How to clean the view finder on my Nikkormat FT3?

[werkstattmagicalmike]

Hello, I am a new member from Germany and hope to find some help on how to remove a small particle which is visible in the view finder.

I already removed the ocular (which is screwed in the viewfinder) and cleaned it and the glass, and I cleaned the mirror and the focusing screen (but only on the side which is accessible). So I imagine that the particle is on the other side of the focusing screen. How can I access this?

Maybe someone can help me. Does anybody have a pdf of the service manual - or does it give information on how to do this?

Kind regards,
Michael

[Erik Lund]

Welcome to NikonGear! Enjoy

There is a thread on the Nikkormat here: https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?topic=8240.msg133882#msg133882

[mxbianco]

Try this link:

http://ss-it.de/data/servicemanuals/Nikkormat FTN.pdf

(it's a 12 MB PDF file)

This is the service manual for the Nikkormat FTn, not a big difference from the FT2 or FT3 versions, at least it gives you an idea where to start unscrewing...

For instruction manuals for old Nikon / Nikkormat bodies, you can visit the classic Mike Butkus site:

https://www.butkus.org/chinon/nikon.htm

And naturally, as Erik indicated, Richard Haw is one of the pillars of Nikongear, if there's someone to ask, ask him! https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?action=profile;u=687

The place to look for info here in Nikongear is the subtopic "What the nerds do", one out of three topics out there is by Richard Haw.

Ciao from Massimo

[Hugh_3170]

There is an internal rubberised seal between the top of the Copal square shutter and just below the back of the pentaprism and focussing screen. 

The Nikkormat FT3 was released in 1977, so more often than not these seals are are by now a gooey mess and quite often fragments from this seal find their way onto the focussing screen.

Time for a strip down and a replacement of the seal I will wager.

I confirm the advice from mxbianco that the differences between the FTn, FT2, and the FT3 are minor.

[richardHaw]

look for the Nikkormat article on richardhaw.com

BUT....

never attempt to repair it unless you have the experience and tools

send it to a repairman.