P3D FED film advance fix?

[Mark Shields <beamsplitter@xxxxxxxx>]

Hi!

Working my way through the list of this used FED's ailments,
I thank Steve Berezin for his thoughts on the back, as well
as Peter Homer for the meter needle. These things sound hopeful.

But the worst seems to be the film advance, mainly the ratchet
on the film wind lever. It seems that the ratchet pawl sometimes
refuses to engage the teeth, so that the rapid wind lever goes
through its motions without actually moving the film. It is
very free and easy when it does this. Meanwhile the 1-3-1-3
mechanism is merrily counting away, so even if it catches the
next time around (and it is sometimes in mid-stroke), the
result is overlapping frames. It sometimes also exhibits the
symptom I've often heard of quitting advance entirely toward
the end of the roll, when the sound of sprocket teeth tearing
past perforations is heard. But the slipping ratchet problem is
worse because it happens intermittently, toward the beginning
of the roll as well as later on. It would also seem to be
easier to fix--maybe lubrication on the ratchet pawl, or a 
stronger pawl spring? How hard is it to get at the ratchet.

Any suggestions or successful cures would be appreciated!
I'm still hoping this is a project within my capabilities!

Mark Shields

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beamsplitter@xxxxxxxx
http://www.stmattpitt.org
"Let the little children come to Me," Jesus said, "and don't keep
 them away. The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
  -Matthew 19:14


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