Pad Leaking all of a sudden?

[richard]

Hello

 

All of a sudden a pad on my Lachenal has started to leak when the pressure is a bit harder on the bellows.

The pad is not old. I don't think the spring pressure is too light, it worked all right before with this pad.

 

I found the pad a little wobbly on the arm and I added some glue to stabilize it, and it still has the problem.

 

Is there any trick I can do help the pad seal better perhaps?

 

I don't think I need a new pad, or to increase the spring pressure.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

 

Richard

[Dana Johnson]

Hello

 

All of a sudden a pad on my Lachenal has started to leak when the pressure is a bit harder on the bellows.

The pad is not old. I don't think the spring pressure is too light, it worked all right before with this pad.

 

I found the pad a little wobbly on the arm and I added some glue to stabilize it, and it still has the problem.

 

Is there any trick I can do help the pad seal better perhaps?

 

I don't think I need a new pad, or to increase the spring pressure.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

 

Richard

As long as the pad hasn't come unglued ( and has gotten off center on the pad hole), the slight wobbliness allows the pad to level itself on the pad hole which promotes sealing. If your Spring hasn't in fact changed, ( say by developing an incipient crack ) I'd start looking at the rest of the lever / button arrangement to see if there is anyplace the lever is binding or the button isn't being allowed to return all the way , even by a slight amount, The pad may still seat, but the spring may be working against some binding bit, and when coupled with the added bellows pressure can't overcome both. If it was all fine before, and given the general unrestricted nature of the average Lachenal action, I would look long and hard at that spring. Sometimes a spring may feel like it still has some strength to it, but is so close to being fully open at the top of the button travel that the last bit of spring travel has very little force behind it. I'd unhook the spring from the lever and see if it opens as much as one of it's neighbors does when allowed to open fully. Then make some sort of judgment about it.

Dana

Dana

[Frank Edgley]

Lachenals are notoriously difficult to make airtight. Standard springs seldom seem to do the trick. If you'll look at an original Lachenal spring you should find it much heavier than springs found on other makes or replacement springs made by most suppliers / makers.