[Not a Number]

Resurrection of an old thread ... but still a useful one.

I have just opened the bottom of a MZ-5n that I recently acquired to get an idea of the task involved. I have figured out where the motor is, etc. ... and it's a shame that it's so deep in the body. I removed the right-side of the front in order to access a screw which held the gear plate. I can move the mirror manually by hand spinning the gears next the the motor.

I hesitate a bit here ... has anyone recently done still successfully and are the brass gear motors still available? Cheers, J

See post #52

I just ordered the gears, that are still available from HERE:

Mikroantriebe KK Produkcja Zahnrad, Schnecken und Car System Onlineshop - Zahnrad / Trieb M0.25 / 13 Zähne

If you order you must change the drill/hole diameter to 1.5 mm
Change the width to 2.0 mm
and the material to brass

with shipping, for three of these gears, the cost was $20.93 USD

On the 4th page of this thread is the procedure that works for replacing just the gear, without the complete removal of the motor.

I will report back if/when I manage the repair on my ZX-M and ZX-5

Eric would not repair my ZX-M as he cannot get the correct pentax parts. I wonder if he might be willing to order these gears and just replace the gears.

[Jean Poitiers]

See post #52

Thanks !

I will check this out.

[ChrisPlatt]

Holy cow, look at all those plastic gears!

Chris

[Not a Number]

I suggest you get a pinion gear puller if you can find one that handles a 1.5mm shaft and can get close enough to the motor without removing it.

Premium Steel Universal Motor Pinion Gear Puller Remover for RC Motors Accessory | eBay

Shaft sizes are not listed for the above. I suggest contacting the seller. Otherwise it might do the trick.

[redbirdpete]

I suggest you get a pinion gear puller if you can find one that handles a 1.5mm shaft and can get close enough to the motor without removing it.

Premium Steel Universal Motor Pinion Gear Puller Remover for RC Motors Accessory | eBay

Shaft sizes are not listed for the above. I suggest contacting the seller. Otherwise it might do the trick.

I don't want to brutal, but unless you are very good at taking small complex things apart and putting them back together I would go find a different camera. If you are determined I have three of the Polish gears I can send you for just the postage. These cameras particularly hate sitting unused, so a mint one that has been sitting in a drawer for 20 years will get through anything between a couple of frames and half-a- dozen films because it packs up.

I've got a drawer full of the flippin' things.

[momo]

I don't want to brutal, but unless you are very good at taking small complex things apart and putting them back together I would go find a different camera. If you are determined I have three of the Polish gears I can send you for just the postage. These cameras particularly hate sitting unused, so a mint one that has been sitting in a drawer for 20 years will get through anything between a couple of frames and half-a- dozen films because it packs up.

I've got a drawer full of the flippin' things.

Hello,

My ZX-7 Mirror motor just died yesterday.
Please send me those gears if you still have it, and just let me know how much is the postage.


Thanks in advance,

Momo

[Geoffrey]

It may be of interest to others struggling with this camera that the full service manual for the MZ-5 (which is very similar to the MZ-5n) is available for free from Electrotanya.com. Also, I found that the problem with a stuck mirror with my MZ-5n was not the motor but with the shutter switch. This would respond to the first light touch position but would not make contact when fully depressed. I opened the switch and found the problem was corrosion on the moving flexible contact. After cleaning the switch my mirror now works but the shutter curtains fail to open ! Incidentally the service manual says that the mirror motor should be tested on 1.5V but the motor is actually a 5V motor and will not work on 1.5v.

Incidentally, I had a similar problem with a Nikon F65 but with that camera the problem was that the lubricant inside the shutter switch had solidified into a jell making the switch inoperative.

[Aussie Matt]

I scored and Ebay MZ50, was after the lense. But it still has film in it, so I figure why not? I got some batteries for it, put them in, yep, lcd works, buttons appear to work. Cool.

I then chuck the batteries into my dads MZ50.... display lights up... but the mirror is up.. I can gently pull it down, but it wont lock down: I put a lens on it, it tries to focus etc... seems everything is ok, but the mirror:

Is this the dreaded mirror gear failure? Is there anything else I need to check to confim this? TIA