broken drive belt on manual typewriter

[thedrycleaner]

hello fellow collectors. the carriage on my royal empress got stuck in one posiiton the other day. I couldnt break it loose. So I did manage to get it free and realized that the drive belt had broken and I pulled it all out in pieces. I have another old royal standard as a doner. can anyone tell me how to hook up the newer belt? I know it has a pulley on the one end but what does it connect to on the other end? please let me know, thanks Bill

 

[thedrycleaner]

fixed the trouble and is ok to use

hey guys I have never had to replace a drive belt on a manual typewriter. It was actually stuck in the track that it runs on. I had a heck of a time getting the old one out. I was able to canabalize another old royal for the belt. If anyone is stumped over what I am talking about, it is the thin belt that is under the carriage that has a pulley and spring and assists the carriage return. anyone once it was on the machine works just fine. thanks BIll

 

[petek]

If it breaks again, for most machines, you can always use a length of heavy fishing line. The tension in the spring motor should be great enough that when you use the tabulator the carriage zips across with enough force from right to left with no slow down throughout the movement and decidely smacks the end. It's particularly noticeable that there isn't enough tension when you set tabs along the carriage, for making columns, and between each tab stop the carriage takes its time to reach the next one. It should be near instantaneous so as to not slow down a fast typist. A way to check is to set tabs about an inch or two apart along carriage and check that as it reaches the half way point it's not beginning to slow down between tab sets which indicates you haven't wound the spring motor tight enough.

 

[thedrycleaner]

thanks so much

thanks for this info, the trouble thatI am having is that at the end of a line of type my machine will double type, it seems to move on its own toward the end of the line. do you think that I dont have the belt tight enough? thanks Bill

 

[thedrycleaner]

the tab is very slow

hey petek, the tab is very slow. I have a old belt from a 1940 royal standard in service. so am I to understand that I need to wind the belt a bit tighter? so remove the belt and bring the pulley a bit tighter? thanks, can you email me sometime?

 

[petek]

I'm not familiar at all with Royal machines but a quick youtube look and it appears some of them can be tightened by a screw mechanism without removing the case or detaching the drawband. Wish all machines had this because if not you generally do have to remove the case and finger tighten it while applying pressure with your thumbs so it doesn't let go, possibly cutting your fingers as it does. Check this video.. as well , the best site for typewriter repair questions is antique typewriter maintenance on facebook.

 

[thedrycleaner]

so very helpfull

hello petek that video was just what I needed, thanks so very much. thanks Bill

 

[petek]

Good. I don't have any full size office machines, just portables and some can be a bugger to tighten using your fingers and thumbs to hold it so it doesn't let go and snap back while simultaneously trying to get the drawband attached to the far end of the carriage. Sometimes a bloody endeavor LOL.