Olympus Trip 35 Thumbwheel

Removing the Thumbwheel

The Olympus Trip 35 thumbwheel is the part used to advance the film to the next frame. It is a thick cogwheel made of plastic. This mechanism is very robust and it would be difficult to damage it unless one applied a hammer to it however, heavy-handed people may manage to break it.

This component remains partially outside of the camera body and over time, it can bring a lot of dust into the camera mechanism.

It can take hours to figure out how to remove this wheel however, it is very simple. The brass head, shaped like a toothed cog, is actually a screw that simply comes off by turning it with pliers. This brass cog drives the frame counter mechanism that fits on the top.


Removing the Screw

This is the deceptive looking brass screw with a toothed cog head.

Thumbwheel

This is the thumbwheel, which is ready to be soaked in cleaning solution.