IBM Selectric III

Other than the motor there is nothing electronic about this typewriter...

But, been there, done that. Check the cables that shift the ball, one i sprobably broken.

You can probably get another used Selectric III very cheaply.

Can you? I remember those, I haven't seen one in years. Seems like the sort of thing that would be collectible some day if it isn't already.

A bunch on eBay, most not very cheap though.

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When someone says their Selectric is suddenly typing the wrong characters, I wonder whether this is a troll.

The ball can be put on only one way, and locks in place. It isn't clear how it could suddenly slip.

The mechanism that moves the ball is, if I remember correctly, laterally "balanced". If it broke, it seems the symptoms would be more serious than just the wrong characters.

Teeth broken off the bottom of the ball are another way to get wrong characters.

Good morning. It can happen. The tilt and rotate tapes get the ball in the general vicinity of the correct character, then the alignment pawls, one vertical for the part the ball mounts on and another horizontal that engages with teeth in the bottom of the ball itself, engage to ensure correct alignment by the time the ball fires into the platen. Any problem with any of these can cause incorrect or incomplete characters being printed. The tapes drive the ball in one direction, spring tension alone pulls it back in the other.

Lee Richardson

A pair of thin metal strips impart "tilt" and "rotate" motions to the ball. You can see those strips not very far down inside the typewriter (they run from one side to the other, and connect to the ball carrier), and if you push on them (gently), the ball should move appropriately.

Two possibilities:

1) One of the strips is broken. That should be easy enough to discover.

2) One or both of the mechanisms that pull on the strips has fallen out of adjustment (the nature of a Selectric is that the adjustments tend to be "binary"; i.e. either they're right, or they're NOT). If that is the case, it should be possible to readjust things to work properly again.

I haven't adjusted a Selectric for a *long* time, but if you're "mechanically inclined", you should be able to find the appropriate adjustment, which will be some sort of threaded rod or screw, or something similar. AIR, there is a pair of vertical arms with pulleys on the tops for those metal strips to pass around, on the left side as viewed from the keyboard. They move laterally according to how many levels of "tilt" or "rotate" is necessary to position the desired character on the ball.

Looking at the ball, and the incorrect letters being printed, should let you discern whether it's "tilt" or "rotate" that's in error.

If you can find the adjustment, crank it one way until it's wrong, then the other, counting turns, and then set it back half way between. I don't think that being "wrong" can cause any damage; just incorrect letters being printed.

--
The Selectric is probably the last and most wonderful "mechanical 
mechanism" ever to be designed (there's nothing "electrical" in one 
except for the motor, which just rotates a shaft; everything else is 
purely mechanical). It really is a magnificent piece of engineering. It 
includes, among other nifty features, a totally mechanical two-key 
rollover, and a simple but clever device that absolutely forbids 
multiple keys being depressed simultaneously.

Isaac

Nope; just incorrect characters, that's all. If one or the other of the bands breaks, then only a "vertical" or "horizontal" subset of characters can be selected. If one of the band "drivers" becomes maladjusted, then characters above, below, to the right, or to the left, of the desired one will be selected. A comparison of the source to the printed output vis-a-vis the position of the characters on the ball will give a lot of clues.

Isaac

True, but I've seen balls so used that the metal plating was mostly worn off, but with intact teeth; I don't think there's any way for them to get broken while installed.

(That Selectric had been used in an airline reservation system; there was a "crater' on the platen at every possible character location.)

Isaac

I agree. It is probably the last of the world's great purely mechanical machines (with no electrical control signaling, only mechanical movements). I have a Selectric II in my office which I bought in 1975 and still use occasionally. I had the University's typewriter technician overhaul it for me just before he retired, so it will probably last me the rest of my life.

snipped-for-privacy@frontiernet.net wrote: : I have had a Selectric III for quite a few years and it has always : worked perfectly. As I was using it today, and while it was working : just fine, in mid-sentence, it began typing characters that didn't : correspond to the keys I was hitting. Any idea what's going on? It's : never done this before.

These 3 items would cause wrong characters that would not be perfectlt formed characters:

1. Take the ball off and look up the centre of it. Is there a thin groove in the circular piece or is that broken out?

1. While the ball is off, check the back of the tilt ring (thing the ball mounts on) and see if the vertical spring on the back of it is not broken. This spring pulls the rotate detent up and locks the ball in position rotationally when it strikes the paper.

2. With the ball still off; on the left side of the tilt ring is the tilt detent which locks the tilt ring in one of the 4 rows of letters when the ball strikes the paper. It is a vertical spring that you can see to the left and on the left side of the left post.

If the characters are wrong but perfectly formed, my guess would be a broken spring down inside on one of the selector interposers. You would likely need to get help to find this. There are people repairing them still. Try Googling selectric repair. Here is one I found

Where do you live?

Larry (Retired IBM tech) larry17 at gmail.com

Thanks for the clarification.

I agree that the Selectric is a Truly Neat mechanical device. My only problem with the Selectric is that it has a "woman's" keyboard, unlike the original IBM PC, which had a "man's" keyboard. It took my fingers years to adjust to the Selectric.

As well as the Rotate Tape and the Tilt Tape which shift the golf ball to its various character positions, there are keyboard interposers and selection latches, a couple of mechanisms which can result in suddenly the wrong character being typed, without the character being in any way out of place. It's been a couple decades since I used to fix hundreds of these, though.

Henry Mydlarz

Actually The Selectric III (3 Pitch) is still widely used by Insurance and Trucking companies. I repair plenty of the as well as the II and even some 721. I do not sell Selectric III for a low price as the demand is still there. You can get a Selectric I for a low cost or a

721.

What is a 721?

Probably an IBM 72 with 'special features'.

Jonesy

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Sometimes, when I always stop off at the Goodwill store on my way to the food store, I see a IBM Selectric typewriter for sale.Typewriters in that store usually sell for $7.00. cuhulin

I passed up a free one Saturday at a church yard sale. I did take the Nitsuko (NEC) digital PBX and five telephones, though. :)

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