A productive evening
My Adler Contessa de Luxe now works! It has a lovely font. I cleaned it, changed (respooled) the ribbon, and made a few little adjustments. It still has two problems: one of the sticky keys is still sticky (the others aren't anymore), and the bell doesn't work most of the time. But I'm happy, it's the first machine I actually repaired.
Nice!
I'll share what I do, first I remove the casing, the platen and as many plastic and rubber parts as I can, keys included, I don't remove the wheels driving the spools if they are plastic.
Then I soak it with degreaser, let it do its thing for a minute and rinse it with a pressure washer or an engine cleaning gun with water, not too hard just to rinse. This I do two or three times.
To dry it fast and avoid corrosion, first remove the excess water and then put the typewriter in the oven at 45-50°C for about 45-60 minutes.
After that, I oil everything and put it back together.
@quediuspayu @typewriters Thanks for sharing this! I'd love to be able to clean that deeply. I don't have a lot of tools, even not an air compressor… I used a bottle of compressed air, emptied it completely and there's still dust.
Which oil do you use, and where?
I use the same oil I use for sewing machines, it is very thin, low viscosity. I apply it using syringe with the bevelled tip of the hypodermic needle cut off.
I put oil everywhere there's metal moving against metal, it doesn't need much, just a thin coat. Too much oil can collect more dust or even drip inside the case.
I cleaned my typewriter with Varsol, but I've been reluctant to oil anything. I note that you're very careful to minimize the amount of oil. Do you find that you get any oily "gunk" buildup over time?
I don't know, at least not yet. I've only been doing this for two years, maybe they didn't have time to gunk up.
I use the oil I buy to lubricate sewing machines. Not only I oil everything that is metal against metal, I rub some of it on every spot it I consider it needs protection from rust.
I stopped worrying about too much oil when I read on a typewriter repair course from I don't know what decade that after drying in an oven to put it in an oil bath to lubricate and protect metal surfaces. I won't go to those extremes but made me realise that if I put too much oil worst thing it could happen is that the typewriter will need a new cleaning next year.
Thanks. I agree with the "worst thing" comment. I can always clean the machine again!