Locating the potentiometer in an Olympus 35 RD

by M. Feuerbacher, 2003.

In my Olympus RD I had a problem with the automatic exposure mode. The apertures larger than f/2.8 were not accessible in auto mode. In the camera repair forum I was told to check the potentiometer below the bottom plate. This is how you find it.

Remove the bottom cover. The potentiometer is behind the brass plate on the next to the tripod nut. To open it, remove the two black Philips screws

Taking the potentiometer out of the camera body, be careful that you dont bend the needle. The needle, seen on the left determines the aperture in the automatic-exposure mode by a blade trapping mechanism.

How the potentiometer can be gauged is a mystery to me. The bottom screw with the off-center pin attaches to nothing and the fork determining the potentiometers zero-point angle is sealed to the plate. Does this make sense?