Problems with Olympia Report De Luxe

[OrbitalGolem]

Hello Everyone - new member here. Been in the hobby since summer 2025 after I watched California Typewriter and realized it was time to find the JC Penney Concord 12 that I grew up with. Anyhow, 10 electric typewriter acquisitions later an Olympia Report De Luxe appeared on my door-step. Have a bit of experience now working on Smith Corona 6 and 8-series electric machines. I have two Nakajima manufactured Olympias and realized quickly that the German version is quite a bit more complicated than either those or the S-C's.

Question - is the Report De Luxe based on the SGE-45 platform? The SGE-45's keyboard looks identical to the Report. I'm contemplating ordering Ted Munk's Olympia SGE-30/40/50 service manual.

I'm baffled by this Report De Luxe - it appears that the carriage is too far away from the type-bar basket. None of the type-bars are striking the paper - I see no impressions being left on the paper. The ribbon is good. It doesn't look like the unit was dropped and nothing appears to be bent. The carriage lock tab is too far from the catch on the front of the unit (shown in one of the pictures). I'm wondering if someone tried to adjust the carriage location and failed miserably. Two photos show the carriage set screws on both sides.

There are other issues with several keys being intermittent in operation (after initial cleaning with mineral spirits), but the carriage issue needs addressing first.

Big thanks in advance!

 

[Oji]

Welcome to our small community, @OrbitalGolem. That’s actually a fantastic lineup you’ve built already. The Report De Luxe does share a lot of DNA with the SGE-45, so that Ted Munk manual is still a good move, and the carriage sitting too far back definitely points to a misadjusted rail or stop rather than bent parts. Did you check if the carriage rails were loosened at some point and shifted rearward as a whole?