Spotmatic slow speeds, works every other winding.

Beepaitch · 03-19-2023, 03:11 PM

Hi, I’ve picked up an SPII as part of an auction win. It has a problem I’ve not seen before.
When I select a slow speed, say half a second, the first time I wind it on, it will fire as it expected, opening the mirror/shutter for half a second.
The next time it’ll fire at a very fast sounding speed. Then following time slow again.

Can anyone start me off with what (specifically) might be wrong?

I’m looking to start fixing this myself, so please, I know many readers will want to say “get a CLA!”, but I’m not prepared to CLA something that I can learn on myself and am not at all attached to 😂

UpstatePentax · 04-23-2023, 07:11 AM - **1 Like**

The slow speed clockwork is under the mirror box which is pretty much a complete tear down to get at. It’s not difficult to diy a CLA (which you need) on a Spotmatic and doesn’t really take much as far as tools. If the light meter is dead and you have no plans to use a flash, it gets simpler because you won’t need to do any soldering. Watch oil, 2 screwdrivers, YouTube, and a fine tipped set of wire clippers are what I used to do the first couple Spotmatics I CLA’d. A lens spanner is nice for getting stuff like the self timer and speed screws out without scratching the (I used the pointy nippers with mixed results).

03-19-2023, 03:11 PM	#1
Beepaitch Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2019 Location: Gloucestershire, UK Posts: 111	Spotmatic slow speeds, works every other winding. Hi, I’ve picked up an SPII as part of an auction win. It has a problem I’ve not seen before. When I select a slow speed, say half a second, the first time I wind it on, it will fire as it expected, opening the mirror/shutter for half a second. The next time it’ll fire at a very fast sounding speed. Then following time slow again. Can anyone start me off with what (specifically) might be wrong? I’m looking to start fixing this myself, so please, I know many readers will want to say “get a CLA!”, but I’m not prepared to CLA something that I can learn on myself and am not at all attached to 😂

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04-23-2023, 07:11 AM - 1 Like	#2
UpstatePentax New Member Join Date: Jan 2023 Posts: 7	The slow speed clockwork is under the mirror box which is pretty much a complete tear down to get at. It’s not difficult to diy a CLA (which you need) on a Spotmatic and doesn’t really take much as far as tools. If the light meter is dead and you have no plans to use a flash, it gets simpler because you won’t need to do any soldering. Watch oil, 2 screwdrivers, YouTube, and a fine tipped set of wire clippers are what I used to do the first couple Spotmatics I CLA’d. A lens spanner is nice for getting stuff like the self timer and speed screws out without scratching the (I used the pointy nippers with mixed results).