Film counter not resetting to zero from "36". Easy Fix?

Got this issue on a Pentax Super A. Not resetting from 36 to zero but stopping at 24. Has anyone had anything similar and is it a fix that can be done by an amature with few practical skills or am I best of sending it for a full service/repair to Harrow or Asahi Technical?

Aside from that it is a very nice camera in full working order and in black!

Cheers!

If you open the back of the camera you will find a small pin just under the counter. This is usually connected to a spring and when the back is opened the pin should come out a bit and that in turn resets the counter.
If the pin is jammed in any way it will stop the counter from resetting.
Try to press the pin inwards with a small screwdriver (but only lightly and not too deep. Look at the lip of the backplate to see how deep you can go) and that hopefully gets it back to '0'.
Other cameras have the pin on the backplate that goes in to a slot where the upper lip is and the spring for resetting is within this slot. Other then that the principal is the same.
Hope that helps.

Hi,

Have identified the pin and have gently pushed it in but there appears to be no effect, the counter still only resets to 24....... Hmmm.....I don't want to push to far as I don't want to any damage but it doesn't seem to want to co-operate with me!

It may be that the spring is no longer working. I do not know if it is worth the expense to have it repaired.

One more thought. wind up the camera with the back open an take a few 'shots' it may be that it resets itself again but you may be heading for a problem with it anyway.
Another way I would try is use a test film that you do not need or that is too old to be developed and shoot it till you can not wind it up any more (36-39 espouses, then open the back without having the film wind back in the housing. Now with the back open wind the film back in to its housing (leave a lip of the film out as it is always handy to have a film for such test purposes).
Try this with the back open and closed if needed. If it still get stuck on 24 even after you taken 36 or more shots the spring is gone and it could be costly, so its up to you then if you want to repair it.

I have an ME with a similar problem - I think it's due to the spring which pulls the counter back to zero not being quite strong enough to make it turn. Said ME came jammed and with a non-working frame counter. It now counts perfectly but doesn't flick back to zero when you open the back - in this case winding on and firing the shutter a couple of times will cure it.

I plan to unbolt the winder lever and put a couple of drops of light oil in the mechanism. It worked perfectly when I put a drop of lighter fluid in but stopped when that evaporated.

Thanks for the replies, I'm not really comfortable taking one of these apart by myself especially as this is a relatively advanced camera. It's frustrating that just one little thing is beating an otherwise perfectly operational and useable camera.

I was planning to use it as the standard film camera for most applications so I don't use the Spotmatics too much and end up with them needing serviced! It would also be a touch better than the Program A for using films like Ektar I would imagine. It came with a winder and a Sigma zoom lens that I don't actually use at all that I could sell to offset the cost..........

They're not that complicated. I can't remember about the Super A but on the ME I shouldn't need to remove the top plate, just the winder lever. The only odd part about that is that the cosmetic cap and the retaining nut underneath are reverse thread and unscrew clockwise.

Repairing these cameras is a lot easier when you have a service/repair/spares manual.
Password to all manuals is "Pentax" and is case sensitive.

Well I need to leave it a few days and then test it again, but I think I've sorted the ME. I just removed the winder lever and put a drop of oil where the winder shaft comes up through the centre of the film counter dial, it now works properly.

Sorry just seen this post from 14 years ago!

For anyone with this same problem just remove the winder arm and check the 2 x nuts underneath are not over tightened. The first nut screws off clockwise whilst the second nut screws off anti-clockwise.