How to repair Uhlmann Reels

[R. Exnicios]

Greetings fellow gear heads. I have been repairing Lean Paul reels for years and am now faced with a new challenge. A dying Uhlmann reel (the blue Turtle).

Does anyone have a repair manual or instructions for these things? I looked on the web and came up empty handed. Leon Paul has their instructions available for download on their web site. (I guess they know that their reels need to be repaired frequently.)

On a somewhat related topic. What would be a fair price for a used Uhlmann reels?

Any assistance in these matters would be greatly appreciated..

See you at Nationals

Cheers

[DHCJr]

I've never heard of any manual for the Uhlmann, but don't you know it's German, so you never have to repair it.

It would take to much to go over every thing in this space, but I will try and give some basic ideas.

If it is electrical and it is not the connector that connects to the body cord. You will find 4 screws that stick up on the bottom. Remove them and take off the cover. All the screws do is hold on the cover, so you don't have to worry about anything flying off.

For the spring, on the bottom there is a short top hat with 4 screws, be very careful. There are two screws together, one goes threw a welded piece on the spring, there is also a black piece to protect the springs movement with a cut-out. Make sure the cut-out and the welded piece are at the same place as the spring is part of the C circuit. To adjust the spring, you have to turn it and then put in the screws.

The connector that connects to the floor cord must be kept tight to the rest of the reel. The problem is 1 of the 2 screws is difficult to get to. For the A & B lines they go up to a commutator.

I would take off the cover, just so you can see what is there, but not the spring case, unless the spring is broken. If you can take the reel with you to Nationals. All the Armorers there will be convercient with them or ask if they need to repair one, if you can watch.

I'm sorry for the short description, but there are a number of things to check and without more, I wouldn't try to diagnois.

If you have any quiestion, you can send me an e-mail.

[neevel]

Can you be more specific about what is wrong with the reel? Is it a continuity problem (if so, in which line(s)), or is it a mechanical problem (extension/retraction of the cable).

As Don has noted, Uhlmann turtles are the embodiment of most stereotypes about German engineering-- good quality materials and assembly, normally quite reliable, but also needlessly complicated in a number of places and time-consuming to take apart for repair. Basically, to get at most of the key elements inside the case, you'll need to remove a number of other screws and parts beforehand. Fortunately, my experience is that the vast majority of continuity problems with them are in the body-cord coupling or immediately behind it (i.e., stressed cable coming out of the plastic block). The A and B lines are brought in through the sealed Mercotac, and the C line from the base-plate through the spring and shaft bearing, and both of those paths are normally very reliable, especially in comparison to the brush-and-commutator system of the LP reels.

-Dave