post to my hard drive for future reference.
    Congrats on getting to the bottom of the problem!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Now I sort of wishing I had an ailing Olympia, just so I could put this new fix into practice. I'm sure another will be along some time!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Guess what, I just remembered this. Exactly the same rack problem - though with possibly different symptoms - on my Facit. I didn't take a photo at the time but there's on here.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for the information - this escapement rack screw adjustment fix has just instantly rescued an otherwise-perfect but unuseable German Optima Elite 3!

    ReplyDelete
  8. How do you get at these screws to turn them? The other rail is in the way so I can't get a screwdriver in there straight. Do I have to disassemble the carriage?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just tilt the screwdriver a little to get at them.

      Delete
  9. this was happening on mine. I fixed it by raising both the capitals and lowercase letters up, so they hit in the middle of the platen. They are probably hitting a little too low. Adjust the lowercase letters so that the descenders look good, and then adjust the capitals to match. I hope this helps.

    ReplyDelete